5/1/10 - day 26.

had to be up at half 6 to catch a bus to Rivas, a small town about 45 mins away. it left early for some reason just as i got to the bus stop. it was a chicken bus i had to get which are small, cramped and the enemy of a tired, mildly ill, 80 litre bag carrying, backpacker. especially when its jam packed. when i got there, took a cab to san jorge which is where the port is for the ferry i was catching to Isla de Ometepe.

this island is unique because it´s sat in the middle of lake nicaragua (the biggest in central america) and is formed by 2 volcanoes rising out of the lake. when i got to san jorge, port i asked for the ticket office. the 2 blokes behind the desk garbled something really fast in spanish. didnt know what was going on, except that they weren´t giving me a ticket when i told them where i wanted to go. so i did what ive become good at in these situations, pretend to understand after the 3rd time of asking for them to repeat it and walk off smiling and saying thank you.

turned out, someone comes round on the ferry and you pay then. except nobody asked me for anything on board, so the hour long ride was free! got to san jose del sur on the island about 11am. i had no reservation for the place i wanted to stay but approached the dude wearing donning a shirt with their name on it - hacienda merida. after asking if they had a dorm bed available, me and an italian couple got in a speedboat and set off on the 30 minute ride to merida.

the ride over their was so funny, as we all got very wet. not our bags which were stashed under the seats, not even my lower half that much but from the waist up and particularly face and head got saturated as the fella clearly valued speed over comfort.

merida is a little village that sits at the bottom of the now dormant, and smaller of the 2 volcanoes, volcan maderas. had lunch pretty much straight away as i was starving (chicken, potatoes and salad) was talked to by one of the girls who works there about possible activites to do while i was there. i hired a bike that afternoon and made the 45 minute ride to see some petroglyphs which are ancient carvings in rocks of people, animals, etc dating back to the 4th century.

biking may not have been the most sensible mode of transport as the "roads" on that part of the island are a joke and i was dripping by the time i got there. nowhere on the part of the island is paved or anything, so it was crazy rocky and bumpy with plenty of hills to negotiate - very punishing on the backside. on the way there and back so some odd combo´s of animals knocking around together. goats, dogs, pigs, chickens all side by side sniffing each others bums and stuff.

when i got back, had a nice cold shower, and a mixed fruit shake in a hammock and did all i could not to fall asleep. i woke up about 6pm and had the all you can eat buffet dinner the place i was staying at put on at 7pm. wasnt the cheapest thing but there was fish, chicken, pasta, rice, potatoes, plantain, lasagne, beans, salad, bread and there was no way i could resist. i ate with a very nice english/canadian couple (phil and randy).

there was a strict quite time from 10pm onwards at hacienda merida though it hardly seemed necessary as most people´s days there are spent getting really tired from some from of strenuous activity or other. i went to bed about half 9.