Nicaraguan Volcano

One of my favourite things to visit in Nicaragua was the volcano. It was dormant, but was still smoking! The last time it erupted was about 10 years ago, and the smoke was still billowing out of the crater. We drove into the national park and were given a list of warnings at the park entrance. Some examples of the safety rules:

*Park your car facing the exit in case you need to make a quick getaway.

*Don't stay longer than 20 minutes.

*Hide under your car if there's an eruption so that you don't get killed by flying rocks.

We were a bit apprehensive after reading through the list (!) but we did it anyway!



As soon as you step out of the airconditioned car, the smell hits you. It reeked of sulfur and smoke and some other unidentifiable gases. We had to climb up to the lookout point and it was so bad that we were all choking and gasping. Luckily it was a windy day and we didn't keel over.



You'd think the volcano would be ugly. It was dark, and sooty. The fields were ashed, and everything had a certain degree of death-look. Strangely enough, the best word to describe it would be "majestic". It was a fantastic feeling to be standing on the tip of something that could easily kill me in just a couple seconds.

I expect I'll get that feeling again when my sister gets her driver's license.

'Round Town

Enjoy a few pics of downtown San Juan del Sur.

A view of palm trees lining the sidewalk by the beach.



The beach of San Juan del Sur. The water is so warm, and the sand is fine is beautiful, no pebbley like in NB. You can see the gigantic statue of Jesus on the hill overlooking the town.



Men repairing the roof on one of the beachside restaurants.



Fruit vendor on a bicycle.



Next to this Nicaraguan horse, our Canadian horses are lazy and overfed... he certainly earns his daily meal.

Pelican Eyes Resort

Our villa...


View from the balcony off our bedroom...


The pool, overlooking the Pacific ocean and the village of San Juan del Sur...


Pelican Eyes has a program where they rescue hurt and stray animals. Here's one of their monkeys...

Leaving Managua

Here's the road leading away from Managua, Nicaragua. We were heading south toward San Juan del Sur. I wish I'd taken the video 10 minutes earlier. The scenery on the video doesn't really show what Managua is like. We were warned repeatedly not to leave our hotel in Managua. Supposedly, the streets are not safe to walk in, alone or otherwise. We were picked up by the hotel shuttle at the airport, for which we were very thankful! In Managua, the buildings are shacks made of old tin, pieces of wood, or cement. All the yards, windows and doors are gated and barred. The houses are stuck together. It's not a very pretty place, by our standards. Animals wander in and out of the street, and it's the quick or the dead when it comes to traffic. When we were picked up at the airport, there were other families there to pick up their loved ones. They all just piled into the back of pick up trucks and rode down the highway to home! I've never seen that in Canada, but it was pretty cool. Make do with what you have, right?

Nicaragua Day 1 - We Arrive!

The two girls who went on the Nicaragua trip and I were going to pool our pictures together so that we'd have a more complete photo log of our voyage. However, I've been waiting a month and those pictures haven't shown up! So, you'll have to make do with my attempts at amateur photography...sorry!


We flew out of Boston on Halloween morning. Our stop-over was in Houston, TX. Nobody called me ma'am. I was disappointed. What didn't disappoint was the airport! It was huge, with a mall inside it bigger than the one in our hometown. We ate at a restaurant and were served by a waiter dressed up as Thin Lizzie, complete with zebra print pants and curly blonde wig.

Did you know they have plastic knives in airport restaurants? I'm thinking 9/11.



We flew into Managua late at night. It gets dark at 4:30 pm year-round in Nicaragua. Rather than have us travel the roads at night, our organizers put us up at the Camino Real. It was beautiful! First thing we did? Swim!! The water was just like bath water, but still refreshing, since the humidity hovered around 97% and the temp was in the mid-high 30s.



This hotel (and most buildings in Nicaragua, it would seem) was built semi-open. The rooms were enclosed, but the hallways from one part of the hotel to the next were breezeways. When we woke up the first morning, it was pouring! Thank God for the breezeways.

Our first breakfast was buffet. It was delicious. They had all the "normal" stuff, but the Nicaraguan stuff was a bit heavy. They had fried plantain, deep-fried cheese slices (yummy!), a sort of breakfast casserole with loads of cheese, tomatoe sauce, pasta, etc., whole milk, and lots of beans and rice.



I liked this statue. I think it's a Nicaraguan mama and her baby. I thought it was very breastfeeding friendly, don't you?



Foliage. I thought this was a vanilla tree, and the guard said, "Si, si!" when I asked him. I don't think he understood the question, though, because it turns out it's not a vanilla tree at all.



I'll have more pics soon - stay posted!