We left Ometepe on the ferry (24th July) and headed back to the mainland. The return journey was on a car ferry which felt like luxury compared to the boat we arrived on. We then got two buses to San Juan del Sur, which is a beach town near the Costa Rica boarder. The town is famed for surfing and partying but we were here to see turtles come ashore and lay their eggs. Unfortunately it is still early in the season so when we tried to book a tour we were told that...

Our next destination in Nicaragua was Ometepe island in the middle of the largest lake in Nicaragua, Lake Nicaragua. We could have got a four hour ferry straight from Granada but decided to go the other way so we could get there earlier and avoid too much seasickness (I'd read the crossing could be pretty rough). So we got the bus south and met an Austrian couple who also happen to speak fluent Spanish. They negotiated a good taxi rate to the ferry dock however t...

We managed to finally leave León, via a luxury air-conditioned shuttle bus (commonly refered to as a tourist shuttle) which we took for the benefit of Simon as he wasn't sure if he'd be well enough to negotiate the local buses. We had to get a taxi the last part to Laguna Apoyo which we had been recommended by a couple we met at the hostel in León. We stayed for two nights in a hostel/resort place right on the laguna (an old volcano crater) where we continued ...

We spent 4 days and 5 nights in León. One more than planned because I (Simon) got ill on our second day. To be honest León wasn't our favourite place but to be fair it didn't have a fair chance to impress us because I was ill and because it was so hot (36C but felt like 39C according to the internet). During our stay we visited a contemporary art gallery (listed as one of the best in Central America), watched the Saturday night celebrations in the main square ...