Crossing from Costa Rica to Nicaragua was our first independent border crossing for a while and it was a mighty travel day. Our first bus left La Fortuna at 6am to take us 8km to El Tanque, there we had to wait over an hour for our bus to the border, Penas Blancas. The bus was supposed to be direct but after two hours we were told to change buses. The next bus was extremely crowded but as we’d been on the previous bus we were allowed to board first, ensuring our seat. We reached the border and we’d paid our exit tax for Costa Rica online so we were able to get across the border on foot pretty quickly. From the Nicaraguan side we faced catching two buses, or one bus and a taxi to the ferry port, Joey however flexed his expert taxi negotiating skills and got a great price to take us straight to the port at San Jorge. There we had an hour wait for the ferry, then an hour’s ferry ride to the volcanic island of Ometepe.

Our journey wasn’t over yet though as we needed to get to the other side of the island which involved a tuk tuk ride, only about halfway through the clutch went on the tuk tuk so the driver had to call his friend to come and pick us up! All in all in took about 13 hours to make it to our hostel.

Ometepe sits in Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, has two volcanoes and is incredibly scenic; there are banana plantations everywhere and the two volcanoes can be seen from everywhere. We started our day by hiring a scooter and going to do some kayaking on the lake. We spotted lots of birds, all really close to us as well as some small alligators, I wasn’t that keen on getting too close to them but they were cool to see. We scootered around some of the island finishing at a nature reserve where you could take a short hike and a dip in the lake which was a nice way to end the day.

The following day we went to Ojo de agua, we thought these were hot springs but it was actuallly a nice natural swimming pool but definitely not hot! The surroundings were beautiful and it was a pleasant way to spend the hot morning.

From Ometepe we were heading to Granada, we took a taxi to the port again, sharing a taxi with another couple from the UK who were also heading to Granada. We chatted to them on the ferry and then rather than take two buses, Joey negotiated another great rate with a taxi to take the four of us all the way to Granada!

Granada was a beautiful small colonial town, the buildings were colourful and there seemed to be a great atmosphere about the place. It’s super hot when the sun is out but come the evening everyone takes their rocking chairs out onto the pavements, it was amazing to see and we definitely fancy getting a rocking chair now!

We spent a day exploring the churches and a museum before the next day going to a Laguna which used to be a volcano crater! You book a shuttle with a hostel and then have a day pass to the Laguna where you have free access to a kayak as well as tractor tyres inner tubes to bob about on the lake- a very pleasant way to pass the time!

We then headed to Leon and had hoped that the couple we’d met in Ometepe would leave the same day as us so we could share another taxi but they told us the night before that they were going to spend a night in the capital so we were forced to use our first bit of public transport in Nicaragua!

Everyone we’d spoke to and all the blogs we’d read actually rated Leon above Granada, but we didn’t feel it. The small area around the cathedral was nice but overall we much preferred Granada.

The cathedral is the largest in Central America and you can walk on the domed white roof which was stunning, but otherwise we found the city quite dirty and underwhelming. Our hostel didn’t help the situation as our bathroom was separated from the bedroom by a shower curtain, and you had to walk downstairs and along a corridor to switch on a pump to allow you a decent enough water flow to take a shower or indeed flush the toilet!

We went out to a local beach on the pacific coast on a chicken bus which was quite the experience, it was packed to the rafters and had a beach toy vendor on board as well as someone selling pizza slices fresh out of a box! The beach was pleasant but extremely hot, as was the whole of Leon. There was a small shaded area where you could rent a hammock which we did, definitely what I Imagined travelling life to be like – hammocks on a beach!

We were able to catch up with our new friends from Ometepe again, but here our paths divide as we’re taking the less trodden path through Honduras and they’re heading straight to El Salvador where we’re hoping we might cross paths again.

We really enjoyed Nicaragua and appreciated the lower prices. We’re in our final four weeks so it’s now a case of really ensuring that we enjoy this last bit of time travelling and to us that means treating ourselves well, spending a bit more on accommodation and eating out. We can diet when we’re home!