We began our day with desayuno tipico (typical breakfast), included in El Bramadero's room price. This was two eggs any style, gallo pinto, toast, coffee, and orange juice. Gallo pinto is a mixture of beans and rice commonly eaten two or three times a day in much of Central America. We ate it again and again.
Giant tree in the hotel courtyard
At 9:30 we caught the bus from Liberia to “La Frontera,” arriving at the Peñas Blancas border with Nicaragua at 11:00. For detailed info on traveling from Liberia, Costa Rica, to Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, including the border crossing, see this excellent guide.
One thing the above guide doesn't mention is the infamous tourist form, to be completed online at least seven days in advance, found here.
Tip: After Nicaraguan immigration, the next step is to run your bags through an x-ray scanner, but there is no body scanner. Anything small and of value (cash, credit cards, phones, passports) keep in your pockets.
It took exactly an hour from the time we stepped off the bus at the border to the time we emerged on the other side. We were fortunate. I've read the process often takes up to three hours.
The next step was to travel to the ferry port at San Jorge, 25 miles away. We decided to spring for a taxi rather than take a crowded bus, stopping at an ATM in Rivas on the way to acquire some Nicaraguan cordobas.
First look at Volcan Concepcion
Before catching the boat in San Jorge, we had lunch at Restaurante Farolito, bistec with peppers and tomatoes, with sides of rice, beans, and fried platanos (plantains), along with a couple of Toña, the local flavorless beer.
El presidente
Port of San Jorge
At 2:30 we caught the ferry to Ometepe, the largest island in Lake Nicaragua. The barbell-shaped island is made up of two volcanoes, Concepcion and Maderas, connected by a narrow isthmus. Lake Nicaragua is huge. The ferry crossing to the relatively nearby island took an hour and ten minutes.
Approaching Ometepe
Port of Moyogalpa
The water was rough on this windy day, and our tiny ship was tossed, but we arrived at the port in Moyogalpa without incident. From there, it was another 45 minutes by taxi to our hotel on the opposite side of the island. We agreed on a fare and were then led to the tiniest taxi in the world. Even with our small amount of luggage, it was a tight fit.
Volcan Concepcion from the island's airstrip
White-faced spider monkey
Jana and Adolpho with his tiny taxi
Lodging: El Encanto Garden Hotel on Ometepe Island, in the village of Santa Cruz. It took two days and many modes of transportation to get here, but it was worth it to arrive in paradise! We checked in at 4:30 and headed to our room, a comfortable, air-conditioned casita with a terrace overlooking the jungle-like surroundings. And only $39 per night. Wow! We'll be here four nights.
El Encanto Garden Hotel
Organic insecticide
Tom on the terrace
The sun goes down around 5:45, so we soon headed back out, down the hotel's long, rocky driveway to the main road. First, we visited a small tienda to stock up on necessities (beer and Flor de Caña, the national rum), and then it was dinnertime.
Comedor Los Cocos is a nice restaurant overlooking the water. The menu has a wide selection, but we got lazy and ordered burgers and fries. The burgers were good, but we'll have to come back again and try something more interesting. Tonight, we drank Victoria, the other ubiquitous Nicaraguan beer, not especially flavorful, but an improvement from the tasteless Toña.
Comedor Los Cocos
The sky had cleared since this afternoon, so after dinner we sat in a swing by the beach and admired the stars. When we walked back up the long driveway to our hotel, the eyes of thousands of spiders were reflected in our headlamps. They didn't bother us, and we didn't bother them.
Back at the casita, we enjoyed the pleasant warm breeze on our terrace as we savored the excellent Flor de Caña rum. It's been a long two days of travel. Tomorrow, we'll take it easy and have some fun.