After San Juan del Sur, Siw and I headed to isla de ometepe home of two spectacular volcanoes. Most people climb one or both of the volcanoes, but the hikes are between 8 and 12 hours in 40 degree heat aka not my idea of fun! We chose to look up at the beauty from the beach haha our experience of ometepe wasn't bad, the scenery was spectacular, the waters of lake nicaragua were warm and soothing and we met some lovely people. There were just all of these small things that didn't work out too well, which when compounded, seemed like the end of the world haha needless to say, we were pretty relieved to take the ferry back to the mainland. I'm glad that I went to ometepe but I think that a bit more research and planning would have helped us immensely!
Once we reached the mainland, we were going to spend the night in Rivas and head to Costa Rica the next morning. Well, the taxi driver told us that the border would be closed the next day because of semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter that everyone has as holidays. So, off to the border we went! We left Nicaragua and headed into Costa Rica, had one last street food meal eaten at the bus station and within an hour, it was time to say bye to my travel buddy Siw as I was headed to Liberia and she continued on to San Jose and then Panama. The trip wouldn't have been the same without her and I am so lucky we crossed paths! It was sad saying bye, but as soon as I got off the bus I had to deal with the fact that it dropped me off on the side of the highway. SO RANDOM! I found my way to the hostel I had booked and settled in. The plan was to stay in Liberia for the week until my mum arrived on Saturday. There isn't much going on in liberia so I took the public bus to Tamarindo for two days and checked into a hostel there!
Those two days I had chillin in tamagringo, as it is affectionately known, were really awesome because I got to check out everything before my mum got here and got readjusted to being in a touristy area with shops and restaurants that aren't overrun with chickens! Haha
I met two cool people from Toronto, Steph and Aurimas and we rented a surfboard one day (which I waxed with PINK wax!) and hit the waves. It was so much fun! Then we had sushi and they continued on their trip. I'm heading back toToronto this weekend and I think we will meet up.
One thing about costa rica is that everything is super expensive! It was such a shock coming from Nicaragua so I'm glad I ended my trip here! Since tamarindo was so busy for semana santa I wasn't able to book a room Thursday night so I headed back to Liberia until Saturday when my momma came!!!
We checked into our beautiful hotel and have been relaxing and eating great food and hangin out together! It's so nice o get to spend some time with her since I haven't seen her in two months! And it's nice to not be in hostels anymore haha
One day I went diving with pacific coast dive centre which was awesome! It was great to be diving again and although I didn't see a manta ray, we saw some beautiful fish and eagle Rays it was amazing!
We also went one night to a beach to watch pacific green sea turtles nesting. It was such a magical experience, out there with the bright stars and no lights to see these four foot long turtles come out of the ocean, find a good spot to dig their nest, and then watch them dig through the sand and lay the eggs. It was just so cool and something I will never forget in my whole life! So special that i got to see it with my mum!
Today is our last day in paradise, we are hanging out by the pool, going to have one last dip in the ocean and having our "Friday night pizza" tradition at the Italian restaurant at our hotel. Tomorrow we are on the same flight at 1:30 but I'm getting off in Toronto and she is headed home to Ottawa.
Central America has been so good to me, and a piece of my heart will always be here, in every wave, piña and beautiful sunset! I definitely recommend travelling in Honduras and Nicaragua for backpacking and Costa Rica if it is in your budget is so beautiful!
Now on to a new adventure as I look for my first "real" job in advertising, and hopefully a big move to Vancouver or back to trusty T.O!!!
