May 26, Managua, Nicaragua

I shared a van with a woman from Washington DC to the airport and then paid extra to get to hotel.

Great place, another family home run by a guy from Saskatoon and his Nicaraguan wife. Great place. My room is basically outside. The bathroom is open for part of ceiling and bedroom has a small deck. The room is screened.

I am close to mall so wandered around a bit....apparently I am a fairly well off neighbourhood as things are expensive, relatively.


May 25, Granada, Nicaragua

A 2 hour drive back to Granada. Out for lunch, a hot dog and then wandered around the city a bit. Back to hotel for a swim. Later we had happy hour with macua, rum and guava juice, and guacamole. Very good before heading out for dinner. Our last night and some are leaving at 4 am. Sad to say good byes as they were a fun group, a nice mix of people.


May 24 , San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

This is an easy day. The other guy and I decided to hike up to the statue of Cristo. Fairly large but not to the size of the one in Rio. It only took about 1 hour but it was very steep, and this was the road! You would never see roads this steep in Canada...must have been 45 degrees!

It was hot walking but we made it, the views were amazing. And we got lots of funny looks on the way up. There are many huge homes along the ridges with some great views!

Easy walk down and time to get ready for the sunset cruise. Stop one, get something to eat as the cruise includes rum and coke! Had a taco, lots of Mexican influence in the food here.

The cruise was great, nice to get out on the water. Rum was good too. They threw in some hook and line and actually caught a fish....25 pound jack fish, but nothing like I know. Great as while on the water there were several dolphins swimming around and we even saw a turtle in the water...making up for last night. A short swim and then watch the sun go down as we went back to the dock. So nice. I am always surprised at how fast the sun goes into the water.


May 23, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Off to Playa Hermoso....the beach where the 2012 season of Survivor was filmed. Still the poles, tables and other things around. Beautiful beach. Got a surf lesson and I even was able to stand up a few times! Fun!
Back to the city, quick dinner at seafood place on corner. $7 for red snapper fillete...excellent!

Then off to see turtles lay eggs. We did not see any, but the olive-ridley turtles are to be laying tonight.

We spent about 3 hours walking up and down the beach. Very nice as the moon was full and the guide showed us phosphorescent plankton and some small shells. Really weird as we had a park ranger with us and there were several turtle poachers on the beach waiting as well. They seemed to know each other. Apparently the rangers do not have much power to keep the poachers away. A sad thing.

May 22, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Off the island today. Sad good bye to family...they Took great care of us. They said they are now our Nicaragua family and that we must visit when back in Ometepe. Nice!

Caught the ferry, then a short taxi ride and into a chicken bus. Really an old school bus used for public bus.?.most are painted and decorated bu this one must be new to country try...still yellow. Called chicken bus as you could end up with anything on the seat beside you, including chickens. Lots of sellers on the bus, jumping off as the bus pulls out of the yard!

Arrive in San Juan del Sur rather quickly, not even an hour, get checked in and off to wander around the city. This is a beach town. Stopped at the local take away drink place and headed for beach. We ended up watching some games of beach Volleyball. Nice way to go. Drink was good too but there was a lot of alcohol in it.

Dinner and to bed. I was supposed to share with another guy but he is here with his wife and granddaughter. They been getting rooms with 3 beds, so I have been on my own until tonight.


May 21 , Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Today 3 of us hike to 1000 m on Conception volcano. This Took about 3 hours. The last part also takes about 3 hours. It would have been great to go to the top but a 12 hour hiking day was just too much. I got a bit worried when we met a guy going down...he was only about 30 minutes ahead of us.... tough going but great. The guide was super but we only saw lots of horned beetles and not much else.

This volcano is active and the top is usually covered in clouds.....therefore a cloud forest.. 12 hours hiking in 1 day is just too much.

It was very hot and humid. Views from the top were great and very interesting standing and feeling the clouds blow through. We were on the edge.

After that off to lunch. After seeing a magpie jay in the forest the restaurant had several in the trees, hanging around for food.

Then to the Ojo de Agua.....Eye of the Water. This is where 2 underground springs meet and flow above ground. Very nice! It is famous for Coco Locos...a rum drink served in a coconut with the coco nut water...very healthy! The was was great and surprisingly cool.

Then to a pot lunch supper with the others and the host families. A couple of the girls even de,demonstrated some local dances...another super and busy day!




May 20, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Back in the van to travel to Ometepe Island island. It is 3 hours by van and then 1 1/2 hour ferry ride. The island is on Lake Nicaragua and has 2 volcanos, one active, the other not. We arrive mid afternoon and we are then split up to go with host families. I am rooming with a guy from Edmonton. It turned out I think we had the best family! Between the two us and our limited Spanish, we met the father, the wife and the 13 year old daughter and 8 year old son, as well as the sister.

