I spent the last ten days in the small town of Terrabona. I decided to return to the community where we had stayed as a group. While many towns in Central America are jumping on the tourism bandwagon, Terrabona is content with its mule drawn wagons loaded with produce for sale. I find that it reminds me alot of what I imagine the old south to be like, where families sit out front under the eaves in the long hot hours of the day and kids run and play in the streets. It is a place where everyone seems to know [View Full Entry]

---

---

I left from Managua to Terrabona around mid day and arrived into Terrabona around Seven at night. I got off the bus in the town where everyone know I am a stranger. I walk the half a block to the hospedaje and start to knock on the door. Before I get ther the boy across the street who I recognised from being there before shook his head at me. "There not there" he said. Okay that´s fine I can wait. "They are in Matagalpa" he says. Oh Shoot! I felt my heart rate rise a bit Matagalpa is about a five [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today I am back in Managua after two days of travel. I left Cahuita early on Thursday on a bus headed for Managua. About half way there our bus broke down so we waited on the side of the road to try and catch a ride on the buses passing by. Each bus was only able to take a few people but by the third bus we were all on our way to San Jose again! The rest of the ride was a rather uneventful journey standing in the isle of a bus named Marcopolo. My traveling seems to go much [View Full Entry]

---

---

So after my grand adventure across the border I stayed in San Jose for a day recovering. I wandered around the markets of town and enjoyed some local cuisine. The next day I took the quick four hour bus ride to Cahuita. This beautiful quaint town is bubbling with Carribian culture. I have spent the past few days here relaxing on the beach, exploring the jungle of National Park which is a block from my cabina,and doing some much needed laundry. The slow pace of Cahuita has been a welcomed change. But the slower pace has not kept the adventure away. [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a light breakfast, a few quick emails, checking out of my hospedaje, 3 bus rides, one failed attempt at border crossing, one successful treck across the border, several lines, $7.50 in bus fares, a six dollar cab ride, and 12 hours I finally made it. I'll admit that this has been one of my most exhausting, warmest and coldest, but most of all longest day here so far. It was a great adventure though and I had many great encounters along the way. As I was leaving my hospedaje in the morning I returned the key to the woman who [View Full Entry]

---

---

So, today was really fun I had a leisurely morning with breakfast/lunch in the local mercado. It was my first full day completely on my own and I didn´t quite know what to expect. I decided to follow Lonley Planet directions to a Stone petroglyph just a ways out of the city. After walking a while on the road out of town I came to the conclution that Lonely Planet needs to work on their directions. I ended up on this muddy dirt road which whould have seemed really remote and desolate except that cars were passing me every few minutes. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hola friends and family! So I know that I probably should have had this started before I left but that just wouldn´t be my style. Better late than never right! So, here goes... This is my summer 2008 Central America travels. As many of you know I started my trip off with a student group from Seattle University and we spent two weeks traveling around Nicaragua. Today the group left to return to Managua from the coastal town of San Juan Del Sur to return home to the states tomorrow. I on the other hand have stayed beehind because I plan [View Full Entry]

---

---

We spent a total of five nights in the little town of Terrabona. It was a really amazing experience because I felt like we really started to become a part of the community. We stayed at a new, family run Hospedaje in Terrabona and then traveled a ways to work each day in the community of Monte Grande. Even our first night in Terrabona once we got back from dinner there were a ton of kids waiting outside to play a game of futbol with us. We didn´t even know them but they were so welcoming that it only took a [View Full Entry]

---

---

In Monte Grande we worked side by side with the people. It was really cool because El Porvinir ensures that the community is really in charge of the community project. So we were able to follow their lead and do whatever they needed for their community. You just create such an amazing bond working side by side with someone even thought there is a language barrier. We would be working for a while and then they would invite us into their homes and introduce their family. They just made us feel really at home. I even got to ride a horse [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived into Managua on tuesday afternoon and were picked up by the El Porvinir staff. We spent the first few days touring around Managua a bit and learning more about the history anf the culture. Jimmy, who is one of the trip coordinators with El Porvinir and also our translator, is like an incyclopedia. He is very knowledgeable and it was great to be able to have him around to give us his perspective. We also started to get to know each other better as a group. But the really great part was leaving on Wednesday afternoon for the small [View Full Entry]

---

---