It's a small world after all...

Hanging out in Granada and couchsurfing with Jonathan was indeed an experience, and a positive experience for sure.  As Josiah mentioned I did fall in love with his pet Chihuahua Nine.  I couldn't believe I so quickly became attached to the little guy.  He also gave me a welcome distraction of missing my little niece, Kaia.  He cuddled up with me on the couch all through the night!  I miss him terribly and made Jonathan promise if anything ever happened to him he would will me Nine.  Sigh.  We really appreciate everything our couchsurfing hosts have done for us.  They have provided us with great places to stay and great conversations.  I will remember each one uniquely.  (I'm sure we'll have more along the way).

Upon leaving Granada we headed 

to Isla de Ometepe.  This island is really quite incredible. Being in the middle of Lake Nicaragua (which is so big you feel for sure like you are in 

the middle of the ocean).  We found out that this island is nominated to be one of the new 7 wonders of the world.   The island is formed by two volcanoes growing out of the lake.  Walking onto the island is like taking a step back from life.  You can choose to go to a beach, or stay more up in the hills on a Finca...we chose the Finca Magdalena, an organic coffee plantation at the base of Volcan Madera.  This place is so peaceful.  Everyone eats in a common room where you can choose what you want and they just keep a list of everything you have ordered and you pay at the end.  We chose to stay in a dorm with about 10 other people for 2.50 cents a night.  All in all this was not a bad option.  We arrived there and found that the whole place was filled with about

90 percent German travelers.  They were some great people and we bonded well with them right from the start.  Not having used the little German I know in almost three years, I thought my brother would be proud to know I got compliments on not having a strong "American" accent when saying the few phrases I can remember.  Hey, its a start at least!!  

Staying on the Finca was priceless (even though it cost 2.50 a night.  hehe).  Around 3 or 4 in the morning everyone was awoken by

 the sound of howler monkeys calling to each other.  Being in a half asleep state, at first I wasn't sure if it was monkeys or wild pigs.  (There are a lot of herds of horses, cows, and pigs running the streets on this mostly dirt road island).  The monkeys continued their ranting for a good half an hour and then things got settled down...until the birds start chirping like crazy!  Although a bit distracting for sleep, I very much welcomed these noises of nature and enjoyed laying to bed taking it all in.

The reason for the Title of this blog, is because traveling around you ironically run into a lot of the same travelers you have previously met on the trip.  We were eating breakfast in Granada and a girl, Kat, came up to us and said, "Hey, I met you in Copan Ruinas (granted this is very far north in Honduras).  Last we knew she was headed up north with her mom.  She met a couple of guys and decided to change her plans and start traveling back down south.  We happened to be in the same small restaurant at the same time.  So random!  Since then we have met more people and keep running into them walking down the streets in different towns, or staying at the same hostal, or being in the same restaurant at the same time.  Even as I'm writing this blog from San Juan a boy just ran in from Argentina that we met on the Finca!  It's really quite funny and and interesting to see how our paths keep crossing.  We decided to do a tour of the Island of Ometepe with a group we kept running into.  Gordon (Canada), Lena, Tona, and Gary (England), Kat (Colorado), and the two of us.  They are a really energetic and fun group that we've been meeting up with the past couple of weeks.  We went to see Petroglyphs on the island, went to a nice beach, went to Ojo de Agua, and a natural swimming hole with crystal clear and refreshingly cool water.  We had a great time but were very tired afterward (at least I was).

The next day Josiah and I decided to do our own thing and headed across the island to a main town where the ferry crosses back to the mainland.  We rented bikes and headed to the Punta which is basically a sandbar out to a point on the lake.  It was fun riding there as we had to literally ride through a herd of cows on the road.  They paid us no attention and continued dominating the entire width of the road.  We made it through unharmed, laughing the entire way.  It was a long bike ride on bumpy roads, but it was worth it to see the beautiful sunset.  We decided to take a few self portraits with the timer on my camera, Josiah climbed some trees over the water, and it was a nice way to spend our last night on the island.  I definitely 

want to head back there again some day in the future.  There are many things we could have done that we just didn't have time to squeeze in!

Heading south on the way to Costa Rica we decided to make a stop in San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.  We have heard this is a popular spot, and even though it's not always the most fun to visit the touristy areas, we decided to stop in for a few days.  So far we've had a good time here.  The sunsets are gorgeous, and I even found a coffee shop with a plethora of options.  I had a great raspberry mocha, so things are looking up!  On the downside of being here, we were sitting under a palm tree along the beaches edge trying to escape the hot midday sun.  We got up after relaxing a bit and something BIT MY BUTTOX!  I'm talking about a BITE.  It hurt so bad that without thinking I basically showed whoever was around my bum in a panic to get whatever it was out of my shorts!  hahaha!  Oh man, it's funny to look back on, but i'm still suffering from a big welt on my butt cheek that is itchy and sore.  I hope it goes away soon, or bus rides may be a mit dreadful.  sigh.

I'm looking forward to next week.  We are leaving on Tuesday and heading to San Jose, Costa Rica where we will will anxiously away our great friend Kelley who is flying down on Thursday.  I'm always get so giddy when people I love get to come down and see the area of the world that I call my second home.  It will be such a joy having her here, and as I miss all of you it will be a refreshing piece of home!  I can't wait!  I'm sure we'll check in again soon.  Thanks for staying tuned.  We love you all!

And of course you can go to my Facebook page for more pictures with descriptions of what things are!