Day 25 - Ripping through Granada

Packed, fed and waiting for our taxi ride to the ferry. With the arrival of our taxi we said our goodbyes to Ryan and Angela and the other guests of the retreat. Our departing taxi was the same van that broke down on our arrival. We loaded our gear and set off for the dock. We stopped a few minutes into our trip for another passenger. The skies were clear and the views of the two volcanoes was exceptional. When we made the dock the ferry was just loading up with trucks for the trip across. We hauled our stuff up a flight of stairs and sat in some seats. The differences between this ferry and the lancha we took earlier in the week were drastic; bathroom, canteen, TV, no sooty smokestack and a smoother ride.

Once on the otherwise of the lake in San Jorge we were greeted by the usual taxi driver looking to whisk us away in his taxi for a fee. I said we were going to the bus station for the bus to Granada and he gave us his rate to Granada of $30. We decided to use him instead of the bus because the bus wasn't leaving for another 2 hours. In the end it was a good decision as he took us to see the central park in Rivas when I mentioned we were to visit the central park in Granada and then when we were pointing out the size of the papaya at the fruit stands on the side of the road we had to stop at one for us to try a fruit called sapote. We didn't want to eat it in the taxi so we just took the fruit with us for later.

Arriving in Granada in about an hour from Rivas we were let out at a hostel to stash our bags for a couple of hours while we checked out the city. We did a stroll through the stalls in the parque centro looking at shirts and crafts. We bought Elliot a baseball shirt with Nicaragua stitched on the front. In front of a large Nicaragua flag we did a video of Tegan's Irish dance and then we hired a horse and buggy to take us around the city. The tour was enjoyable, but not as extensive as I would have liked. We were showed no more than a dozen sights on our circular ride. I had Tegan and Elliot do a video Christmas message for Escuela Collingwood.

After our quick tour we stopped at a gelato place for a treat and the left to retrieve our bags. The taxi rate to Managua was much more than the $20 estimate given by the manager at the hostel. Instead we got a $40 taxi ride instead of the street price of $50. At least we were again on our way. Being a Saturday night we saw many people dressed up at the bus stops in Managua. At our hotel we noticed something big was happening in the outdoor terrace. We went to our room, Elliot somehow had grease on him from the horse and carriage and got that grease on the bed and rug. Not good.

The kids got into their swimsuits and we made our way downstairs for a swim. Something big was definitely happening on the terrace. Now there were girls dressed up with Santa hats on and all sorts of people in suits or dresses. We made our way past all of them, feeling a little out of place. We proceeded to the pool where the kids got to jump in, swim for 10 minutes and then staff approached Correen to let her know they had to get out. Upstairs to get dressed to go eat at the hotel's restaurant. After supper we just sat in our room watching TV and then we packed our stuff for tomorrow's 4am wake up call.