Nicaragua Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

San Juan del SurSo then, San Juan, or should we say Saint John of the Sea - quite apt. I came here to learn a bit more Spanish.  A week´s intensive course including food, lodging and a surfing lesson (that never materialised) costs $130 - this is about $100 cheaper than Costa Rica.  Plus, my 90 day visa was expiring, so I needed to get out - fast. It seems I´m too late.  Property speculators seem to be doing what the US Government couldn´t by slowing purchasing Central Ameri...

Well its time to finally say goodbye to Nicaragua, its been a amazing place to visit, made me feel angry at times, sad and also so happy, Nicaragua is certainly a magic country.  We leave on the Tica bus at 6.30am, ugh somehow i am still not gettin used to all those horrible early mornings, i am a night owl lol, i have never been a morning person.  So tonights task is, re-packing the bloody backpack, tho i have chucked out lots of items i no longer need or have used, it still is h...

Today we woke up early to eat and meet our guide for our kayaking trip. After a short taxi ride we arrived at the lake and hopped into the kayaks. I was amazed at the size of the lake. It almost looks like an ocean. The water is dirty and full of debris. Today was the first time i was able to practice filming with my waterproof camera case.  I think kayaking is the way to go if you want to see any animals. It is quiet and peaceful. You do have to be careful though. Stay close to the shor...

After easily getting our exit stamp at immigration we then had to pay US$1 each exit duty (legit? hummm) and then paid 5000 colones each for the boat to San Carlos. Also had to pay US$7 each to get into Nicaragua, for those of you who are going.... We climbed aboard an ancient and rusting boat that took us along the beautiful River Frio across the border from Costa Rica into Nicaragua. As we gently made our way down the river, we spotted tonnes of wildlife including loads of turtles s...

We’re here! We has two stops, one in Salt Lake City and the other in Huston Texas. Oh the lunch in Texas was so good, mmm. It wasn’t much of a day, just lots of travel on the plane. I’m happy to be here finally. We arrived in Managua, it’s a whole different world here. The airport was full of people waiting to great their families and friends, it was packed. The airport is really nice too.                 Our...

The first stop in Nicaragua was the old town of Leon, well not actually the old town.  The original "old town" was destroyed by an earthquake and abandoned centeries ago but this one was old enough for us.  Leon is the traditional liberal town of Nicaragua and the traditional enemy of the more conservative Granada. Leon was a main center of power for the Sandista Rebels during the `79 revolution to rid the country of the evil dictator Somoza (boo, hiss).  As such, most of the c...

Ok well, i have not written on here for a while and that is because well i have not been too well. We decided to go to Las Peñitas for a few days which is sposed to be about 20 mins away from Leon, but is actually around 45 minutes! We arrived there and had already decided where we was staying, a place called La Samaki.net. We was told about this place by the guy who runs lazy bones. When we got there we was greeted by a lady, who was very nice and polite. She showed us to our room which was...

Shortly after passing through Tegus we came to the border of Honduras and Nicaragua!! We exited the vehicle as a mass, and headed over to the stations to have our passports checked and authorized. I noticed that if you gave them a little tip, you immediately exited the line, had a stamp in your passport, and were ready for the next step! To pass the time, we hiked up one of the hills and ran into some kids who wanted to "polish" our running shoes:) They opted for a game of futbolito in...

Today I met up at 730am to first have breakfast with the Pastor´s family then at 8 to head over to the school to begin work.  Breakfast was good, homemade food (beans, rice, tortillas, eggs and sausages). After breakfast I threw my stuff in the group´s van and we made our way to the school.  There were a few different jobs to be done namely working on making rebar frames, sifting sand for use in cement and rebuilding a fence.  Four of us guys got put on fence-duty.  It ...

On driving in Nicaragua:" I took my car to the mechanic once.  When I went to pick it up, the mechanic told me he couldn't fix my brakes so he made my horn louder."If this isn't the epitome of Nicaraguan driving, I don't know what is.  Car rides, even short ones, are both scary and exhilirating, as you could never get away with driving the way they do in the States.I arrived in Jinotepe just in time to say goodnight to most of my family. I don't have pictures of Jinotepe, as I've be...

Well the original plan had been to hike up to the top of Maderas Volcano, which was about a 10hr hike, but seeing as it had been NYE the night before and we had all consumed a lot of rum, and the fact we would have had to get up at 5am, we decided to hike up to San Ramon Waterfall instead. We took a 2hr drive in a truck around the island first to get to the base of the volcano, and then started our journey up. Well, by the end of the first 1km up I could already hardly breathe and was feeling...

"I had no desire to die and felt tempted to say something about his mother." -Che Guevara, Pasajes de la Guerra Revolucionaria   Granada had an imposing look to it. All the houses and tiendas were huge, speaking of a conservative spaciousness that had been lost as the country left Spanish colonialism behind. The best way to describe Granada is a balding, pot-bellied man smoking a cigar while observing the world through narrowed, suspicious eyes. He is behind a great oak desk, immobile...

We took a 15hr bus ride from Guatelama city to the Nicaragua capital of Managua on one of the nices buses I've ever been on. Really, Greyhound should come down and check these buses out. We had 2 "inflight" movies and the seats reclined a ton. Way more comfortable than an airplane. The bus dropped us off in the heart of the bustling capital of Managua and I learned another lesson when traveling. Never get into a cab when you have no idea where you're going. The cab driver proceeded to give us...

We tried to get from Montezuma to Granada is one day but we missed the last bus from Rivas so we stayed the night there.  We found a hotel and started to unpack when we noticed hundreds of flying ants escaping from the walls onto the bed. So we packed up and found a new place which was relatively bug free. Crossing the border went smoothly (the taxi drivers pretty much escort you through).  Nicaragua is a lot cheaper than Costa Rica and Panama (12 cents for a jug of water vs. ...

Today was a day of travel. We left the Boise airport at 6:30 am, stopped off at Salt Lake, Huston and made it to Managua by 8:30pm. We were happy to be back at the Best Western, it’s very nice there. We know hot to do this routine now.             We forgot a few steps at the Managua airport that would have been nice to remember because it just made us look like tourists even more since we forget these little steps. Hint #1- make sure ...