Our last day in Central America!

Hey guys, we've hit the end of the road in our trip through Central America and it has been a ride to remember!

The day before yesterday, as I said, we went to Masaya, north of Granada and also a little larger but it is the "capital" of Nicaraguan artifacts and since it is the end we thought it would be the right time to stock on traditional items hehehe. There was the "Mercardo Viejo" which resembled a lot the one in Antigua...actually pretty much all the three countries (Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) have the same artifacts and they all sell hammocks...the local pastime :)

We got back to Granada in the afternoon and had dinner in the main square before heading back to the hotel with the free internet and telephone calls, not to mention the pool in the middle of the courtyard hehe

Yesterday we took a chicken bus down to San Jorge where we got a fishing boat (converted to passanger boat) to the Isla de Omotepe. The boat trip was a bit of an adventure as the lake water was rugh because of the weather and the boat rocked back and forth as if a baby in its cradle with water coming in from all sides and quite a few people getting seasick! The island is made of 2 volcanoes -- Concepcion and Maderas -- one of them is still active and the other now has a lagoon in its crater...unfortunately we did not have enough time to climb up the one with the lagoon as we had to leave the next day and a tour usually takes at least 8 hours! We got a hotel on the shore of the lake pretty deserted from everywhere else but next to Charco Verde (green lagoon) which we explored this morning.

Today after walking a bit around the lake and taking some photos of the local women washing their clothes on the shore with little tables set up in the lake with huge stones on top for "beating" the clothes clean we got back on another chicken bus to get to the ferry (this time a big ferry made for cars that didnt rock as much as yesterday's :) and then on another chicken bus to make the 2 hour ride back to Managua, where 2 canadian girls we crossed on the island had gotten robbed by 4 "kids" with a gun (dont worry, they didnt have much of value on them)...needless to say we dont plan on venturing much farther than the hotel today except for, of course, the internet hehehe. Also, today in Managua is the last day of Carnaval which, according to the taxi driver, is when people get the most drunk and the most likely to pick a fight, especially with an easy target such as a tourist with a camera hehehe...so yeah, he recommended us not to go see it...too bad :(

Right now, we are checking to see the new developments with flights into the USA due to this latest "terrorist plot" and we can no longer bring liquids or gels of any kind in our carry on but luckely they dont say anything about cameras so we're safe, its only for travelling into the UK that they are being more strict! So as of now (and for your knowledge in case of anything, tomorrow we will be on an American Airlines flight #970 from Managua to New York with a stopover in Miami and we should arrive in New York via flight #1072 at 9:15 pm(21:15) (local time). So keep a look out on planes tomorrow or the news hehehe

Thanks for reading us! Hope you've had a good time following us around Central America. We will update the blog with photos and some stories of New York once we get back to Brussels on tuesday morning!

Love,
Jo and Fil