Having packed up and said my farewells in San Juan, I made the journey to Granada via Rivas on the chicken bus. Without hiccup, I arrived to the Ave Nicaraguita school early in the afternoon. Claudia greeted me and gave me the help I needed to book my shuttle for the early morning airport journey.
Once all of the logistics were worked out, I went to the market in Masaya to make a few final purchases before my departure from Nicaragua.
I returned to Granada before sunset and met the two other students currently staying in the dorm at the school and had the chance to pack up my things one last time. It is nice to end my trip where I began, but I am still going to face alot of difficulty coming home.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Days 110-114 - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Early Thursday morning, we got ready to board the bus from San Jose to Nicaragua. The busride itself was surprisingly smooth and the border crossing quick!
After about 6 hours, we were back in Nicaragua and in a cab from Rivas to San Juan del Sur. My friends there were awaiting our arrival and the two of us were looking forward to being back in the place where we had met a few months prior.
Having arrived in San Juan, we put our bags down and revisited my favorite El Colibri for dinner. The next few days, we were happy to be in comfortable San Juan. Justin invited us to sail on his boat with some other friends (although we were unable to leave the harbor due to strong winds). We also went back to Playa Madera and the pool at Pelican Eyes.
It was great to have the opportunity for one last visit on this trip, but sad to leave Gretchen there for another few days before her departure to Argentina.
After about 6 hours, we were back in Nicaragua and in a cab from Rivas to San Juan del Sur. My friends there were awaiting our arrival and the two of us were looking forward to being back in the place where we had met a few months prior.
Having arrived in San Juan, we put our bags down and revisited my favorite El Colibri for dinner. The next few days, we were happy to be in comfortable San Juan. Justin invited us to sail on his boat with some other friends (although we were unable to leave the harbor due to strong winds). We also went back to Playa Madera and the pool at Pelican Eyes.
It was great to have the opportunity for one last visit on this trip, but sad to leave Gretchen there for another few days before her departure to Argentina.
Days 106-109 - Manuel Antonio and San Jose, Costa Rica
I was able to use the next few days in Manuel Antonio to completely decompress and sleep. Gretchen had some things to take care of back in Jaco where she had been living, so I stopped about an hour short in a town to which I had been a few times already.
There is a gorgeous beach and Parque Nacional, but the town itself is rather slow in the evenings which was perfect. The days were full of hot hot sun (of which I could only handle a few hours).
Wednesday morning, I caught the bus to San Jose where I met up with Gretchen again. We bought our tickets for our trip to Nicaragua the following day before settling in and finalizing plans to meet my friend from Italy, Jeffrey.
We all met for coffee in the neighborhood where Gretchen and I were staying. It was great to catch up considering we had not seen each other in almost 6 years!
There is a gorgeous beach and Parque Nacional, but the town itself is rather slow in the evenings which was perfect. The days were full of hot hot sun (of which I could only handle a few hours).
Wednesday morning, I caught the bus to San Jose where I met up with Gretchen again. We bought our tickets for our trip to Nicaragua the following day before settling in and finalizing plans to meet my friend from Italy, Jeffrey.
We all met for coffee in the neighborhood where Gretchen and I were staying. It was great to catch up considering we had not seen each other in almost 6 years!
Days 101-105 - Dominical, Costa Rica
We arrived to Dominical on Tuesday around noon after an overnight bus from Panama City. We had quite the delay at the border at 5am when the windows to let us out of Panama were not open for the first hour or so that we were there. Following that delay, we made good time the remainder of the way to Dominical.
We found ourselves a cabina at Tortilla Flats which was extremely centrally located on the beach and within a few minutes of the main drag in town. The restaurant at the hotel-hostel was pretty happening as well which made it a nice place for us to stay.
During the days, we went to the beach and made an ocean kayak voyage before Erin left us on Thursday. Once Erin left to Panama once again, Gretchen and I took some time to get our plans in order. On our final day, we woke up before sunrise for our day voyage to Parque Nacional Corcovado on the Peninsula de Osa. It was a 45 minute drive to a 1.5 hour boat in order to get to the first ranger station in the park. The park itself was absolutely gorgeous with loads of wildlife for us to see including bats, howler monkeys and scarlet macaws. We spent several hours walking around with our guide before making the journey back to Dominical for sunset.
The next stop on the way back to Nicaragua for me was Manuel Antonio.
We found ourselves a cabina at Tortilla Flats which was extremely centrally located on the beach and within a few minutes of the main drag in town. The restaurant at the hotel-hostel was pretty happening as well which made it a nice place for us to stay.
During the days, we went to the beach and made an ocean kayak voyage before Erin left us on Thursday. Once Erin left to Panama once again, Gretchen and I took some time to get our plans in order. On our final day, we woke up before sunrise for our day voyage to Parque Nacional Corcovado on the Peninsula de Osa. It was a 45 minute drive to a 1.5 hour boat in order to get to the first ranger station in the park. The park itself was absolutely gorgeous with loads of wildlife for us to see including bats, howler monkeys and scarlet macaws. We spent several hours walking around with our guide before making the journey back to Dominical for sunset.
The next stop on the way back to Nicaragua for me was Manuel Antonio.
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