Balque

My way to Isla de Ometepe started with a real chicken bus experience - backpackers call them chicken bus for a reason ;)
There are always people that come on the bus selling all kind of stuff. Mostly food but I had people on the bus selling toothbrushes, phone charger or medical cream. Mostly people just walk through the bus but some of them also stand in the front on the bus talking to everybody praising their products or sometimes also their beliefs trying to raise money for something. On the first bus one of this guys was talking about something like a priest trying to raise some money for a good cause by selling some sweets. At the same time there was another guy outside putting a pig in a sack. The pig was screaming heartrendingly but the owner showed no mercy. He closed the sack and fixed it hanging on the back of the bus. So when the bus started moving the priest was still talking non stop and the pig in the bag doesn't stop screaming. It was kind of an absurd situation especially as all the locals didn't react at all and the few backpackers on the bus kept looking at each other trying neither to show compassion nor to start laughing. Later on the island I had to take another bus and for some reason (I guess there was a market that day) there were 5 people on the bus with boxes full of little chicks! They made a lot of noice so I guess that was the most authentic chicken bus I took so far 😅
Isla de Ometepe was really beautiful. After I hiked up Volcano Maderas on my first full day we got bikes the next day to go to the other side of the island where we got us canoes and paddled into a river between the two volcanoes to watch some wildlife. We didn't see any crocodiles but some monkeys and turtles. So after 2 full workout days I spend my last day on the island mostly relaxing at the beach. I was planning on going on a sunset horseback ride but somehow someone forgot about it and in the end it didn't happen.
I really liked the Lazy Crab Hostel where I stayed but the stuff was always a bit confused - so they forgot about horseback rides or other stuff. But somehow this matched with the relaxed atmosphere there so I didn't really mind.Read more