Nicaragua

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We arrived at the Nicaraguan immigration with our puncture and got all the paperwork done with ease and the Nicaraguan side of the border was far calmer than the Honduran side. We bought our van insurance from a woman hanging around by the immigration booths, changed our flat tyre and were ready to go.

Leon

We were heading towards Leon where we originally hoped to get to, but as usual, the border crossing took way longer than we would have liked. It started to get dark and so we saw a motel at the town of Chinandega where we put our heads down for the evening. We finished our journey into Leon the next day and eventually managed to find a hotel where we could keep the van there. We headed off into town and both immediately loved Leon. It has a real charm, with lots of colonial buildings and just generally a nice laid-back atmosphere. We had lunch and decided to do cultural things like visit the art galley (which was great) and went inside the impressive Cathedral.

Granada and San Juan del Sur

The next day we left for Granada which is also a very attractive city. Again, we struggled to find somewhere to keep the van and eventually decided to treat ourselves to a nice night in a fancy hotel by the main square where we managed to get a really good deal. Granada is another great city but it is far more touristy than Leon. We headed out for a great meal before getting back and sleeping with AC which is bliss for us.

We were off on the move again the next day towards the beach town of San Juan del Sur. We were hoping to camp up there as it was a beach town that was good for surfing. We couldn’t find anywhere to camp and all the rooms were ridiculously priced and in the end we were begrudgingly out of the van and in a room once again.

We set off early next morning for the Costa Rican border as there was still more of Central America for us to explore and we were certainly running out of time. It was a shame we spent such a short time in Nicaragua as we both loved it and thought it had a lot more to offer. Perhaps another time….

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