Rivas, Rivas, Rivas and goodbyes

We did manage to leave Leon. First we took the bus to Managua, where Neil was almost violated by a crazed, seemingly possessed drunk woman trying to steal his money from his trouser pocket! He managed to prize her gammy hand from his pants and we speedily removed ourselves from the scene...Further on in another brawl of bus company men, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. We planned to meet up a few days later.

I know I go on about buses a lot, but another thing which is hilarious about bus stations and bus travel is the way those bus worker dudes go on. When you get to the terminal, they repeatedly shout out the destination of their bus a hundred million times whilst hanging out the door of the bus. Fair enough it is a good way of finding the bus you wish to catch. But it's almost as if they think that people go to bus stations without a predetermined destination in mind, as if you might just hop on the bus who has the loudest shouter and who can convince you to jump on their bus for the craic! Sometimes they even say the place so quickly over and over again that you can hardly understand what they're saying. Getting the Managua bus sounds something like ManagmanagmanaganaganagmanagUA...!!

Anyway, via Managua, we made our way to Granada. On arrival this city seems like a nice tranquil place. It's smaller than Leon and has a pretty central plaza and the nice feel of an old colonial city. It also borders the shores of the huge Lake Nicaragua. We rambled down here one day to have a look and enjoy the views. Although it is beautiful to see such an impressive body of water, the sad thing about it is that this lake is extremely badly polluted and the Nicaraguan authorities don't really have the resources to do enough about the sewege and industrial waste problem. On the shores around Granada there is a distinct midge problem and there is an open sewer that runs from just off the main centre down through an unfortunate neighbourhood into the lake. Apart from this, Granada is a pleasant enough place to stroll around. It hasnt got the same sort of buzz that Leon has and all in all I think we were justified in having just a short stay here.

After Granada, via Rivas (Rivas, Rivas)we made our way towards the ferry which would take us to the volcanic island of Isla de Ometepe. The ferry over offers some gorgeous views of the two imposing volcanoes which populate the island. From the boat, the island actually looks like it is completely uninhabited. You cannot see any sign of road nor building, just miles of luscious dense green and the two gigantic volcanoes jutting high into the sky. These two phenomena are the reason for Ometepes existence and you just realise how powerful these natural forces are in the face of human existence. Here´s a picture of the bigger one: Conception

It is only when you reach the shore that you get a glimpse of the civilization that unfolds from the boat dock up through the main street of the town of Moyagalpa. There was another two influential forces populating the island when we got there- Steven and Neil - the Scottish volanoes of comedy! Haha, we had a great night here with the lads and some other lovely folks from the US, Slovenia and The Netherlands. The following day we all went on a mini bus to a place called Ojo de Agua, on the far side of the island where you can swim in some pools of cool clear water. This was a welcome distraction from the heat and a bit of a sore head. We chilled out here for a good couple of hours, enjoying a couple of cold beers by the water side, which really is quite a nice setting amongst large leafy trees for shade.

On our way back from the Ojo de Agua, a local guy boarded our bus and started talking to us about the volcanoes. He worked as a tour guide for the volcano trips and knew everything you could know about the area. He explained to us the ways in which the volcanic activity is monitored, what would happen and has happened when eruptions occurred, the areas that would be affected most and the evacuation procedure for the residents in case of a disaster. He was truly fascinating to listen to. The bus journey took another interesting turn when all of a sudden the bus slowed down and we realised we were at the tail end of a funeral procession. Our bus slowly ambled behind the crowd for a good while and some friendly local people that were part of funeral started chatting to us through the bus window! When the procession turned into the small cemetary our bus picked up speed back towards the town.

The boys left Ometepe the next day and we all felt a tad emotional saying our goodbyes as we had had such good times altogether. Myself and Xav decided to rent bikes for the day in an attempt to relieve our melancholy. It was a lovely day really. As always the sun was high, bright and strong in the sky and the road around the island leads you through some beautiful scenery and great views of the volcano. Cycling through the small villages, around large herds of cattle which frequently populate the road and passing through the lush countryside was a really pleasant way to spend our last day on the island.

The next day we bid our farewll to Ometepe and made our way back to Granada, from where we needed to take a long bus the next day through Costa Rica en route to Panama....