Adventure confusion #1: our ticket said the bus was going to Managua. We were supposed to meet the others in Granada! Oh dear. (sigh of mishap acceptance) but shortly after, the problem was solved when we were informed that the bus will stop in Granada first. (sigh of relief)
About 4 hours into the bus ride, we pulled over to the side of the road, with a few other buses from our same company. After letting us sit for about half an hour trying to figure out on our own, the reason for having stopped, we were all told to get off the bus. (GASP!) ((suspense music)) ....... so that the police could check us and our passports. (okay, suspense music NOT necessary, but, did it have you on edge for a quick second? haha) So after all that, we got back on for another few hours of driving, until we arrived at the border station, at a time I would guess to be about 230/300pm. This is where Sara and I would run into the other people we were planning to meet in Granada, briefly, which consisted of 3 people who took the 645AM BUSS!!!!! and 3 who took the 8:15 bus. (That just tells you how long people really sit and wait there!) because we also ran into this man we had met in the morning, who took the 9:45 bus! haha
We didn't have to check anything at the border station, because we all only brough backpacks. BUT we had to wait for everyone else on the bus to check their stuff and for whoever else to do whatever else it was they were required to do.
In the meantime, Sara and I played cards for a while, met and played with this little 3 year old boy (of course) named Justin or Dustin or Jusie or Jessie or something along those lines.. haha. (he was adorable and had on a yellow shirt that had a soccer ball on it and said soccer, and little black and grey TOTAL 90 tennis shoes!!! [PRECIOUS.]
After the border station we got back on the bus (around 6pm) only to arrive in Granada around 8pm. 12 hours after first arriving to the bus station in San Jose, and almost 14 hours after waking up that morning.
We arrived, took a cab to an ATIM, and then to Oasis. The INCREDIBLY nice hostel that we were staying in for the night. It was HUGE. Had a shower big enough for like 10 people at a time (not that we put ten people in it, i'm just sayin, you know. haha) There was an indoor pool, a nice little kitchen (the cleanest in any of the hostels ive seen so far) , comfortable beds, several fans in the room instead of just one! A DVD library, tv w DVD player, and about 6 desktop computers that were free to use. Something else interesting that was included was a free 10 minute phone call to anywhere in the world (oddly excluding like belgium and some other random country) - which I was actually going to surprise Ryan (brother Ryan) with the phone call, but the power was out when I asked to do it - meaning I couldn't - and this was right before leaving for what would be considered our... second set of adventures.
Adventure #2: Boat ride to Island of Ometepe - which I am currently typing this on.
We left at 11:15am to head to the boat ticket office. We waited in line for about 45 minutes. (and NO, the line wasn't THAT long, it was just the lady working was THAT slow. It was like WORSE than tico-time!!! haha.)
After finally getting ticket, we thought we had a good half hour to relax. So Nicole and I went off to find some water and possibly some food. We successfully got the water, but as the food was half-dished for us at this little stand outside the boat place, the boys called us back telling us we were told to board the boat now. (Woohoo! Were gonna leave a little earlier than expected! What a treat!) so we boarded and waited as other people boarded, causing me to fall asleep and wake up an hour later to find we hadn't infact even began to move. (I knew it was too good to be true..) so around 230ish we departed the dock in Granada on what would be a 4-hour boat ride to the Island of Ometepe - an island formed by two volcanoes - one of which is still active (cool!!!) haha. I am currently on the boat tryin typing this with my itouch. Hoping to find wireless somewhere so I can connect and upload instead of havin to type all of it all over again and upload it all at once when I return. (which is what i'm doing at the moment actually) haha
It is currently 6:08pm. We should be arriving to the island in anywhere between 22 and 52 minutes. In order to pass the time, I spent approximately 7 minutes reading, 35 minutes playing what we thought might have been a never-ending game of "War" , the next hour playing Egyptian-Rat-Screw" , slap-Jack, and speed. Then aproximately 11 minutes eating some fried chicken, rice and fried plantains, and so far about 20 minutes doing this.
Our plans for after arrival are to find a nearby hostel, some food, maybe a cerveza or two (oops!) to quench our thirst over a nice game of spoons before bed. Only to awake before 7am , to take a bus to the other side of the island, find a new hostel by 8am , and then begin what will be about a 6 hour hike up the volcano. (YUP. Gooooodluuuck to me. haha)
I hope I can upload this tonight sometime or in the morning!
The rest of the weeks plans are to visit MAsaya, Managua, and then leave from there on Thursday morning for the final Nicaraguan adventure: The 12+ hour journey back to San Jose.
This is a picture from the border station - where we just sat, starving, and waiting, until we could re-board the bus for the rest of our journey.
Stay tuned!
:)
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