Fri, Jan 31^st: The 3 tents and related gear were packed by 7am, and we scrambled away from the hacienda to catch the 9am ferry. It was only a 35km ride, but with the road being mostly filled with large rocks or wind-swept sand, the going would be slower than normal. We were just getting onto the good part of the route when the fuel pump died on the Africa Twin. A quick, road-side fix got us to the dock with 5 minutes to spare, only to find the ferry was out of commission again, and would not be running again for a few days. What to do now??? We were told we could try to get on the smaller boats – the very precarious boats we saw the previous week and vowed not to board with our bikes! It is amazing how quickly your perception changes in relation with your predicament. (hey, what’s with all the "p"s?). After much discussion, we got the 4 bikes stripped of panniers and loaded into the passenger area of the boat, and left around 1pm. All went well, except for the last 10 minutes, when the swells were up and we thought the boat would capsize with the weight of the bikes! Alas, all was well and we arrived in Masaya before dark.

Sat, Feb 1^st: White Rabbits. After an early breakfast, John and Annet took off towards the Honduras border. After almost 15 months in Latin America, Annet left her bike in Costa Rica and was heading home to Germany for a few months. She hopes to be back in 6 months.  John will leave her at the airport, then continue north towards Alaska.   Chris F and Simi would stay in town for a few days, to wait for a new (mechanical) fuel pump to come from Europe. We will see John, Chris, and Simi a few times more, as we are all heading the same direction.

After some shopping at the local artisan market, we headed to see the crater Volcano Masaya. It is the single largest natural air polluter in the world, and we had to pay $4 each to get in! At the top, we met Ed from www.edsgonesouth.com --- we had talked via email and arranged the meeting the night before.  Ed is a fellow American, 6-weeks into his own 15-month tour of Latin America on his 97 F650. We found a lot in common, and Ed decided to take a detour and join us for a visit to Leon, a large Spanish Colonial city near the Atlantic.  It wasn't a long way, but we took the wrong road, which was mostly potholes and rocks.  We joked that it was the longest 100km day we've had on a paved road.  We just beat the sunset into Leon, checked into a hostal which was formally a dental clinic, and currently run by some very interesting woman.

The next day we spent lazily viewing the city and cathedral.  It was fun spending time with Ed, who has many of the same views/ideas when we started our trip.  He has a tag line at the end of emails, "I’m Ed, and I’ve gone south" --- I just couldn’t get it out of my head. After he saw our UJ stickers, he decided he should get some "I met Ed" stickers made, which will be a hoot! (well, we think it’s funny)

Monday, Feb 3^rd: After a late breakfast in the plaza, we bid farewell to Ed, and took the old road north of Lago de Managua to the spirited town of Esteli. There we met up again with Marcel, a 24 yr-old Swiss guy who worked on a farm in the states, and is cruising Central America in a 1991 Crown Victoria, complete with old cowboy hat and boots. We had a nice dinner with Marcel and his girlfriend, and discovered we had some friends in common –-- such a small world!!! 

Initially, I didn't think we would spend more than a few days in Nicaragua.  I'm glad we spent more time.