Nicaragua and Costa Rica by land

On February 4th, after having secured Zoe at the Yacht Club Costa Rica, we spent about three weeks in south Nicaragua and northwest Costa Rica.

We took three buses to reach Penas Blancas, the border with Nicaragua, and from there a taxi to reach Granada, laying on the large Lake Nicaragua . We found Granada to be one of the most beautiful colonial cities we have seen in Central America, with its colored houses and churches. We explored the nearby area, the Volcán Masaya, Laguna de Apoyo, Volcán Mombacho, the Isletas of Granada, Isla Zapatera and Isla del Muerto. We rented a car to explore San Juan del Sur (where we will return by boat) and some of the nearby surf beaches, and to visit the Isla de Ometepe, a beautiful island inside Lake Nicaragua featuring two impressive volcano.

It took us about 7 hours to get to San Carlos (on the south east corner of Lake Nicaragua) by bus, and from there about 2 hours by boat to reach El Castillo, an enchanting  village on the Rio San Juan. In El Castillo we spent a few relaxing days admiring from the terrace of our B&B the waters of the Rio San Juan and visiting the old Spanish fortress. We took a day trip to explore downstream Rio San Juan and to walk along the trails of the Refugio Bartola park.

On February 19th we returned to Granada and from there to Costa Rica where we spent three days in the region of Guanacaste, a cattle and dry forest place, with a few volcano still giving signs of their nature. We had the opportunity to swim in a true hot water river, running for kilometers with its hot and later warm thermal waters. We took a bus from Liberia to return to our boat, getting the opportunity to appreciate this extremely live city, offering the best gourmet food we tried in the region.

We found Zoe in good health, still needing our attention for some maintenance we had procrastinated for too long…  And, we prepared it to host our friends Marie-Helene and Thierry who are arriving today to accompany us again for a small segment of our journey!

SOUTH NICARAGUA

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February 4th – Granada cathedral and lake Nicaragua

 

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February 6th – Laguna de Apoyo

 

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February 6th – Artist at San Juan de Oriente

 

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February 6th – Volcán Masaya crater

 

 

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February 7th – Volcán Mombacho forest

 

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February 7th – Orchid at Volcán Mombacho

 

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February 7th – Orchid at Volcán Mombacho

 

 

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February 9th – Beach at San Juan del Sur

 

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February 9th – Sunset at Playa Hermosa

 

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February 10th – Oxen pulling a cart in San Juan del Sur

 

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February 10th – Volcán Concepción, Isla de Ometepe

 

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February 10th – Volcán Concepción, Isla de Ometepe

 

 

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February 11th – Leaving Isla de Ometepe by ferry

 

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February 12th – Back to Granada

 

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February 12th – Choice of vinegar at the Granada market

 

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February 12th – Granada Market

 

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February 12th – Granada

 

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February 13th – School at Isla Zapatera

 

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February 13th – Petroglyphs at Isla Zapatera

 

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February 15th – El Castillo castle

 

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February 15th – El Castillo, view of the river San Juan

 

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February 15th – El Castillo, view of the river San Juan

 

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February 17th – Parque Bartola, a green and black poison dart frog

 

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February 17th – Parque Bartola, a blue jeans poison dart frog

 

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February 17th – Rio San Juan, fish eagle

 

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February 17th – Rio San Juan, Anhinga anhinga

 

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February 19th – The village of El Castillo

 

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February 19th – The boat from El Castillo to San Carlos

 

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February 19th – The bus from San Carlos to Granada

 

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February 20th – Back to Granada

 

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February 20th – Granada Cathedral

 

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February 20th – Plaza de la Catedral, Granada

 

GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

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February 22nd – Rio Perdido, a hot water (42° C) river

 

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February 22nd – Rio Perdido

 

 

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February 22nd – Baby hawler monkey at Rio Perdido

 

 

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February 23rd – Spider monkey at Parque Rincon de la Vieja

 

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February 23rd – Enchanted forest at Parque Rincon de la Vieja

 

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February 23rd – White-throated Magpie-Jay at Parque Rincon de la Vieja

 

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February 23rd – Hot springs at Parque Rincon de la Vieja

 

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February 28th – Provisioning before leaving

 

From Quepos to Puntarenas (65 nm)
From Puntarenas to Bahia Carrillo (91 nm)

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