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WEDNESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY
Today was the big move to Isla de Ometeppe which started with a bus journey, an overpriced taxi and an hour journey on a cargo boat across rough waters and finally a chicken bus where i was then left with a walk up a long dusty road to a complete dump of a hostel. It was right on the "beach" as advertised which doesn't exist right now due to high water but was there sand flies and maggots crawling about in the black sand. I saw an iguana up close, a scorpion ans even a cane toad in the bathroom as well as the ever friendly gecko. A group of brits rocked up who are lovely and philippa is aharing a dorm with me and its lovely to have some company there. it is nice to be away from the miserable lot in granada and be back with travellers again. I als met a man called derek who is an ex-bristolian and now lives just north of toronto who was full of stories and is staying on the island for a whole month. I was able to go to bed well fed and happy for a change which is more than can be said for poor philippa who swam a little too close to a sewage outlet. poor thing!
THURSDAY 3RD FEBRUARY
trying to drag my sorry arse out of bed this morning was hard and philippa was not in a good shape at all. we got ourselves ready and left about half six and walked to the reserve. it was a pretty, if neglected, area where we had to do a lot of wading as the water had washed away all the walkways which made for an interesting trip. Richard, an ecologist, told us about all the tree-termite nests and tunnels and there was a whole family of howler monkeys as well as loads of lizards which was cool to add to last nights wildlife list. We took the afternoon chicken bus to the southern island but it started raining really heavily. the fare collector gave us a leaflet for a hostel and it was soon clear that it was a family affair as we got hounded by wife and kids to stay and it was more a case of "take this leaflet to make your own choice but as we own the bus we will be stopping at our hostel and no further and as we have arranged it to be dark and rainy for your arrival theres not much choice, is there?" We were a totally captive audience but luckily it paid off with a cheap and clean little place. the restaurant was seriously overpriced with service so slow i though i was going to die of old age so we found a concrete shack of a joint owned by margarita that turned out gallo pinto (rice and beans) with chips and salad for 30 cordobas with 1 litre of beer for 40 cordobas which is amazing considering the exchange rate is 35 cordobas to 1GBP. However, the rain kept beating down all night on our tin roof and we could only pray that it brightened by morning as we had boooked a guide to climb the volcano. Fingers crossed!
FRIDAY 4TH FEBRUARY
Well, it appeared to have stopped raining by morning but having been kept awake most of the night by a time confused rooster, a howling dog and a braying donkey its wasnt a good start. We had our breakfast and met our guide at 7.30 and got on our way. It was still pretty wet and as we got higher the wind and rain got stronger and soon we were completely in the cloud. That was the last of our worries as the path was horrific! it was really intense uphill anyway as we climbed 1400m but it was severly muddy and we spent most of our time climbing over swamps and mossy trees. It was really physical and after 5 and a half hours climbing we reached the crater filled with a lagoon. Unfortunately due to location and height of the volcano the summit is nearly always shrouded in cloud so we didnt get a great view but we learnt a lot. the landscape changed so dramatically as we got higher with so many more plants and mosses and richard told us about the evolution and extinction of the flora and fauna such as the strangler fig (thats a good story for a cuppa), the bromeliad family that helps with frog breeding and the ground sloth which has been extinct for many thousands of years. It was the size of an elephant and i have this image of the animal slumped on its hind legs like a raccoon munching leaves from the trees. we also managed to get really close to a howler monkey and get some great phots as he bellowed. very very cool. we didnt get back until after dark and after 10 hours hiking we just about managed to shower and eat before we collapsed.
SATURDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
A slow and tired start to the day would be a bit complimentary. the morning was spent mainly scrubbing the mud out of our clothes and shoes and sunbathing (which was my excuse to rest my aching muscles) i also managed to sneak in a quick hammock nap. yay! In the afternoon, myself and philippa took out a couple of kayaks to go to isla de monos (monkey island) where a couple of spider monkeys live. It was a battle against high winds and waves to get there and when we did the little b*****s swung out on the branches to attack us. they were really aggressive and i had to make a very quick escape! I had to admit that they were a bit frightening. we couldnt get to the second islaand where the white faced capuchin monkeys lived due to the winds so we settled for a sheltered swim instead.
SUNDAY 6TH FEBRUARY
Has anyone who has ever worn keen whisper sandals noticed the awful checkboard tan marks left on their feet? try as i may, I cant even it out and I look very odd and a bit dirty! That has been my observation of the day as I sat on a rock overlooking the sea, sorry, lake. I had to say goodbye to all my travelling buddies as they headed back to the mainland and i am all alone now until my overnight ferry tomorrow. I decided to walk along the road to the next village (about 5km) of san ramon which had lovely piers and places to stop and chill. On the way i passed a church which was just a ramshackled building with no roof and a tree in the centre but holding a lovely sunday gathering. i also saw a whole bunch of locals dressed in their full americam baseball finery having a match. I stopped at finca mystiqua on the way back which is an organic farm about 1.5km uphill from the mainroad. its pricey but lovely and quiet apart from the crazy dogs (stay away from the dogs! seriously...) its made like old english cottages with a lime wash and recycled bottles planted in the walls for extra light. i was shown around thee grounds as i wanted to see how coffe is grown and I bought some organic, home-roasted beans. i also had some yummy hibiscus and pineapple-mint sorbet which were awesome mixed together. Ive really liked this island and its so nice to be free of the usual tourist trappings but its time to move on again
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