So I was back on the continent - the first day of a journey which will take me from within a stones throw of the Honduras border down to the Darien Gap and onto South America
As before all these posts read from the bottom up so scroll down to what you last remember reading and you'll be good!
First stop was the old colonial town of Granada - created by the Spanish - the tiled roofs, adobe frontages and cobbled streets are a huge tourist draw. After the austerity of Cuba the volume of products and food in the shops was amazing - Nicaragua had had its share of 20th century trouble - a revolution followed by the civil war against the US funded Contras left the country in ruins but things are looking good here - although the places I visit are not totally representative there is definite optimism in the air - especially in Granada
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| Granada |
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| Lots of Churches here! |
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| Typical Granada street |
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| Parque Central |
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| Colonial House with internal courtyard |
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| Sandinista wall plaque celebrating the revolution |
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| Propaganda mural from the ruling FSLN party and it's leader Daniel Ortega |
As well as the colonial attractions it is full of good bars and restaurants - I was back in the land of backpackers and wi-fi - which definitely gives a boost to your social life You mix with people if all ages nationalities and backgrounds - traveling for all sorts of different reasons - many have - for me anyway - fascinating stories - there is no averageness here. We travelers are a lazy breed - watching other people relaxing is inherently relaxing - like watching cats sleep...
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| Mombacho volcano from Lake Nicaragua |
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| View back to Granada from the lake |
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View of the Isletas of Lake Nicaragua from top of Mombacho |
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| Stages of Coffee Production |
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| Coffee being dried halfway up Mombacho |
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| Howler Monkeys in the trees on Mombacho |
Like a lot of cities in Nicaragua a volcano is not far away - in this case Mombacho - sleeping thankfully!
My trip there was an exercise in "Lost in Translation" - thought I'd booked a tough 6 hour hike round the crater - ended up doing an easy 1 hour walk to a viewpoint - the clues were there when I got on the minibus - everyone in flip flops and someone with a 3 year old in tow - ah well an incentive to practice my Spanish more...
The slopes of the volcano are also a great place to grow coffee and home to the Howler Monkey - the world's loudest land mammal (OK 2nd loudest after Keith Watson) with a vocal range of 3 miles!
New Year brought good things though - I met some people through Couchsurfing and rather than spending New Year in amongst the tourist crowds we went to a locals street party which was great fun even if confusingly celebrations seemed to begin at 11.50 - the only time Nicaraguans have been really early in my experience - all timing is done here on "Nica Time"
15 mins late = early
30 mins late = on time
45 mins late = a bit late
60 mins late = late!!
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| Nicaraguan New Year street party |
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| Kids trying to break the Pinata |
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| New Year involves lots of fire! |
I guess they just couldn't wait to let off more fireworks - similar safety policies to the Cubans i.e. none They also seem to like running round holding burning burning bamboo frames with firecrackers attached! I have a good souvenir of the evening when a firework veered off at 90 degrees - it set the dress on fire of the pretty girl sitting next to me and burned a hole in my trousers - it broke the ice I guess!
After the excitement of New Year I headed north to the town of Masaya - a town with no excitement whatsoever - you have to make your own fun in that town! It did have a couple of great craft markets though and if you want to buy a hammock look no further - not an option for me to carry round unfortunately - and lazy days in a hammock in the UK - not sure that really works..!
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| Making hammocks in Masaya |
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| Masaya has it's own volcano - always useful to know the evacuation route! |
All too soon it was time to pack up my backpack and make my way north to Leon where I was meeting fellow vets for a neutering project - I have put all my veterinary exploits on a separate blog
It's Vet Work - but not as we know it! as it might not interest everybody, some of the text is technical and there are op photos that might not be everyone's cup of tea!
So long from the lowlands of Nica!
