Nicaragua

2/24/17

Day 1 Arrived late into Managua, stayed the night in a pyramid shaped hotel that housed nine rooms. The proprietor of German decent, married a local and stayed put. 

Day 2 we awoke quite early accompanied by a number of bug bites. We wanted to visit Cerro Negro, a volcano you can board down so we took off in our tiny Toyota Versa. The road was treacherous and rocky. After and hour of "off roading" we decided to turn back while we still could. We drive to Leon (second largest city) where we arranged a tour for the next day. The tour that was available that day was for a volcano called, Telica. It is considered the most active volcano in Nicaragua. The road to the base was long and bumpy as we sat in the back of a land cruiser all facing each other. As we hiked, large billows of smoke arose from the mouth as the sulfur smell started to overpower us, we quickly pulled out our bandanas to filter out some of the smoke. The smoke was thick. There was even a random horse at the top who seemed lost looking for food. There was a local selling beer for $0.50 at the top which I thought was funny because our guide, roger said it is good for hydration but we quickly educated him it does the opposite. He felt like he had been living a lie his entire life haha. When we peered into the volcano we could hear what sounded like waves crashes along the shore line, which in fact was magma. The smoke was dense so it wasn't until it got dark that we could once again look into the center and see bright orange waves of lava. Very cool. 

Day 3 leaving at 8 am, the hike to Cerro Negro was windy and carrying a long board felt like we would be blown off the top. Our guide, Omar said that just two days ago there was an earthquake on that volcano and if we were to feel it, we needed to run quickly over the edge where we were supposed to hoard down. The ride down on ash and rock was swift and dirty. We had lunch which was some fried bread with goat cheese and their version of a salad, mostly thinly cut veggies with some type of vinaigrette  in the courtyard where the largest cathedral in Central America is located. After lunch we drove to Granada to check into our hotel. First time having warm water for a shower. We also swam in a the Apoya Lagoon. The water was warm. It was slightly windy outside.

Day 4 we spent the first part of the day wandering around the city of Granada visiting old sites and more cathedrals. The locals selling goods added a bit more pressure on us then previous places, but nothing a few "no's" couldn't handle. Later we drive up to Masayo Volcano. This time we drove to the top, but we were limited to only 5 minutes atop because they say the smoke from the sulfur will ruin your respiratory system. I thought, "well I probably have a week at most" after visiting Telica two days earlier. We did however see lava flowing which again was very cool. From our hotel, we walked back into town to enjoy a chicken pasta.

Day 5 After checkout, we drove to Mombacho, a nature reserve and rain forest with a number of dormant craters. We hiked the first couple kilometers at a very steep incline, then we were picked up by a tourism truck and taken the rest of the way to the top. The views were great, seeing the lake and all the islands that were created from the last eruption. We made our way to San Juan Del Sur, a beach town on the pacific end of the country. The room was more of a bungalow, but it was eighth on a private beach. That explains the rocky, dirt road we drove on to get there. Being on the coast, I wanted to try mahi mahi fish. It was good. Stray dogs and cats always come to your table begging for scraps. It's hard to say no. 

Day 6 woke up and went out our room door to find a completely empty beach. The water was a bit chilly until you got used to it. We some time walking around the town of San Juan Del Sur. This is where a lot of tourists go for the beach in Nicaragua. They have the second largest statue of Christ peering over the beach cove. It was very windy up top when viewing down on the beach. We slowing made our way to Ticuantepe, a town south of the nation's capital where we stayed the night at this large compound. They had fitness classes going on at a gym within the property. 

Day 7 we tried to make the most of this day by traveling on dirt/rocky roads to a nature reserve  where there was a waterfall at the end that supplies 20% of Managua's population. While on the trail, a grande tree fell right in our path. I mean it was huge! It was also loud like concrete shattering. This thing could have killed us if the timing was right. It was fun to explain this to the reception at the front entrance with the whole language barrier thing. Next stop was a wildlife preserve. No one visits these places because they always seem shocked to see white people and we are always the only visitors. We hiked about 6km or so and saw an owl and plenty of howler monkeys who weren't too excited we were there. We could tell by their growls. That evening we drove into the capital where we visited some shops and the lake front. We also had dinner. I ordered a chicken salad. I didn't want to chance too much since I had to fly the next day.