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

Our Arrival Our minibus from Leon dropped us off at the North bus station on the main highway. We walked right up the Panamerican Highway, then turned left towards the Cathedral to find a place to stay. Where We Stayed Hostal El Albergue - Calle 3a NE just west of Avenue Central. C$400 for a double room with bathroom and TV and free purified water and coffee. What We Did Visited Somoto Canyon - we booked a guide through Sonati hostal which cost $25 each for the longer trip. They called the guide who met us at the bus stop in Somoto. To get to Somoto we caught the bus at 6:30am from opposite the garage on the main highway near Calle Transversal. It took about 2 hours and cost C$28. We were met by our ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, After an intense couple of days travelling through three separate countries, we had a quick stop in Somoto planning on doing a canyon hike but the river was up and the currents dangerous so we moved straight on to Esteli. The Lonely Planet guidebook somewhat glorifies the town as a Mid-West cowboy town but for those expecting wooden saloon doors to swing open at either ends of a dusty track and two gun toting hilbillies to stroll out and draw twenty-five paces before shouting "Vamos!" and shooting each other then you are probably going to be disappointed. The city is once again centred on an oversized cathedral and a gloomy looking central park (the sort that you wouldn't fancy walking through at night). We wandered the streets and realised to our, or should ... read more

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

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

I finally found an internet place that had a computer that recognized my camera card. Hope you like. Dawn... read more