They all live on their grandfathers hectare farm. Couple of cows, chickens, melons, corn, rice, papaya, oranges, mangoes...amnd several other things. Very interesting. I was not sure how it would go, but it went great and we ended up talking until about 10.30. First to the mother. She talked a blue streak! I only caught part of it, but the other guys thought I was getting it all....amazing what a smile and a nod

once in a while will do. Of course the odd question for clarification! Then it was the fathers turn. He talked a lot as well.

Later the daughter started. She practiced a bit of English but then switched to Spanish. We ended up see most of her school books, English included. The son was a bit shy. But he is the ball and soccer player. It turned out to be a great night. Our room had an outside door with private bathroom. The kitchen and dining area was outside as well...but underSpanish


May 19, Leon, Nicaragua

Today 4 of us off to Cerro Negro, an active volcano for Volcano boarding!
After a nice 45 minutes drive in country we arrive at base of volcano. We get fitted out with coveralls, gloves and goggles and of course a board!

We hike about 1 hour up the side of the volcano. The view is amazing. We arrive at the top given some instructions on how to control speed...and he says go slow!

We slide down on the board...a lot of fun...dirty but fun. It is about a 3 or 4 minutes ride down. At the bottom we are covered in black volcanic dust and ready to do again but we only allowed for 1 time. Oh well.

A quick dip in pool to clean up, hamburger from street stall outside and then off to hike for 1 hour to ridge of Telica volcano to watch the sunset.

This volcano is active and is constantly kicking out steam. It threw out rocks this past December! It got cloudy so not much of a sunset but once it got dark you could see spots of lava flowing in the bottom of the crater.

We all laughed as there was a danger sign at bottom warning about the active volcano, but you could stand on the very edge of the volcano, and there was a guy selling beer. A 1 hour hike down in the dark and back to hotel. Nicaragua is called the country of lakes and volcanoes! Great place.


May 18, Leon, Nicaragua

Off to Leon by private van. Very nice, and only about 4 hours.

A short tour around the city, lunch and then a tour of the Flor de Cana rum factory. A huge place for the most popular and common rum. Interesting as it is family owned. The family also owns the largest beer factory as well as an island on Lake Nicaragua. I bought a bottle of 7 year old.

Interesting as they use white oak barrels they buy from Jack Daniels after they have used for one year.

Great as the business also grows the sugar cane they use to make the rum.

May 17, Granada, Nicaragua

I am alive, after volcano boarding and learning to surf, and climbing volcanos......dormant and active! Just a very busy couple of weeks...so I will catch up over the next few days!

Relaxing morning as most others off on another tour to isletas.

Then caught up with them for the afternoon. We went to Laguna de Apoyo which is a crater lake. Beautiful. The water is from rain only but is heated by underground thermal steam. Not really that hot but warmed up and felt great! Spent a couple of hours here drinking rum and guava juice...called macau...too good. And did a bit of swimming.

Then off to Masaya market. We did not have a lot of time so just went for coffee. Great coffee so ended up buying some...I hope it tastes the same when I make it!
Then to the Masaya crater again, just as impressive the 2nd time! But this time much busier. Apparently they have only opened the park a few days ago and I caught one of the first few days it was open the first time I was there.


May 16 Granada, Nicaragua

Today for the tour is a free day. The group went to the Chocolate museum for breakfast and then off for some touring, but I had already done. Wandered around a bit more exploring some streets I had not been on and then back to hotel for a swim.


May 15 Granada, Nicaragua

Today I checked out of the hotel and moved to a new hotel where the tour will start tonight. The new hotel is only about 20 minute walk, The new hotel has a huge swimming pool and is relatively new I am in luxury.
I spent some time sitting around the pool having coffee and then I headed into the city centre.

At 7 o'clock there was a group meeting and then we headed out to a restaurant on the main street for dinner. Hilarious as the restaurant the guide had picked is a restaurant that I've been to 2 times in the past week. So I guess the food is good which I know it is. The group looks looks like they are going to be a fun group a real mixture of ages but two-thirds of the Group is from Canada.


May 14 Granada, Nicaragua

Today I went to the convent of San Francisco. They charged me about $1 US and there was only 2 rooms with exhibits, many pieces of pottery and pre-Colombian artwork.

For the rest of the day I walked around some of the markets and also around some of the streets. And I did go for coffee. Other than that a very relaxing day.


May 13 Granada, Nicaragua

Today I went to the Mi Museum. It is just around the corner from the hotel. This Museum is very interesting as it has some ties with the University of Calgary. Apparently they have been doing some archaeological digs in the country. The museum was well done as many of the displays were in both English and Spanish.

