We no sooner finished breakfast that Oscar, our taxi driver, arrived to pick us up for the 2 hour drive to the San Jorge ferry. He took our bags and we explained 'necessito comprar crema del sol' but he said 'no possible' or something along those lines...sounded like it was too early for las tiendas to be open in Granada and he seemed afraid we wouldn't get to the ferry in time...he suggested we buy some on Ometepe but I was pessimistic. Anyway, we climbed in his car and watched the old architecture of Granada fade into more rural surroundings...Brian pointed out a stake body truck with upwards of 40 guys crammed into the back- all standing up! I wasn't sure if they were being transported to work somewhere...Brian said maybe school but since it was Sunday that didn't make sense to me...
Anyway, there wasn't much traffic or excitement on the road so I soon fell asleep. Brian nudged me awake as we drove through Rivas- the town just next to San Jorge. We zipped around a bend in the road and all of a sudden the choppy Lake Nicaragua
appeared on our right...the gates to the ferry were closed and about 10 women were lined up along thr right selling fresh mangos...only 20 cordoba for a dozen! That's about $1! We bought a bag and then wondered how we might eat them without a knife?It was soooo windy- the skirt wasn't a good idea.
Oscar unloaded our bags from the trunk and introduced us to his friend Hector...he owned a travel shop just by the ferry gate...convenient. He wanted to book us a hotel and excursions, etc. 'No gracias, no gracias'. We got to the gate and I was surprised to see that the lake had waves...huge ones at that! And there were lots of rocks, etc. Still, people were swimming in there- fully clothed which apparently is the Nicaraguan thing to do :)We had to pay a municiple tax of 10 cordobas to just get into the ferry port (about 50 cents)...it was like a party in there. One ferry had just docked and people, cars, mororbikes etc were all spilling haphazardly onto the dock. Loud Nicaraguan dance music was blasting from the upper deck. Huge baskets of oranges, mangos, etc were lining the walkway just off the ferry. Huge waves crashed over behind us spraying everyone with the lake. A school bus brightly painted pulled up and emptied out a massive number of people who were patiently waiting to board...the ferry rocked violently from side to side...'This is the Safer one?' I wondered- several of the guidebooks suggested we take this one that also loads cars, etc because it is sturdier...
The last of the motorcyslists sped off - they seemed to have a bit of trouble getting the last of the trucks off:
but a little teamwork goes a long way. We climbed aboard and grabbed a prime spot just behind the captain...it was partially shaded which was key since we still didn't get our crema del sol. What seemed like forever passed (at least the ferry decided to run today) and we were off...little boys tried to sell us fried plaintains but we passed only for Brian to regret it as we watched the group of French tourists nearby munch on theirs. 
I attempted to peel and eat a mango. I would not recommend this without any sharp utensils or access to running water. It was a sticky, stringy, mess. I added dental floss to my mental list of things to pick up...The volcanos in the background were impressive. A cloud topped each of them like whipped cream on a sundae...quite a contrast to the stark blue sky.
Concepcion to the left (the active volcano) and Maderas to the right. We shared the ferry with a rather large Christian ministry group who were going to 'minister to the deaf children of Ometepe'. They all wore the same pale blue t-shirts and all seemed to be wearing fanny packs as well. And no- my money belt is Not a fanny pack in case you were wondering :)They were nice- from South Carolina. We talked to a couple of the guys and one of them offered to take a picture for us as we neared the volcanos.
Brian snapped a few great shots of course...an hour or so later and we were docking on Ometepe. Brian befriended a weird older guy named Steve who retired to Ometepe with his wife 3 years ago- they were from North Carolina. He traveled to Rivas to buy some metal shovels. When we got to the dock, another guy was waiting with a sign for us: Totoco. He was holding his son's hand...he couldn't have been more than 3...his name was Alfonzo. They led us over to their Toyota Land Cruiser which seemed to be a late 1980's version according to Brian. Weird guy Steve tried to hitch a ride with us but fortunately our driver shot him down. We climbed in and met Alfonzo's abuela...they were dropping her off at work on the way to our hotel. Little Alfonzo sat on her lap in the front seat but kept wiggling down to stand up.
I couldn't help but think of child car safety laws in the US and how his situation would never fly. He was barely 30 pounds- well under the 70 lb front seat rule. The roads were paved so far...the land dotted with houses here and there...pigs, cows, horses roaming free. We stopped at a fancy hotel but they were fresh out of crema del sol. He stopped at two more little shops but no luck. We made a hard right at the sign for Totoco about 30 mins from the ferry...the road suddenly became very tretcherous. Tons of huge rocks and poor little Alfonzo flopping all around the front seat...we finally arrived at Totoco's gates
and the road improved but not by too much unfortunately. I felt like I had a slight case of whiplash by the time we got to 'Reception'.Roslyn, a tall, friendly woman wearing a white linen dress met us on the stone path. She asked if I was Allison and introduced herself in her subtle Australian accent...she led us into the open air lobby and started telling us about the eco-lodge. Said we had arrived just in time for lunch and she handed us a menu...we asked her about crema del sol- she said not to worry she would get us some. I believed her. We relaxed and had a refreshing glass of juice followed by water with lemon- all the while enjoying our uninteruppted view of Volcan Concepcion.
Another couple arrived...Andrew and Mary...who we shared lunch with and discussed the activities on the island...ahhh: this is paradise.
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