Nicaragua

on sunday morning around 7:30 am, i left my tico house and walked the dusty roads past cows and construction sites, 2 bridges and 4 bars, to a nearby town to meet heather. we stopped by castillo, an expensive restaurant that has an espresso machine, and i got my first soy latte of the trip. been drinking weakish black coffee since my arrival, probably too often.
we drove to the border in the family's car - functional in the sense that it would not have been out of place on lopez - and made it to the border in less than three hours. her line of work has involved water quality, and her husband is a professor *(soil sciences, if i remember correctly?) and with our discussions the time passed quickly.

we parked the car within the 200 yeards of no-man's-land between the countries, and walked back to costa rica to get stamped out, then to nicaragua to get stamped in. the border was slightly chaotic, as there was contruction/tree removal taking place about 10 yards from the buildings, but in slightly less than an hour we were in a taxi on the way to san jorge, a town on the western shore of lake nicaragua.

there, we met her family - her husband mark and their kids ben(13) and tara (9). after lunch at a little restaurant we pais $3 each for the 1 hour ferry ride to omatepe. we climbed to the sparsley populated top deck, and while i was unaware of it at the time, using that vertical metal ladder was the first of many events to further my anti-fear-of-heights crusade.

they had already arranged for a hotel, and a car met us at the dock. i rode in the back of the truck with the kids along surprisingly smooth roads to the 'hotel finca valencia'.. i had a room to myself, my own bathroom, a shared sink and no scorpions. the farm/hotel is on the lakeshore, and there were plenty of hammocks and chairs, as well as a restaurant. we stayed there all three nights- it as inexpensive and comfortable, both physically and environmentally - a far cry from the ridiclous hilton adventure of the other week.

they had mentioned that they had hired a guide for the next two days, and were planning to hike the smaller of omatepe's two volcanoes to see the lake that abides in it's crater. of course i wanted to go along. .
we set out before 8 th3e next morning and began our hike around 8:30. i had no idea at the time that 'long hike' meant:

4 hours ish to the top. we returned the car around 5pm after a whole day of walking. a whole day of going only 12k.

by 'hike', is really meant 'hike then climb' - up and over muddy rocks using a stick and sometimes both hands.

when you get to the top, it's another 15 minutes straight down to get to the lake, which is covered by fog.



we hiked first through rocky, dusty pasture, then through fields of frijoles, then brush, then full on rain/cloud forest. there should be a sign at the bottom that says something to the effect of 'if you hope to enjoy this, it would be good if you didn't hate rock climbing.'

but in all honesty, despite the difficulty, slipperiness, mud-caking (oh and the three ticks i got to pull off of my legs upon our return) i actually did enjoy it. or rather, i enjoyed it enough that i don't regret it. there were points when i was on the fence, and a couple moments when i was inthe other feild.


the next day we, believe it or not, went on another hike. all our legs were protesting, but the promise of amazing waterfalls got us out of bed and on the road only slightly later than the first day. this time around it was only 6k, and considerably less difficult. however, the path wound along some cliffish areas, and i do believe i had the most rigorous anti-fear excercises of late. much scarier than skateboarding (and damn, sometimes that's hard)..

the waterfalls basically made up for the previous day's lack of lake. it rained onthe way back, which was terrifying for the cliff section (never got too muddy though) and greatly appreciated the rest of the way. we spent the evening resting in hammocks and adventured along a 'path' near the lakeshorre (at times in the lake itself) to a nearby restaurant. wednesday morning we spent a bit of time in moyagalpa before catching the ferry arond noon. i tried to make phone calls (costa rica has formidable restrictions on telephone communications) before we left, but with no luck.

our trip back was uneventful - the border was a relative peice of cake and we stopped for an excellent pizza dinner in liberia, a city between the border and our towns.

this little excursion confirmed a few suspicions:
while i am enjoying costa rica, i feel more connected to and interested in nicaragua. there are many roots of this preference- my experiences there in high school undoubtedly play a large role, but there's definitely more. in place of condominiums and promises of paradise being shoved down your throat through billboards/flyers/newspapers/windows there are women selling pastries and children with tortillas. i by no means intend to romanticize nicaragua, but i do feel like it is much easier to reach the unfiltered, honest heart of that country than it is to find such connections in costa rica. i have yet to meet anyone unkind or unwelcoming in costa rica, but even after living here for 5 weeks, i do not feel the same chest/stomach-tug connection and curiousity that i have for nicaragua. it has been fascinating to learn (especially from people living here) of the differences and similiarities between these neighbors. the long and short of all this is that i am excited for my remaining months here, and am already formulating plans for a return to both guanacaste and nicaragua.


while at the top of the volcano, we met a few other hikers and their guide, one of whom is preparing to compete in a race that will be held tomorrow on the island. there are two levels- 50k and 100k, and the course includes both volcanoes. this is absolutely incredible to non-running me, and i suggest checking out a map of the island to get a picture of what this means. just to 50k takes about 12 hours, while (i'm told) regular 50k s take round 4. the man we met, donald, has finished 6th and 4th, and plans to win this year. again, BOTH volanoes. hearing this while resting at the top with mud covered, aching legs, i almost could not comprehend what they were saying. i hope the runners coming from around the world take the advice to bing an extra pair of shoes for after that climb, because i can guarantee you that most of them don't really know what's in store for them. absolutely an extreme adventure run. best of luck to all of them.

anyhow, on wednesday night we made it back in time for me to shower and head out to my last ladie's night. same old night, except i played foosball/table hockey with some local guys and surprised everyone by doing rather well. looks like hours of time-killing during years of drama club at the grange have come in handy. excellent.

today was my final day of classes at cpi flamingo- on sunday i head out to monteverde's cloud forest. it will be difficult to leave the friends i've made here, but the rainforest is sure to be an adventure. i'm told it is rainy and cold, and i will welcome an excuse to don my neglected zip-up.

more tales and musings to come, i promise. will do my best not to get behind again as i feel like i have omitted many important tidbits.