First night in Masaya
Trip Start
Aug 21, 2008
1
16
59
Trip End
Ongoing
Masaya,
Nicaragua
Saturday, September 27, 2008
It's my last day in Central America, before catching a 4am cab to the airport... sigh.
We woke up at the peaceful Finca Magdalena, packed up and headed towards the ferry back to the mainland. Because of the limited transportation on the island, we knew it was going to take us a few hours to catch the 1:30pm ferry. Luckily, as we were walking down the road, ready to break into full sweat yet again, one of the travelers we had met back at the farm drove past us in a taxi van. It turned out that she and her friends were also on their way to the ferry and also going to Masaya, our next destination... Woohoo! So we got a lift and actually made the 12:30pm boat instead!
The ferry ride was... ummm... interesting... to say the least. To sum it up, imagine... old re-used Greyhound bus seats... 80s bootleg music videos (e.g. Chicago's "Hard to say I'm sorry" and Bryan Adam's "I'll do it for you")... a local guy singing along to every word in his latin accent... and the creme de la creme - occasional wafts of Mark's smelly feet that could knock out even the most congested of flu victims.
Anyway... as the ferry pulled up to the docks, we saw a bus to Masaya ready to go, as if it were waiting just for us. What luck!
Being my last night, we splurged on a room, choosing the "best" hotel in town - Madera's Inn, which cost us $15. We quickly checked in and then tried to sort out the Night Tour for Volcan Masaya. Logistics grew a bit complicated, because we were pressed for time. A taxi driver took advantage and overcharged us for a ride to the volcano...
Masaya sulphur
And we didn't realize that we needed to actually keep the taxi to drive us around to the various spots along the Night Tour. We had assumed the national park provided that, seeing as how we were paying them $10 per person, which is a lot of money down there. Luckily, the park felt bad for us and provided a park ranger "chauffeur" for free. :)The tour was pretty cool, being that it was an active volcano. Sulfuric gases billowed out from inside, requiring us to wear gas masks at one point. We also visited a bat cave, where I was a bit nervous thinking that one of the bats was going to fly straight into my head - similar fear with pigeons. Then we went deep down into one of the tunnels created by a lava trail. At the end of the tunnel, the guide told us about how the indigenous people (back in the day) used to bring their dead down into these tunnels... and then asked us to turn off our flashlights to experience how dark it gets. Complete blackout. And yes, I know ghosts don't exist, but that didn't stop me from grabbing onto Mark's arm for security.
The last stop on the tour was another view into the mouth of the volcano, where by this time of the evening, it was dark enough to see the red glow from the lava. VERY COOL!
All in all, a pretty great ending to the trip followed up with yummy mexican "tapas" for dinner. The next morning at 4am, the cab driver took me to the airport and I flew back to NYC - upgraded again to 1st class (woohoo!).
So as my guest writing duties come to an end, I leave you with some things I've learned about traveling in Central America and Mark...
You know you love me... XOXO! (Shout out to the Gossip Girl fans!)
Key learnings about traveling in Central America:
- It really is CHEAP!
- Taxi drivers overcharge by 10-fold.
- Bring a gallon of bug spray
- If backpacking, pack your bags, then take out half. That's all you're ever going to need.
Key learnings about Mark:
- His feet really stink - future travel buddies beware!
- Apparently lacks a sense of direction only when I'm around... uh huh... ;)
- Is much better at not losing stuff. Although... he will think he has lost something, only to find it later deep within his bag
- Conversational spanish skills are pretty impressive
- Is an awesome boyfriend to have altered his backpacker style trip to cater to my more holiday style wishes, and a fantastic travel companion, up for pretty much anything, who I miss already...
