I seem to have gotten my travelers groove back on. Nik is here now, so I'm no longer responsible for Elliot 100% of the time, which helps a lot.
On Thursday we got to the airport in plenty of time to meet Nik's flight. But suddenly Elliot developed a stomach ache that left him writhing and screaming. Surprisingly, no one at the Managua airport (including Luis, our driver) seemed to find this alarming - and since this wasn't the first time E had suffered intestinal distress with similar histrionics I was pretty certain he just had a gas bubble. Eventually a trip to the bathroom solved that problem, Nik made his way out through customs, and we were back on the road.
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| Government Ferry "El Che Guevara" was under repair |
After a whirlwind repack in Granada, we headed out to San Jorge to catch the 2:30 ferry for Ometepe. We got there at 2:31, thinking we had made it - Luis assured us that nothing ran on time in Nicaragua - but a dock official came to meet us and said we'd be on the 3:30 "lancha" (private boats that run in between the regular ferries). Everyone - everyone - had advised us against taking a lancha, because of their dangerous propensity for listing (and, presumably, occasionally sinking). So I was a bit concerned.
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| Luis, our driver |
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| Luis' car - definitely one of the nicer vehicles on the road... |
The official assured me that this lancha, the "Estrella", held 150 people and was just as safe as the ferry. He turned out to be right - the Estrella (unlike some other scary-looking vessels we saw) had two decks and proved to be quite seaworthy. But evidently the lanchas (unlike the ferries) run on Nicaraguan time. Ours left almost an hour late - which gave me (and Elliot) plenty of time to take pictures on the dock. |
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| The Estrella |
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| More typical 'lancha' |
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