I did not do much for the rest of the day other than walk around some of the streets that I have not been on before And of course I went for coffee. I have found a different coffee shop that is Is much cheaper and also has much better.

May 12 Granada, Nicaragua

Today I did nothing other than some walking around. I did go to the market street again. Amazing...you can get everything here!

May 11 Granada, Nicaragua

A sloth!

 Today I took a tour to the Mombacho volcano. It was a 30 minute drive to the base of the volcano where we switched to a big truck to continue to the top. We started at 300 meters and finished at 1100 meters. The peak of the volcano is 1300 meters.

After a short visit to information center we headed out for a one and half hour walk. The area is considered a cloud forest. It is similar to a jungle but it is covered with clouds a lot of the time. We stopped the first look out to look out over one of the two small craters at the top. There are 4 craters in total, 2 have collapsed overtime.

This volcano had its big eruption 10000 years ago and it is this volcano that created the isletas along the shoreline Lake Nicaragua.

We walked a bit further to another Lookout. This look out overlooked the city of Granada the isletas. We were lucky that the sky was clear.

A bit further down the path we stopped at another Lookout where we could see the Masaya volcano and the smoke coming from the top. In this area, there are several vents that are releasing Steam.

We then headed back towards The Visitor Center. Along the way we saw a sloth and a small hummingbird. On the way down the hill we stopped at coffee farm. The coffee is robista and has a different taste than arabica. I did buy some ground coffee so I will see what it is like.


May 10,2016   Granada, Nicaragua

Relaxing start to the day, as usual.When walking down the street to the Church of Merced I ran into The woman from the tour agent. She told me they had a tour to the volcano Masaya tonight. So I signed up for this tour. It turns out that the same French Canadians from the tour yesterday were on this tour.

They did not make it last night. After about a 45-minute drive we arrived at top. We had a great look over the edge of the crater and into a large Crater to see boiling lava at the bottom. The sun started to set and the lava really started to glow It was an amazing sight.They said we only had 5 minutes to look at it but it turned out it was about 30 minutes. While we were there there seem to be several TV stations doing interviews with people visiting the crater.


May 9,2016   Granada, Nicaragua

Today I took a walk down the commercial street which is where the little shops are. Interesting as the sidewalk is full of street stalls with larger stores in behind. Just like other mercados the street has everything you could want.

In the afternoon I took a boat tour of some of the 365 isletas created by the Mombacho volcano. Many of the islands are inhabited by rich people who have built huge homes. Very nice! There is 1 island with monkeys. We stopped at restaurant for a drink and we could have had a swim in the pool, but it looked a bit green! Very nice. They had timed the trip so that we could see the sunset. Beautiful!


May 8,2016   Granada, Nicaragua

Today I flew back to Managua and I had arranged for the hotel to pick me up and take me to Granada. Expensive but worth it.

It turns out the owner picked me up in his car. Interesting as his family bought the house before the revolution, and then rented it out while they fled to Mexico for 4 or 5 years.

Hotel and beach

Once in Granada he gave me a short tour of city then to a colonial house that has been converted into a small hotel. One stop included the cemetery where his ancestors are. I learned later that only rich people get buried here. This family has done well as they also have a sugar cane farm of about 30 hectares, which he said is small.

I spent the afternoon relaxing and talking to the owner. He has since learned that there is a lot of history to the house but has yet to research it. Some war time inhabitants from the late 1800s.


May 7 & 6,2016   Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

The weather has changed a bit, it has got very windy. My plans to go to Little Corn Island were canceled. I did not want to get there and then not be able to get back. If it gets too rough on the boat then they just cancel the trip! There also has been some rain. One day for an hour and the next for 15 minutes. After it cleared up and was very nice. Great as the breeze feels get. I spent my time just walking around the beaches and the few roads on the island, i think I have seen them all, except may be 1!

May 5, Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

I had planned to go to Little Corn Island for the day but realized that I did not have enough cash and no debit card. I had enough to get there but no back! Tomorrow is another day. So off walking around. I ended up on a quiet beach.
Walked most of the way back, of course getting lost! In the end I took a taxi. Funny as the driver said he had seen me all over the island and told me it was too hot to walk.... it is small!

I then went for a walk along the beach in front of the hotel. Amazing as I watched 3 rays swimming along the shore line. They were only about 2 feet across, small, but they were only about 6 feet away. And I did not have my camera!

Out for dinner to the local fish place.....this time it was open. Interesting as it really is a small place and she has 5 tables on her front balcony! I had king fish...very good. Later the owner of the hotel says that king fish does not have any taste and any taste comes from what ever the fish is cooked. Still it was great!


