October 9 I set off from San Salvador in my overly comfy air conditioned bus at 4:30 AM passing through Honduras for the third time, equaling the number of nights I spent there in the last month, this time on my way to Granada, Nicaragua, with a momentary stop in Managua along the way. Set on the shores of Lago de Nicaragua, Grenada is a clean colonial city complete with elegant churches, green plazas, and flowery boulevards that make it a fine place for urban wandering. Tourism is a strong segment of the economy here as most visitors to Nicaragua spend [View Full Entry]

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September 17 We crossed the Honduran-Guatemalan border headed for an overnight in Antigua and then on to Quetzeltenango aka Xela to do a three day hike with Quetzeltrekkers (same organization and purpose as in Leon, Nicaragua, fosters and educates street children) among the mountains, volcanoes, and Maya villages. Thanks to some excellent bus driving including one driver flagging down our connecting bus amidst rush hour Guatemala City traffic, and a team of excellent drivers and navigators on the resulting bus to Xela, we just made it for the briefing the night before the hike. This was t [View Full Entry]

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September 2 I left Somoto, Nicaragua at 6:30 AM for my trek to San Miguel, El Salvador, crossing through Southern Honduras, which required 6 different buses in 7 hours without more than a 15 minute wait between them. Honduras had a noticeably increased military and police presence around its borders and highways, although I am not sure if this is normal or due to political turmoil surrounding the country. On the bus between Choluteca and the El Salvadorian border I met Juan who told me about his experiences living illegally in the States a few years ago and traveling on the [View Full Entry]

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July 10th I arrived in Managua at midnight and was shuttled to the Managua Backpackers Hostel for the steamy first night in Central America. There is little that appeals to me about this capital city of 1.5 million, so I left the next morning with a couple of Brits to Leon in Northwestern Nicaragua. We found a hostel owned by English and Barbadian business partners trying for Nicaraguan citizenship that was rather busy with young travelers. I immediately signed up for volcano boarding the next day, since it seems well that’s what you do here; things with volcanoes. The volcano for [View Full Entry]

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