The Joys of Travel Days

After the most amazing time in the Corn Islands, it was time to leave. We enjoyed one more night, sleeping with the night animals, the ocean wind, and of course, the rooster waking us at 3 am. We had one last crepe breakfast on our deck. And, I was hoping, one last swim in the ocean. 

The waves had other plans, throwing up sand, seaweed, branches, and other debris. As I waded, thigh high, into the waves, I realized the storm brewing in the waters wasn't worth it. It was too dirty and choppy for this girl. So, with a dry swimsuit, we headed the few minutes back to our hostel and took our time to get ready. We said goodbye to Lee and Missy, the owner and his adorable dog, and set off down the hill once again, in search of a taxi.

We only waited a few minutes before one came along. Arriving at the airport, we were asked to weigh our bags...Jan's was overweight by 10 pounds, they said. So shee took out a few things. Then, we had to hold our carry on bags and get on the scale. That's right, we had to step on the scale, with our carry on, in front of people, and get weighed. Talk about my worst nightmare!!! Evidently, we were all ok for weight at least, and were sent through, sans boarding passes, to have our bags manually searched. Then we were checked with a metal detecting wand. Finally, after getting comfy in the waiting area, we were called forward so they could search our luggage. I believe this airport may be short one x-ray machine. All was good though and I spent my time chatting with the swedish guy who was also on our flight. Altthough, I didn't even get his name! It was finally time to board and we were all shocked, and slightly dismayed when we saw the tiniest plane headed our way. 

We boarded the 12 seater plan, (Ah! 12 seater) and ended up in the back. I won't lie, I was more than a little nervous about the bumps this plane was going to have. As we took off, the tail going one way, the nose the other, we saw the most breathtaking sights. Big Corn Island, in its entirety, surrounded by turquoise waters.

(We stayed right behind the funny shaped, white roof)

We had both fallen in love with this beautiful place. As it turns out, the ride was much smoother than the last plane, and most of us fell asleep.

In no time, we were landing in Managua, and Jan and I were gathering our gear and heading out to the taxi stand. After negotioating a fair price we got into the car which took us to Uca station where we were going to catch the mini bus express to Granada. When we arrived at the station, (and by station, I mean a dirt road with some buses, some vans, some cars, and a whole lot of people) about 4 guys started pulling us in all directions, trying to get us to get on THEIR bus to Granada. We  finally chose one, verifying that it was the express, as in no stops along the way. Well, about 1 minute into our journey, we made our first stop. We were definitely not on the express. Our mini bus, basically, a large van, had people standing in the aisles and filling the door ways. Jan and I sat with our backpacks crushing our stomachs and wind pipesas we didn't want to pay for our bags to have a seat...plus there were too many people to feel ok with taking up a seat with our bag. 

Jan was not happy and when he finally stopped and let us off the bus, he just smirked when Jan confronted him about the amount of stops made. We grabbed a taxi and arrived at our hostel. At first, all seemed well, but as soon as we were shown into our room, I knew we'd been duped. Our room was disgusting. A bed on the floor with walls that were filthy. A fan on the wall blew only at the window, where tattered curtains hung over plastic slats that let in all the bugs. Jan and I looked at each other and cringed. 

There was nothing else available as there was a holiday in Granada.  We had just come from the most amazing place to the worst. At least the city looked pretty cool, with beautiful  architecture. After showers, where I made sure absolutely nothing touched anything in the bathroom (we're talking green skuzz here people), We got dressed and headed out for dinner. We had a pretty delicious mediterranean meal, meeting several people from Jan's Spanish classes, before heading to the grocery store and then in for the night. The bed was awful, and Jan said it best when she complained of being stabbed in the back by springs. But soon after putting our heads down, despite the bombs (loud bangs of firecrackers) going off for the festivites, we were both fast asleep until about 5am. I guess listening to the sounds of the outdoors hadn't been quite as relaxing as we thought, as I slept soundly for about 6 hours. New adventure to follow tomorow!