May 4, Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

Today I headed off to see the pyramid. It is on top of the local 'mountain', which is really a hill. The map shows roads, but I never did find the road but following a path I made it. That is after a few tries of going the wrong way! Turns out the pyramid is in the middle of kids playground, and it is only 3 sided. Not that big and for some reason it built a a lower level that the rest of the playground. Not sure why.

Some great views from the mountain and the walk was through coconut palms. Interesting as I walked along the street I was getting many hellos and/or waves from people sitting in front of their homes! Very friendly!

I then headed to the nice beach, Arenas. For a while I was the only one on this huge beach. Very strange! I stopped at a resort type place and had a very late lunch and a cocktail. The bartender's specialty... fruit juices and rum. Very good with lots of booze! Then headed back to hotel.


May 3, Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

I started the day with a short snorkel to the 3 ship wrecks that are just off the shore of the hotel. Quite nice. There are a few fish. The coral is not great... more rock that anything. There are a few jellyfish around. I did get stung once.. but there are many more but no stings... I am not sure why!

Then off for 2 dives with a local company owned by 2 Americans from Alabama! It was a great 2 dives. The water is so warm that no one wore a wet suit...this is a first! Lots of fish, mostly small ones, and some of the soft coral was very colourful. Yellows and purples. Many are the ones that have large openings on the top...tube like!

The second dive, Virgin reef was better. More fish including a huge grouper and a lion fish. And great to see a sting ray on the bottom. Digging and swimming around. It is like they fly through the water. So nice to watch. Even saw the statue that gives the reef the name. Very good.

On the dives there were 3 women. An American, German and Russian. We made arrangements to go to a local fish restaurant but it was closed so we went to another restaurant just down the road. Very good. It turned out that the German woman was having her birthday! Fun. She bought the rest of us a beer and I had 2 pieces of cake, so she got one as a make shift 'birthday cake'. Lots of fun! A great day!

May 2, Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

Slow relaxing start... trying to get into island life! sitting on deck having coffee.... at least there is coffee... Italian made with Nicaraguan coffee! Very good! But that is it, there is no kitchen at the moment.

Off to a restaurant down the road. I walked back a different way, actually along the airport runway! Hilarious as there is a hole in the fence where people can take a short cut across the runway to get the other side! Saves having to go around!

After breakfast I headed off to walk around the island. It is supposed to take about 4 hours.
I was gone for 6! But I did stop at the dive shop and booked in for the next day.... stopped for several swims... and watched 3 guys as they cleaned a June fish, part of the groper family. Huge... 6 feet long and had to be 6 feet around the middle! He got it with a spear gun! I also stopped and had dinner on Arenas Beach. Beautiful! Lots of white sand, gradually sloping into the water! There is a lot of people in this area. Much busier that where I am.

It was a great day although I did wonder what I had got myself into as I was scrambling over huge rocks around 1 point... that took about 1 1/2 hours!


May 1, Big Corn Island, Nicaragua

A short 1 1/2 hour flight on a plane that seated about 12 people! Very small. I sat behind the pilot and could see most of the instruments. Great views! There was some thunderstorms which he seemed to fly around but the best part was flying over and onto Big Corn Island. Amazing!

There is only 1 runway and the airport is very small.

Got a taxi, 20 cordoba anywhere on the island! 22 cordobas are $1 Cdn!
The hotel is run by an Italian guy and is just across the road from the beach! Very nice.

There are also 3 shipwrecks just down a bit. Seems like a great place.

Spent the afternoon just sitting on the deck and talking to the owner...over a couple of beers. It is a tough life! And of course I had to check the water out! Very warm.
I can sit on the deck and watch people go by, many will smile and say hello!
Interesting as there is a lot of English spoken on the island. Apparently it is the number 2 language here, after Mosquito, the areas indigenous language.

The island is a mix of Mosquito and Creole but like the owner of this hotel there are other foreigners that have businesses on the island, including some Canadians!

I went for dinner at the hotel next door... pizza...shrimp and lobster with pesto! Different but actually very good!


April 30, Managua, Nicaragua

Up at 4 am to catch my flight.....a very long day.
The flight is only about 4 hours so not too bad.
Arrived in Managua and I supposed to have a driver but I could not find him. Apparently he was there, but who knows!
Got to hotel, checked in. It is very near the airport so nice and the hotel itself is only 8 months old. Very nice. Managua is very hot and humid! I may even have to use the AC! i did not do much as i was tired....relaxed at hotel, talked to some other guests and the people at front desk.

I went for dinner at a restaurant down the street. Very good, although basic!
Interesting as the area is a gated area. The houses are very nice on fairly large lots.