We departed Granada and said goodbye to Veronica and Achim and wished them well on their trip back to Europe after traveling all over the world for nine months. It was hard to say goodbye as we had experienced so much together in such a short amount of time and not knowing when we would see each other again, but they were extremely tired from such a long trip and looking forward to going home and resting up. We went to Esteli to do some volunteer work at Hope Clinic (A medical clinic based out of Ypsilanti, Michigan) Esteli, Nicaragua branch. [View Full Entry]

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We made our way back to Granada and met up with Achim and Veronica- my friends that traveled together with me in Guatemala, El Salvador and now Nicaragua. It was so great to see them again as we were trying to meet up for several days now but kept missing each other by like a day (they even stayed in the knat infested playa Santo Domingo and slept at Hospedaje Gloriana the night after we left- trying to track us down). It was great to be able to see them again so they could finally meet Michelle and hang out for [View Full Entry]

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After two nights in Isla de Ometepe, we decided to check out the famous surfer town of San Juan Del Sur. We arrived there and walked around for a bit trying to decide on a place to stay. Finally we found our spot and then hit up a pizza joint in town (that all the locals recommended although we were looking for typical Nicaraguan food). Afterwards we found a local Eskimo place and Michelle being the ice cream lover that she is- convinced me to grab some dessert- how rico that was!! The next day consisted of pure relaxation on the [View Full Entry]

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The next morning we went to Granada, Nicaragua after waking up early to catch the bus in Managua. What a great thing to have Michelle by my side now to do all of the things I was accustomed to doing solo for so long- waiting for buses, looking for places to stay, discovering a new city etc. Michelle got her first taste of Latin America unpredictability when an old lady about 80 years old in front of us on the bus started reading everyone verses from the bible at the top of her lungs. As she proceeded to pass out her [View Full Entry]

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I came to Nicaragua's capital for a few days with the sole intention of picking up my girlfriend Michelle from the airport. We had been apart from each other for several months now and finally we would be reuniting for the last leg of my trip. It has been a difficult couple of months being apart from each other and now we are ready to share the end of the Central American journey together. I arrived to Managua after transferring buses at Chinandega and slamming two large glasses of zapote con leche for 10 cordoba each!! At the bus terminal in [View Full Entry]

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"The best place in Nicaragua is Potosi!" my Austrian friend enthusiastically exclaimed without hesitation. As I learned more about this small fishing town on Nicaragua's northwest peninsula- I knew it was a place I had to visit- and it lived up to all the hype. I felt drawn to this pueblo after hearing about the amazing views of El Salvador, Honduras and the Nicaraguan peninsula from atop Volcan Cosiguina (the dead volcano looming in the town's background) and its setting right on the Pacific Ocean. Veronica, Achim and I decided to part ways for now as they were on the last [View Full Entry]

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Upon leaving Perquin- Achim, Veronica and I knew we had a long trip in front of us to Leon, Nicaragua but we had no idea that we were in for such an unforgettable experience on the borders of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. We crossed El Salvador at El Amatillo and traveled in a collectivo (van) full of Hondurans and Nicaraguans and drove through Honduras for about two hours to the Nicaraguan border town of Somotillo. I was fortunate enough to get a seat in the front of the van to enjoy the scenery and unfortunate enough to witness our driver [View Full Entry]

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After such an intriguing conversation with my guerrillero friend Saol in El Salvador's capital- Veronica, Achim and I agreed that it was imperative that we visit the former FMLN (Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional- named after the former leftist guerrilla organizer and Salvadoran martyr from the 1930s- Farabundo Marti) stronghold of Perquin- in the northeastern region of the country. We arrived after losing about 5 lbs each in sweat after being stuffed with 23 other people and a panting chicken in the back of a pickup truck (camioneta)- with a black roof panel (of course black- always a good [View Full Entry]

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Danger, danger and more danger!! Before taking off on my Central American journey- this was what I thought of whenever someone mentioned El Salvador. Perhaps it had something to do with my father showing me videotapes of drug lords and gang kidnappings in the tiny Central American country and begging me "please, please whatever you do please do not visit El Salvador" over and over again or the countless other travelers telling stories about how crazy they "heard" the country was. In the end I decided to go to El Salvador based on many recommendations from other travelers WHO HAD ACTUALLY [View Full Entry]

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I decided after my volcano adventure to head up to Coban, which meant changing buses in Guatemala City. The bus ride to Guate was pretty uneventful besides observing the bus helper load bags on top of the bus through the back emergency exit door ladder (which functions just as another door to load people and stuff onto the bus in Central America) while the bus was going at about 40 mph. I made it to Coban at about 8 PM and stayed at a bed and breakfast that served banana pancakes (it is amazing the things you crave being on the [View Full Entry]

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