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Published: September 22nd 2008
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Ok so I had planned to write my journal everyday, and like most things I start off well and then things go downhill. I have always said that I didn't want to be missing out on anything because I had to stay in and write my journal. Trouble is 4 countries later and things start to get a little bit hazy. So here goes on getting you up to date......
Firstly I have to name and shame Andy yet again!!!! This time for not honouring his bets. In Honduras we were watching a film on tv and he said the actress in it wasn't Catherine Zeta Jones and I said it was. Of Course I was right, but he bet me $1000. He is always harping on about honouring agreements....shame on you!!!!
Anyway Nicaragua, the poorest country of Central America was a stark contrast when we crossed over the border. There was a lot more agriculture and visable poverty around.
Our first stop in Leon was a small colonial town. We stayed at the Bigfoot Hostel, which was quite a cool place with lots of big chairs to relax in, free internet and a swimming pool in the shape of a
foot (although the pool resembled a pond more than a swimming pool). Andy and I did truck security which was really hot. During the day we went to a bug museum, some strange military musuem and an art museum. Some of the group went Volcano boarding. I chose not to and it was a wise decision as it rained the whole time they were up there.
Next on to Volcan Masaya. We got a taxi to the top and were informed that we needed to wear gas masks as the weather was making the Volcano smoulder even more. We were not allowed to stay longer than 15 minutes. It is unbelieveable but parakeets actually live in the crater. The landscape was very stark, but it was really interesting. The town of Masaya was not very touristy, a couple of restuarants and an artisan market which was disappointing. There were a lot of street kids that hung around, worse than anywhere else we had been, most of them were sniffing glue from Coca Cola bottles around their necks. They slept in the rafters of an abandonned building. It was very sad to see.
Granada turned out to be very beautiful...twinned with
Antigua in Guatemala all the colonial buildings were painted bright colours. The La Libertad hostel was a great place for chilling out. We went to a cool cemetary where 7 presidents were buried and I took loads of photos.
Then the worst happened....after a great meal Donna, Al, myself and Andy walked back to the hostal. A guy was behind us in the street, concious of the fact he was coming alongside of me I moved my purse to the other hand away from him - he walked on by. After a few minutes he came from a different direction past me and grabbed Donna's handbag. She tried with a galliant effort to hang on to it, but he managed to get it loose from her grip and sprinted down the street.
Al and Andy ran after the mugger. Al, the rather timid and quiet guy, started shouting loud verbal abuse at him. All the locals came out to see what was occuring. Al managed to get hold of the guy but tripped and fell to the floor loosing his flipflops in the process. Quick as lightening he got to his feet and continued the pursuit around the corner. I
don't know whether it was Al's shouting but the guy dropped the bag and ran away. One of the locals returned Al's flipflops to him and patted him on the shoulder.
Back in the safety of the hostal it began to dawn on is all, that whilst everything was recovered and everyone was alive and Al was the hero of the hour, the suituation could have turned out a lot worse. By pursuing the mugger you are actually putting yourself in danger and no money, camera or possesion is worth dying for. None of us knew what was around the corner, the guy could have had a knife, gun or 10 mates waiting. I don't carry a bag around at night for specifically this reason.
It also makes you feel sick to your stomach that people would do that kind of thing. Earlier on in the day I was looking at purchasing hammock from a charity organisation that provides medical supplies to locals...trying to do my bit for the local community. It makes you feel why should you bother...I know that this is just one person and there are thousands around....but it still left me with a bad taste in
my mouth and of course it's the one thing I will remember about a beautiful city.
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