Finishing in Nicaragua, starting Honduras

I'm not really in the mood to write too many details, but I'll brief my travels for the last few weeks. After Ometepe island in Nicaragua I caught a ferry to San Carlos at the southeast corner of Lake Nicaragua. From there I took a lancha (kind of like a bus on the water) down the Rio San Juan to El Castillo. I stayed there a couple days then backtracked to San Carlos, took a boat to the Solentiname islands, where I stayed 5 nights, two in my hammock and three in a room. Next I was in transit for a couple days, first returning to San Carlos where I took a ferry back to Ometepe, then another the following day to Rivas, and from there a bus back to San Juan del Sur where I planned to buy a Ukulele from just about the only person in Central America that sells them. I picked out a handmade concert size instrument, made of solid wood (mahogany and redwood), solid bone bridges and sealed tuners. I'm happy with the purchase.

After buying the instrument I was in no hurry to spend additional time in San Juan del Sur, so I took a bus first to Managua, then to Matagalpa. I stayed there for a couple nights and enjoyed the city before riding up to Esteli. Another couple nights there and I was headed for the border. Once in Honduras I took a bus first from El Paraiso and then from there to Tegucigalpa. I heard Tegucigalpa didn't have much to offer so I boarded one more bus to Comayagua. I learned quickly that Honduras is significantly more expensive than Nicaragua. After a night in Comayagua I took an odd string (the result of frugality) of buses to get to San Pedro Sula. Another bus and I was in La Ceiba. A night in a hostel there and I awoke to discover some new friends I'd made had had some articles stolen right out from under all of us while we were sleeping - one lost a cell phone and the other a laptop. Fortunately I didn't share their misfortune.

We shared a cab to the port that serviced the Caribbean islands of Utila and Roatan. I wasn't yet sure which I was going to, but decided once we arrived to go for Roatan. After a particularly vigilant journey across the sea to the Roatan I ended up in a cheaper area of the island known as West End. Over the next couple days here I'd meet some interesting new people, two of them being an American couple who had packed up and moved here from Florida, one for bartending and the other for training dolphins. We got to talking and I decided this is as good a place as any to hang around in for a month or two, so I moved into their two bedroom apartment, and got a bartending/waiting job at one of the more expensive places on the strip. So I'm here now, writing on the borrowed laptop of my new roommates, and starting work in 40 minutes. I wrote way more than I had intended, and thus the quality of my picture captions will suffer.

Sunset while leaving Ometepe

On the way to El Castillo, on Rio San Juan

The Castle

The view from the balcony of the hospedaje

A strategic point of the river, with many submerged rocks that make maneuvering difficult

The reason this location was chosen for the castle

The modest museum for El Castillo

San Carlos, Nicaragua

On Solentiname. "Hotel Mancarron is robbing us"

Encampment

The church on Solentiname

Termites

I'd expect this is named something like "Lady of the Island" but that's just speculation

An enormous spider I almost walked into while trudging around the jungle in shorts and flip flops. He's eating at the moment

Some of the Solentiname islands

Sunset on Solentiname

 

Mine and a couple locals hammocks setup for the 12 hours boat ride back to Ometepe

Church in Matagalpa

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

New Ukulele

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Museum Esteli, Nicaragua

Photos from the revolution

The museum operator insisted on taking some photos

Ammunition and art

Theater for sale. Any takers? Esteli, Nicaragua

Esteli, Nicaragua

Submarine in Roatan, Honduras. www.stanleysubmarines.com

Roatan, Honduras

Riding out to our diving location

Snorkeling with my roommate Bobby