...Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua...

We have lived the past couple of weeks very Americanized, living in Best Westerns, Marriotts, Four Seasons, eating fast food, and best of all, being visited by Americans. Neil, Graham´s brother, joined us in Panama.
Have you ever wondered how the Panama Canal functions? Well we know, so if you want to know too then ask us. We hiked in a national park outside of Panama City, not the one beside Destin, and swam in a waterfallito and ate sandwiches. We then took a cold 17 hr. bus ride into Costa Rica. There we met Gordo's dad and step-mom and the Gaines´s and the Margaret´s who treated us to rico dinners while we swapped stories on Playa Tamarindo. There we surfed for 3 straight days.. only Gordo succeeded. and Neil but he got bed bugs so those cancel each other out.
In Costa Rica we spotted some crocodilios, monkeys, and crazy birds and Spring Breakers and hiked along little active volcanos. Then the dads left, and the girls split from the guys for the first time since Buenos Aires and that was sad. Emma and Elise went to therapy while the others went ziplining through the jungle in Monteverde which was amazing. Actually, the girls went on to Nicaragua where they watched a chicken boxing match and a baseball game - the national stadium is named after Dennis Martinez - and went to Playa San Juan del Sur, but we don´t know what they did there because they are at the grocery store right now.
The rest of the family-friends crew took off, and the original crew met back up on Isla de Ometepe where we greeted each other with hugs and tears and gifts. That island was super cool. It was formed by two cone-shaped volcanoes, and sits in the middle of a gigantic lake, creating the illusion you are at the beach. We rented bikes and swam in watering holes. Some attempted to hike the volcano... maybe they made it to the top and maybe nobody did. Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the western hem. only to Bolivia, and it shows. Yet it also is one of the most interesting to see from a yellow school bus window, in terms of lifestyle - very old fashioned.
Now we are in Granada, a colonial little habitat with a lot of history behind it, and we take a bus at 5am to Honduras - Central America is going too fast.

---

---