After Granada, we spent a week relaxing in San Juan del Sur. We lucked out and got a super nice place at a best resort in town; therefore, we didn’t really do anything other than cook lots and watch countless sunsets and thus don’t have many photos. It was a nice chance to sleep in and gave us a jump start on planning our Europe trip (plane tickets to Iceland and England as well as Greece and Germany are now booked!). Continue reading →

Remember when we swore off overland travel to/from the Corn Islands and vowed to fly back to Managua (here)? Well, as luck would have it – flights to Managua were sold out for the week. Unhappily, we booked a flight back to Bluefields in the morning, waited four hours for a panga to fill up and take us to Rama, boarded a bus to Managua (which wasn’t really a bus to Managua/we had to transfer in Juigalpa) that broke down en route. When we finally made it to Managua, it was well after dark and there were no more buses to Granada so we paid a taxi to drive us there. The taxi ride turned out to be the highlight of our ride – we had asked a few drivers what they would charge and this guy was the lowest and seemed friendly in his beat up (not legal) taxi. He picked up his son for the ride and to possibly leave in Granada to party for the night and we had a fun hour and a half drive down. The entire adventure cost the same as it would have to fly to Managua and bus to Granada and took an additional 15 hours. Continue reading →

If you managed to make it to the Corn Islands, you are in for a well-deserved treat (as mentioned in our previous post, we attempted the overland method; not recommended!). You arrive to Little Corn Island by boat from Big Corn Island (be prepared for a wet and bumpy ride). The journey takes anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes depending on the sea conditions. Continue reading →

It started off bad when we didn’t have internet at the Grand River Lodge – or anywhere around the Rio San Juan. Our Lonely Planet: Central America on a Shoestring book had given us limited information, however, we decided to attempt to get to the Corn Islands without flying anyways. Flying is obviously the most convenient way, but is also the most expensive way and can also only be done from Managua (which we were six hours away from via bus). The overland route it was via multiple buses/boats, and the adventure began. Continue reading →

We had woken up early (before 5:00 AM) to catch the first bus from San Jose, Costa Rica to the border town of Los Chiles, unsure of how far we could get in one day. Our “direct” bus gave a new meaning to the word; “direct” does not mean that the bus goes straight from arrival to destination city, it simply implies that you don’t have to transfer buses. During the six hours we were on the bus it must have detoured to a dozen towns and stopped over fifty times on the side of the road to pick-up or drop-off passengers. Our bus (like most buses in this part of the world) was a converted school bus and the seats are not meant for anyone taller than 5’5” (i.e. foreigners) and don’t have air conditioning making the stops even more painful as the wind ceased blowing. Continue reading →