Blogs from Leon, Northern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Nach einer mehr oder weniger anstrengenden Reise sind wir Sonntag spät abends in Leon angekommen. Leon ist eine alte kleine Kolonialstadt, deren Hauptattraktion die größte Kathedrale Zentralamerikas ist. Zudem ist es ein beschauliches Städtchen und gut um erst einmal richtig anzukommen. Das haben wir auch dann am Montag gemacht und das Stadtzentrum erkundet. Die Kathdrale ist riesig und wurde im 19. Jahrhundert fertiggestellt. Es gibt eine große „Terraza“ von der man einen wunderschönen Überblick über die ganze Gegend und auch die zahlreichen Vulkane der Umgebung hat. Am Abend waren wir dann im Reisebüro „Lorotrips“ zu einem typische nicaraguanischen Essen eingeladen und wir trafen einige ehemalige ITH Studenten und auch die beiden Neuen, die heuer im Herbst starten werden – Angelika und Noel. 7.8. Am Morgen machten wir uns, nach dem gemütlichen Frühstück in unserem klein... read more

Hello family and friends, We finally made it into Costa Rica and set up camp in San Jose while we waited for Jess and Chris to fly in. After reuniting with J and C and catching up on all the goss from the past year, we jumped on a chicken bus and made our way up to La Fortuna, which is a town at the base of an active volcano. We spent a couple of days checking out the volcano, jungle and natural hot springs but soon realised that Costa was an expensive country and Nicaragua was the place to be! Chicken buses, bumpy dirt roads and a three hour border crossing mission took its toll but we finally made it and decided to hang out in the coastal village of San Juan Del Sur. Nicaragua ... read more

After leaving Ataco our plans developed quickly... Once we arrived in San Salvador we decided to head straight for Nicaragua, overall it took 11 different modes of transport over the course of 2 days to finally reach Somoto, our destination in Nicaragua. The journey was long but amusing, especially in Honduras, where we became the center of attation everywhere we went. People wanted to take pictures with us, everyone was very chatty and High-School-Kids wanted to add us on Facebook. We felt like celebrities :) What we found most interesting were the borders between the countries: to reach "El Amatillo", the border between El Salvador and Honduras, we had to take a "tuk-tuk", which went off the high road and through fields, to finally reach the migration office. From there we had to walk over the ... read more

First Volunteer Work - The Shed - Jeff While volunteering at Surfing Turtle, I was tasked to build a shed with Yairo, a local staff member of the hotel. I didn’t think much of it but it ended up being a great experience. We needed to build the shed to replace an old shed that as blown over in a storm during the off season. They use it to store the trash cans, tools, and horse equipment. Our first task was to break down the remains of the first shed and salvage any materials that could be reused. During that time, I was asked to clear out an area for our new building site. Yairo handed me his machete, gave me a 10 second crash course on how to use it, and had me go to ... read more

My 3 hour journey from Granada to Leon, Nicaragua cost me $3.00. It was a 13 seater bus with 24 people in it. Everyone but the driver and I had a baby in their lap. I have never seen happier people. If you thought money brings happiness, visit Nicaragua. More smiles here than any "first" world country. Love can and does exist over decades and some don’t fully appreciate the significance until it has historical context. A very good friend of mine’s lover passed away over the holidays. It was a passionate on and off love affair that lasted decades. They found love letters he never sent her that expressed his true feelings. Life is too short friends, speak your mind. ... read more