Kerry and Mike, signing in.
Mike says: we took in a baseball game in rivas on the way to our ferry to ometepe island. it was raucous fun, and extremely hot, as we chose the unshaded 2nd row seats. well worth it though. once on the island, we drove to a coffee plantation at the foot of volcan maderas where we spent the night, resting up for a long hike the next day. little did we know it would be an 8.5 hour experience. kerry finally wised up and brought her inhaler, and had to be threatened into taking breaks and using it. after a slow and arduous climb, we made it to the top, and then made a short descent to a lagoon in between the high peaks. it was not ice cold and refreshing as our guide book had insinuated, but it felt good nonetheless. we then had an equally grueling climb down, complete with shaking limbs and a lack of water. the meal, shower, and swim afterwards were intensely satisfying, with a backdrop of kerry lapsing in and out of mental and physical strength. she was part delusional, part solid complaining, but very pleased that she made it to the top. now its raining on the island so were figuring out what to do next. later
Kerry says; Sadly, Mike is not exaggerating, but let´çs start from the beginning. From San Juan del Sur, we drove to Rivas to book tickets for the ferry. On our way there we passed by the baseball stadium and saw one starting up, which is how we randomly ended up in thereª As we were leaving the game due to extreme hunger and being way too hot==and for my, sunburned still=we found ourselves parked in. We had parked behind a raised sidewalk, and a car had parked behind usª We were forced to wait a few minutes, though it was nice in the air conditioning, until all of a sudden the car 2 spaces next to us and one space behind us leftª Then the parking man, some random man, and Mike proceeded to LIFT the car through the tiny, narrow spaces between parked cars in order to help Shane drive/maneuver through the cars. Qªuite the experienceª
We took the ferry over and saw the beaufiful view of two volanos on the island. On our way to the coffee finca, we decided to stop and take a dip in the freshwater lake. As I was running back to the car so that Mike could use my camera to take a picture, we ran into our Swiss friend Michael who had left us in the beach town. What a coincidence, and it was great to see himª
I crashed around 8 pm and slept the whole night through while the boys read and relaxed. We woke up early and began our hike. I was so nervous about whether I could do this one that I couldn´t even eat breakfast! However, with a lot of encouragement, a lot of breaks, a few panic attacks, the heat, etc I barely made it up. The last 2 ks were me scrambling up the rocky, steep climb on all 4çs. It was a great view, as we hiked up through a cloud forest to get to the secret lagoon! There were howler monkeys making noises the whole way up, it was just like being in a rainforest. Mike and Shane were caught up with the idea that we swam in a lake in a volcano on an island within a lake in a country with oceans on both sides.
We barely made it down, me with my limbs shaking and giving out, barely able to stand up. As Mike said we ate and showered, both of which were heavenly. We drove to Moyogalpa, where we stayed last night.
Thatçs all for now. Hope things are going wellª
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