Blogs from Leon, Northern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 3

The journey to Surfing Turtle Lodge involved a 2.5km walk in the midday sun with a heavy backpack, to a bar to get the boat across the river, then horse and cart took our bags while we walked behind to the lodge. Once we arrived and we're checked in, we were asked if we'd like to help release today's turtle hatchlings - big YES. Surfing Turtle Lodge works with local people to save turtle eggs from being eaten, buying eggs at above market rate and reburying them in their sanctuary, releasing them into the ocean when they hatch. Since they opened they have released over 15000 turtles (mostly Green Turtles), and by protecting the eggs from poachers and predators, the chance of the turtles hatching and reaching maturity is increased tenfold. On the beach, watching the ... read more

Geo: 12.43, -86.89Our ambitions for this trip were much greater than our actual ability to see everything we intended. Annemarie and I both have a great love for waterfalls and were really looking forward to visiting a popular one on the other side of the island. In order to make this happen, we were going to have to plan things down to the minute because we wanted to be in the city of Leon by 6 in the evening to book our grand finale activity. The particular outfit we wanted to go with would not take online reservations and closed at 6. Unfortunately, in a Central American country, or any Latin country I have visited for that matter, you really can't have both the layed back culture, and the ability to plan down to the minute. ... read more

So after a week of Central America we are making our way through our third country, Nicaragua. The country is characterised by its many volcanoes, lakes and beaches, each of which we have briefly sampled in our short stay so far. By far the most beautiful place we have visited in Nicaragua so far is Laguna de Apoyo. Formed in the crater of a volcano and surrounded by volcanos on all sides, the Laguna is in a picturesque spot. As it is heated by the volcano, little pockets of warmth exist throughout the lake, which is 200 meters deep in the centre making it the lowest point in Nicaragua. It is necessary to pay a fee to visit the Laguna, which is accessible only by the resorts which have sprung up around its edge. We chose ... read more

So, 2 days later we finally made it to Leon. We unfortunately got waylaid in San Pedro Sula in Honduras for an extra day as the bus was full, which was annoying as we are getting a little pushed for time and it's not the nicest place in the world to be stuck (don't type it into Google). Leon is a nice town, colonial with a bit of grit and plenty of character. It is in the north of Nicaragua and is next to several volcanoes. One which is currently erupting and one which is the volcano boarding centre of the world. We stayed near the park central in a place called Via Via which had a nice little terrace area and was really well located. On our first night there we ended up meeting the ... read more

Roatan airport is a quiet place where small planes sit beside a short runway. When we are asked to board we walk across to a Czech turbo-prop. Eighteen seats and our little group are the only passengers. Effectively, a private plane to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras! A minibus then takes us to the Nicaraguan border and we change money again, lempira into cordoba. Nicaragua is known for having lots of active volcanoes and soon three volcanoes are spotted to the north. No smoke, no lava, they look totally benign. Leon is our first stop, home of the 1979 Sandinista revolution. A ramshackle museum is staffed by ex-revolutionary soldiers. Photos show Leon at war - rubble, ruins, gunmen and women posing for the camera with automatic weapons. Parallels between the photos and Syria and Ukraine today ... read more