Blogs from Estelí, Northern Highlands, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

After seeing Rach safely into an airport taxi I left San Pedro Sula for the forth (and hopefully last) time and made the mammoth bus tip across Honduras and south into the highlands of Nicaragua. My first stop just over the border was the small colonial town of Somoto; the town didn't feature on the gringo trail until 2004 when some Czech scientists brought the existence of Cañon de Somoto to the world’s attention. Formed millions of years ago the gorge just outside town is a mere 10m wide but plunges 150m into the granite strata. Along its three km length runs the Nascent River between the high walls. With a local guide I spent a fantastic afternoon swimming, jumping and floating downstream through this extraordinary place, the near vertical granite walls shoot up either side ... read more

I arrived at the border Los Manos border crossing at about 11 AM. It was a little later than I intended but I wasnt concerned because I didnt have far to travel. I was promply besiged by a large group of kids offering help to guide me across the border so I picked out one of them and resigned myself to the circus that would surely follow. It was bad but maybe not so bad as I expected. There was the money changing business, a $3 fee to leave Honduras (which seemed pretty bogus) plus a car permit fee and obligatory insurance to buy for Nicaragua (which seemed pretty reasonable) plus tips for the guides (one for Honduras and one for Nicaragua as per their custom) that all added up to a small sum of money ... read more

El D&D microbrewery es muy lindo, con muchos arboles, una piscina un restaurante, hamacas etc. Tuvimos mucho hambre y comimos BLT sanwiches con licuados muy ricos! Esa tarde caminamos un poco pero nos sentimos muy mal y volvimos a la habitación muy rapido! No comimos la cena, y por desayuno solamente comimos tostada con nada y agua. Es lastima porque el Lago Yojoa es muy lindo pero no lo pudimos ver mucho. El segundo dia caminamos un poco al lago pero solamente por un poco de tiempo y volvimos muy rapido al hotel. Por la cena comimos poco y hablamos con amigos en el restaurante. Habia muchos hummingbird feeders con muchos hummingbirds. Eventualmente nos sentimos mucho mejor y pudimos viajar. Tomamos un bus a Tegucigalpa, la capital de Honduras a las 6.30am. En Tegucigalpa habian taxis ... read more

Dec 8, 2010 Wednesday evening Hi everyone, I left this morning from Brooksville at 4:30 am and it was 22 degrees F, passed through Miami airport which is quite chilly and arrived in Managua a little after 1 pm Central Time. In Managua, Nicaragua it was a breezy 80F which is great since it is usually in the 90's. I caught a cab to the bus station and arrived there just in time to get an Expresso Bus to Esteli. One does not drink coffee products on such a bus, it is just a bus that doesn't stop at every corner to pick up people once it leaves the station. That was a little unfortunate for me since I look forward to getting cuijada cheese on a freshly homemade corn tortilla. Ladies who make this get ... read more

Answers to Aunt Lori´s comment and Jeri´s comment. We expect about 500 people to watch the parade and hang out in the non-catholic, evangelical, church during the wedding. We have invited about 160 people and have ordered 175 plates for the private reception. Thank you for the thoughts! Jeri! Yes, call and see if there are rooms at Colonial first and then check out Panamericano 2nd. ............. I am exhaaaaausted. I came into Estelí to get stuff done. First went directly to Doña Moncha´s to give her one of the USA bags that Mom sent me, and to finally give her a wedding invite and see how many people will be coming. I only stayed for like an hour, but it was going on noon by the time I got back into Estelí. Went to the ... read more

Okay, feeling better. Man Dengue sucks. Felt like a truck hit me during the night for about a week. Am in Esteli for a hot minute to meet new volunteers and tell them how awesome Somoto is (i am rolling my eyes) and convince one of them to come to a site near me in August. By the way, where is the time goooooing?! My family is coming in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! Which means the rest of you are coming in like 3 weeks! WTF?! And then we get married and you all fly home and then the new volulnteers get in and then we have our Close of Service Conference in August, too.....and then I turn 28 in September and then Halloween in October and November is for graduations and goodbye parties since my ... read more

In the later morning and early afternoon yesterday we were so worried that we had lost the Rancho dog and Rico telling Nate and Stephanie, the owners, that he was sorry that we had lost their boy. Nate (or Nato as he is called in the village) went out in his truck to the area where we last saw him and asked everyone there and no one had seen him. Later Rico and I boarded the 1:30 pm bus to the end of the village, sitting on opposite sides of the bus in case we could see him on his way. We thought that maybe he decided to come back along the road instead of the beach the way we had walked earlier. Once the bus got to the end of the beach everyone got off. ... read more