Arriving in Isla de Ometepe
Trip Start
Dec 2007
1
8
30
Trip End
Feb 2008
Santo Domingo, Isla de Ometepe,
Nicaragua
Thursday, December 13, 2007
We chose the chicken bus/San Jorge route and our travel karma was still with us. We walked from our Granada hotel to where we thought the bus station was but it wasn't there, fortunately one of the bus touts soon found us and assumed we were heading to Rivas and took us to the bus. we clambered on board the bus, dumping our packs in the back and managed to get seats. As we were 30 minutes early for the 9.30 bus we expected to wait some time, not a pleasant experience in 30 degrees with baskets of fish and god knows what else. We didn't have to wait long and the bus left at 9:10, when we found out that it was the 8am bus and some American gals had been sweltering on the bus with the fish since 7.30.
Travelling by chicken bus is certainly an experience, it is basically an old American school bus with hard seats, air con via open windows and they can cram an amazing 73 people in one.
We arrived at Rivas and caught a taxi to San Jorge which is only 10 minutes down the road and hey presto a launch was waiting and off we set to Ometepe Island. We had no accommodation booked on the Island but had decided we would head inland to the beach between the two volcanoes and stay there. The guide book warned that we should book in advance but there was no response to our email so we chanced our luck and found that our second option, Hotel Finca Santo Domingo was in fact empty and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
It is a nice hotel, right on the beach and with a great balcony to chill out on. Unfortunately the air con didn't work so it got very hot at night.
all is well with us
:-)
Comments
58 People in a Chicken Bus
No way! We were on one a couple of days ago with closer to 120! There were at least 3 and some with a family of 5 on one 'double' seat, and stacked 3 people wide along the aisle. It was bedlam.... we'd already had a full bus go past and had to wait another hour (Sunday Service) for the next in the blazing heat so everyone was squeezing on. Very funny, but hot and uncomfortable ride!