Signed by Scarlett

Welcome to the next part of my time backpacking: Nicaragua.

The journey from Guatemala to Nicaragua was a whirlwind as the 12 hour journey we were promised, took 20 hours, as we crossed three border controls with a ton of issues.

Around 3am we were picked up in the shuttle to start our journey, joining two boys called Saroop and Scott.

To start with we all tried to sleep, including our driver when we got stuck in traffic due to a fallen tree, but we quickly learnt sleeping would not be on the agenda because driving over there is no joke.

Driving into upcoming traffic, over pavements and sometimes just going the completely wrong way on the road.

Don’t worry – this was only the start as we were going to be going through El Salvador and Honduras on to way to Nicaragua.

A couple of things happened: we changed shuttles at one point, a girl on our shuttle had a problem with her passport and we all got told we were going to quote and quote “die” whilst our driver put waved his hand across his neck, got stopped in the pitch dark by police who searched all our passports and many border controls (including a two hour border control at Nicaragua!)

But eventually we arrived in Leon.

Leon

Hostel: Poco a Poco – £7.06 pppn

We got the cheapest room at the hostel and it showed but it wasn’t bad for a couple of nights! A bathroom in the room, loads of places to sit, a kitchen and we got free breakfast – also plenty of activities including a quiz! The only downside was being on the top bunk with a guy on the bottom who wouldn’t stop moving and my tiny metal bed was moving like crazy, so much so that my pillow fell off and when I asked him to pass it me, he gave me his? Still confused.

We did a lovely walking tour here with a brilliant guide as he showed us more of the town and the history of Nicaragua – definitely a highlight of this place.

However, if you’re coming to Leon, chances are you’ve come to Volcano board!

Reuniting with our travel besties, Kate and Erin, and everyone we met on our shuttle to Nicaragua, we headed to Bigfoot Hostel to get all our gear and jumped on to the American school bus to head to ‘Cerro Negro Volcano’!

A very steep 45 minute walk up later, you’ll be preparing yourself to sit on your board, lean back and board down the volcano as quick as you can!

Fun Fact: If you put your palm on the ground, it will still feel hot due to the volcano still being active, but it hasn’t erupted since 1999.

Hopping back onto the bus is when things get crazy.

Prepare yourself for having drinks sprayed at you and poured straight into your mouth whilst you stand on the bus with flaring music, disco lights and banging the rooftop to the beat of the music – it’s definitely an experience!

You’ll even make a brief visit to a locals house for a family dinner and toasted marshmallows surrounded by farm animals!

The following day we headed on a 3 hour shuttle to Granada.

Granada

Hostel: Hostel Oasis – £11.22 pppn

Our first private room at a hostel and we had never been more excited! I highly recommend this hostel, it was very social, loads of places to chill, our private room was lovely and near the bathrooms and showers and you even get free drinks every evening.

The food here is also really lovely – highly recommend the noodles!

There aren’t loads to do, but we had a lovely walk around the town and saw the pretty church and colourful streets. We also popped to the market, but a prewarning it is very chaotic and not the safest I’ve ever felt, I got grabbed by a guy, so something to keep in mind.

A huge group of us went to watch the England VS Netherlands semi-final euros game at a local pub and we won! (sadly we know what happens next).

Whilst here, we also did the day out to Laguna de Apoyo with the hostel.

The lake, which was originally a volcano crater, means that the water is lovely and warm and is a beautiful place for a relaxing day within the chaotic life of backpacking.

Later that night, we went to ‘Pita Pita’ for dinner, highly recommend as it was absolutely gorgeous!

San Juan Del Sur

We decided to get the chicken bus to Rivas and then another one to San Juan del Sur! We did get charged more for the ticket, some lovely locals on the bus tried to help us with our limited Spanish to get our money back as they noticed we had been scammed, sadly to no avail but showed us the kindness of others!

We then got picked up by the hostel truck in town and headed to The Space!

Hostel: The Space – £10.16 pppn

This hostel was definitely one of our favourites, despite it being further out of town, it was very social, very comfy beds and nice bathrooms, loads of areas to chill, a nice pool, and great food and drinks.

Also hosted loads of activities including where we played beer pong with Patrick, Conrad, Jessica and Luke, we tried to win Sunday Funday tickets but sadly lost!

The day after we hitchhiked to the local beach Playa Maderas with Patrick and Conrad, luckily picked up by a group on ATVs blaring music and it was a blast!

We spent the day trying to surf, or rather I gave up very quickly, but it was a very fun day and the view of the sunset on the beach was spectacular.

Hostel: Pachamama – £10.78 pppn

On the Sunday we moved hostels to the hostel where ‘Sunday Funday’ begins due to the fact that if you stay here – you get discounted tickets! However without telling us, you had to stay here for two nights to get the discount, luckily we argued our point and still got the discount.

Before we officially kicked off Sunday Funday, we headed to a local pub called ‘Ikal’ to watch the Euro finals with the friends we’d made along the way on our travels – sadly we lost but the vibes were incredible!

Sunday Funday officially kicked off as we headed on a crawl to Pachamama, The Space, Social and ending at Arribas Bar – an eventful and fun night to say the least. But highly recommend!

Ometepe

Heading to Ometepe, we first caught a chicken bus back to Rivas, where you then can grab a taxi to the ferry port. We recommend looking for other backpackers doing the same, as we joined two boys on our chicken bus and split the taxi four ways – made it a lot cheaper! After the ferry, you can get a shuttle to whichever hostel you’re staying at.

Hostel: Raindance – £10.47 pppn

Sadly I wouldn’t recommend this hostel at all. We got recommended this hostel by a couple boys we were friends with on the trip who loved it, but I’d say as girls here, we had a very different experience.

The staff didn’t have a clue what they were doing and one particular staff member, said some very rude comments too me, the beds were like “cages” and ‘Wet Wednesday’ wasn’t anything to remember – so definitely give this hostel a miss.

However the location meant we were right across from a moped shop (which is main mode of transport on the island) where we hired our little Naranja moped that we grew very fond to.

Recommendations:

• Charco Verde – beautiful nature reserve and butterfly garden
• Playa Mangoes Beach – absolutely stunning views with food and drinks
• Pan de Mama – fabulous ice cafe and cinnamon swirls
• Cafe Campestre – a great spot for a curry (although we actually had one at the next hostel below that was cheaper and was even better!)
• Ojo De Aqua – a natural pool where you could swim and chill, also a restaurant for food and drinks

Hostel: Hospedeje Soma – £10.11 pppn

We stayed at Hospedeje Soma just for the one night to be closer to the ferry for the next day, however it was a great little pit stop for a quiet evening.

A great selection of food, including an incredible curry, as we enjoyed a game of scrabble and a few episodes of Downton Abbey (me and Danni binged this our entire trip).

We were even sharing a room with Abby and Ruby who we had met on our first stop in Guatemala.

That’s one of my favourite things about backpacking is bumping into so many people that you have met along your trip.

And that was our trip through Nicaragua!