Blogs from Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 9

Docked in the horseshoe bay of San Juan Del Sur 7.00a.m. and tendered to the dock. Teamed up with Val and Merv from Sarena (Rae they are friends of Des and Chris from the World Cruise and who are going on the Japan cruise with Vic and Chris and you and Jim), lovely couple, we decided to share a taxi to Granada. Two hour drive to the city which is an old colonial town settled in 1540 and sits on the edge of the magnificent Nicaragua Lake (this lake is 110 mile long by 45 mile wide, largest in Central America), thought to once have been ocean but a volcano explosion separated it from the ocean as there are sharks and fish in this lake that are found nowhere else in the world, they had to ... read more

Granada is said to be the oldest city in Nicaragu, it is certainly picturesque Colourful small houses line quiet roads and there are many lovely old churches. But Granada is also a real, working city. The market is large and chaotic. Smartly dressed school children walk to the Ash Wednesday mass in the cathedral.. On our first evening we come across the International Poetry Festival. Speakers are drawing a crowd but our Spanish is not up to appreciating their works. Then, on the second evening, we come across a mardi gras procession, now part of the Festival. The parade is led by a smart horse-drawn hearse! This is followed by dancers in all manner of costume - beautiful Spanish ladies; aggressive pirates; more pirates, these with horse masks; the grim reaper and friends; a hobby horse ... read more

This post is Part 2 of our Nicaragua journey ... please copy and paste the URL below into your browser for today's story!! https://lwgsummerland.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/cooking-with-surfers-momma-starry-san-juan-del-sur-nights/... read more

Wednesday morning and I'm up and ready to go fairly early. Well early for vacation mode. I rat breakfast at the hostel with a few other guests and happen upon an older woman and young man talking about living in multicultural neighborhoods in the US. It's a bizarre conversation that I choice not to take part in. By 8:30 AM I'm off for a little adventure. Today I'm on a tour of a volcano and a few towns surrounding Granada. As I hop into the van, I'm greeted by two British blokes and both are older than me. This never happens and I'm excited to chat with them, Eric and David. They are on a five week journey which started in Mexico City and is about to end in Costa Rica. They are with a larger ... read more

Up early on Tuesday. Earlier than I would have liked. The funny thing about traveling now are all the gadgets. All hostels have WiFi. Everyone is using their phone. IPads are everywhere. Videos are being show. I'm taking my leisure time to finally watch House of Cards. How far we've come from the hostel common room with the one TV and VCR/DVD (depending on when you last traveled) and hoping that you wouldn't walk in during the middle of a good movie. I kind of miss it. Regardless, breakfast is stellar again and once packed I'm off. This time in a small car sitting in the front seat with a man, women and two children in the back. It was quite cute. The ride to Granada is the same from two days prior. This time I ... read more