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Finally! The World Cup is over! Thank goodness. We can get back to some sort of normality where our whole schedule isn't dictated or moved around to accommodate some crappy football game. I mean, if people were that interested in watching the games, they should have stayed at home or stayed in one place for a month - not gone on a tour that moves every day! Or is that just me being bitter and twisted?!
So, next stop was Lake Nicaragua and the island of Ometepe. Lake Nicaragua is also called Lake Cocibolca and La Mar Dulce (the sweet sea). It's the largest lake in Central America and the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world. And its huge! 8,624 square kms (177km long, 58km wide) - you can't actually see the other side at some pointsso it really looks like you're in the middle of the (very calm!) ocean. The lake drains into the Caribbean Sea but it is separated from the Pacific by only 20km. 45 rivers flow into the lake and it is home to the world's only species of freshwater shark. There are 2 volcanoes on the edge of the lake - Concepcion and Maderas. Ometepe is an island formed by the twin volcanoes rising out of the lake. Lava flows created an isthmus (that's pretty hard to say!) between the volcanoes and the name Ometepe means 'between two hills'.
We left Granada on Tuesday by minivan (well, when I say 'we', I mean the 5 of us who paid an extra US$8 to travel in comfort as opposed to cramming on a hot and smelly chicken bus!). Got to the ferry dock and took the boat across to Ometepe. To get into the upper deck, we had to climb up a rather precarious ladder (not quite like our boat in the Galapagos, but then this is the basic tour!) but it wasn't too bad a journey. Got in more vans once on the island to get to our hotel. Almost there we hit a traffic jam (2 vehicles) and watched a bunch of locals trying to push a truck that had got stuck in a load of mud. These were the same locals who were baling water out of a muddy hole with flat shovels. Hmm, and people wonder why these countries haven't progressed much?!
Anyhooo, we had to walk through the mud to our hotel where Leanne and I sweet-talked 2 of the boys to swap rooms as we had been put in an outbuilding that was a haven for big bugs and just walking along the path to it freaked me out. Where we ended up wasn't luxurious but was a slight step up. The boys were happy though as there were 4 kapuchin monkeys in the tree outside their hut plus a hammock each (and several long strings of giant ants which I neglected to inform them of!).Then the wind started as a mighty storm was a-brewing! We went for dinner to a local family's house which was nice - whole fish (but hardly any meat - booo!) and the obligatory rice and beans. Early night for Leanne and I to watch some chick flicks on our respective laptops (what nanas we are!) and try to avoid the giant ants. We survived the night with no 8-legged friends or roaches (at least unbeknown to us!) and got up to climb Maderas Volcano. 3 of us had decided to just climb halfway (6km) to the viewpoint as beyond that you are under the trees and there's no view at the top. What's the point then eh?! That was hard enough. It was a mud bath. We squelched our way up to the viewpoint where we could only see half of the view of Concepcion as the other half was in the clouds and then slid most of the way down. I skidded and, although saved my bum from getting covered in mud, I plonked my hands into a very deep pile - nice! It was good to be out and about though and get some exercise!
The rest of the day was (sadly) spent in front of the TV drinking wine and then a 2 hour siesta - not a lot to do when it's raining and you're in the middle of nowhere! As if I hadn't had enough sleep, I ended up sleeping in on Thursday morning. I woke up to the sound of the shower going and was wondering why Leanne was up so early. Then my brain registered that we were due to leave in 10 minutes. Aaargh! You know how much I hate being late. I tell you, it's Central America. Since I got here, things have gone wrong. I think someone is trying to tell me something! Maybe Michelle is right and it's travel fatigue and I need a break…….
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