Overloaded third world ferries are terrifying
My last holiday post comes from one of the most obscure places I've ever visited. A nature reserve set of chalets on Omotepe Island in lake Nicaragua.
We got here by car ferry with around a dozen cars and maybe 200 people. Legal capacity for the ferry felt like perhaps one-third that amount. The chalets, which face directly onto the lake, which we've been swimming in this afternoon, are 17ks from the ferry wharf.
Interesting factoid. Lake nicaragua connects to the Caribbean Sea via the San Juan river and there is only 18km of flat land separating the lake from the Pacific Ocean. Another canal is a distinct possibility.
Tomorrow, we head back to the mainland by ferry, drive up the PanAmerican highway to Managua and fly to LA, with a 2 hour layover in San Salvador. Our trip to central America will be over.
Favourite bits were the two less-touristy sites in Mexico - Monte Alban and Yaxchilan - but the whole trip has been fascinating, if occasionally unsettling.