Oct 3, 2018 - San Juan del Sur Nicaragua

Our next stop was San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Nicaragua is the largest Central American nation and has claim to stunning landscapes, vast cultural treasures and an intriguing history. We took a quick tour to visit the town of Rivas, which dates back to 606AD and is located near Lake Nicaragua, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world and home to the only freshwater shark in existence. Since the lagoon is too shallow for our ship we had to use “tenders” (small boats) to and from the docks. We were greeted by a huge downpour that,...

Apr 18, 2018 - Nicaragua

We spent two weeks in Nicaragua.After Leon we went to Granada which was a nice colonial city.We went to see a volcano and saw the lava bubbling.I swam in another volcano crater and had fun. We then went to a coastal town called San Juan del Sur for a few days.We then crossed the border into Costa Rica.

Mar 8, 2018 - Dry waterfall!

Thursday We got up really late this morning – needed the rest – about 9:30. Gathered stuff together and headed off to O’Shop for our day’s tour. We had a nice breakfast first in an upscale place with all organic stuff. Kitty had avocado toast with eggs and I had an egg, hash brown, and cheese sandwich, Quite good. Got to the tour place and there was a festival in preparation with LOUD music. Almost impossible to hear in the shop. We decided on the waterfall tour – and were told it was dry but there would be wildlife! We yelled back and...

Mar 7, 2018 - Turtles all the way down

Wednesday Up at a reasonable time and off to Central Park for breakfast. Stop in a small place at the edge of the square and have an omelet and some fruit. Also Negro tea. The we head off to but Kitty a pair of sun glasses as hers had vanished somewhere. Back to the room then off to the chocolate museum! We found it and paid the admission and discovered it wasn’t the chocolate museum after all! It was the archeological museum. Actually, it was quite well done with good informative plaques and many examples of historic – pre-Colombian...

Mar 6, 2018 - The Gates of Hell

Tuesday Up around 7:00 after a good night and out to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Omelet and toast with tea. Then back to the room and do a bit of laundry and cleaning up, then the clerk says our tour is ready – and it’s Kevin again – same guide from yesterday. Different driver though. We travel to Masaya and enter the volcano park. We stop at a field of a lava flow from 1772 – you could see where the lava had flowed out of the crater and followed a path across the hillside. We collected a couple pieces of the lava and looked around...

Mar 5, 2018 - To Granada and all around

Wake up fairly early and down for breakfast – pineapple, oranges, and toast and tea. Back and pack up all our stuff and off to the lobby. Chat with the owner (as well as we could in Spanish and English) and she told of a tsunami that flooded the hotel 20 years ago – but the adobe walls – two feet thick – kept things secure. Our transport showed up right at 9:00 and we piled in. Another 10 or so folks from all around were on the van as well. We drove for about three hours through Managua (where a Myan kid washed our windshield) and into...

Mar 4, 2018 - Boarding the Black Volcano - Cerro Negro

Up at 6:00 after a chilly night. Get dressed and down to a breakfast of fruit and papaya. The hotel clerk gives us a coupe extra waters and off we go to the hotel we were at last night which is to be the pickup for the day. We were supposed to meet at 8:00 and no one showed, so we wandered around to several tour places asking if they were the ones – but no luck. We took a walk and visited a local Catholic Church where mass was being said, but only stayed a minute or two. At about 8:45 the truck shows up! About 20 people on the open truck –...

Mar 3, 2018 - From home to Leon, Nicaragua

Up pretty early and Kitty and Alice feed the critters. Then we pack the car and head for Dulles! Stop at Sheetz on the way to gas up and then head up route 29. No major issues. Stop at the Sheetz in Opal but all the gas tank were either empty of occupied, so we got some snacks and continued on our way. Got to the Wingate in Chantilly and parked the car. Very windy day so quite cool. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before the driver showed up and we were at the airport a bit before noon. As we had our tickets printed out we checked our...

Mar 1, 2018 - San Jaun Del Sur, Nicaragua

San Jaun Del Sur, Nicaragua March 1 The little town of San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua has one main street running along the waterfront with a few short streets heading up toward the inland. Tom took a walk along the streets to capture the flavor of the houses, businesses, and people. The church has an interesting spot of sunlight casting an image of “JHS” on the floor of its entrance (see photo). Maybe he was there at just the right moment, or maybe there is a device to make this projection? We dined at the Chef’s Table specialty restaurant...

Jan 24, 2018 - Granada to San Juan del Sur

We are both a little sad to leave this lovely hotel and the city of Granada - initially we thought just the day tour would be sufficient for Granada but have since realized it is our favourite stop so far and I could actually stay longer! Nonetheless we have reservations in San Juan del Sur so off we must go. We are both very curious about San Juan del Sur as so many people have commented on how touristy it is and not to bother. We have booked a Villa a couple of km out of the centre so hopefully we will feel differently. Breakfast was...

Jan 23, 2018 - Granada

This morning's wake up call was not that of a screeching siren, or the cuckoorooku of the dove but that of human voices, the jubilant voice of one of hosts here at the Hotel Casa San Francisco, Terry Leary. Terry, and her sister Nancy came here in 2002 before tourism blossomed in Nica. They are originally from the US, the Bay Area of California, however both have spent many years with the Peace Corp. They fell in love with Granada and immediately purchased the home of Nicaraguan family Barberena, and lovingly created the Hotel Casa San...

Jan 22, 2018 - Leon to Granada

Today we leave this beautiful hotel and head to Granada for the next two nights. During breakfast we chat with a lovely young couple from Holland who have just come from Costa Rica. They are full of wonderful stories and suggestions we are very grateful as most people we talk to have a negative spin on Costa Rica; it's too touristy, it's expensive etc. etc. From our conversation we have decided to break up our journey from the Pacific beaches to San Jose by stopping in the Arenal / La Fortuna area. We were able to book the Arenal...