Mar 24, 2013 - Finally got wifi this evening!

Sorry for the delay but wifi is hit or miss! We have been visiting feeding centers through out Nicaragua. The level of poverty and malnutrition are critical challenges in this country. Today I visited a "bakery" in Neuva Vida. Neuva Vida was formed after Hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua. Several thousand people live here in shacks and hovels. Somehow they bake 600 to 1000 loaves of bread in the bakery with no mixer and with a wood fired oven. Anyone have a used commercial mixer? They go by motorbike through the dirt streets selling the bread....

Mar 22, 2013 - Long trip to the country

Today we took a very long bus ride into the country to visit a school and a feeding center. The people here are wonderfully warm and generous. They have very little but they seem content. On our return trip we stopped to see the Masaya Volcano. It is still very active and we were allowed only 5 minutes on the rim. It was certainly enough. Sucking down the sulphur was not the most fun. The feeding centers are extremely grateful for the first aid kits. As it turns out, all of the kits are desperately needed. Thanks to DAN we are making a big...

Mar 20, 2013 - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

March 20, 2013 San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua Nicaragua is second to Haiti as the poorest country in the Americas. The average wage is $380/month, half of which goes toward food. We were up early the catch the 6:45 am tender to port for our tour to the volcanos. The port dock can only handle one tender at a time; with 1500 people wanting to go ashore. Even though each tender can accommodate 100 people, it was slow getting ashore. After a 2 hour bus ride, we arrived at the only volcano that you can visit. The other 4, we took pictures from a...

Dec 28, 2012 - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

12/28 Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala The country is the most populated of all in Central America with 14.7 million people in an area slightly smaller than Tennessee. The border with Mexico is very unsettled due to high risk of drug smuggling. Only 6 years of education is compulsory. Many ethnic Indian groups live here and still speak their native languages. (K’iche, Kaqchikel, Mam, Q’eqchi to name a few) The most popular tourist destination near the port is Antiqua which is 90 minutes away. We decided to stick around the port. There were lots of...

Dec 27, 2012 - Corinto, Nicaragua

12/26 – Day 2 in Puntarenas, Costa Rica It didn’t get quite as warm as we were expecting. A high around 90 and very humid is what we got. Jean, Jerry, Jim & myself had booked a Sky Walk tour in the tropical forest. Buses are air conditioned, so the 40 minute ride was comfortable. We saw white-faced capuchin monkeys along the way and another couple on our walking tour. A bird with pale blue feathers is the only tropical bird that was spotted. Rather disappointing. Leaf cutter ants covered our trail in one section. Pretty cute to watch those...

Dec 12, 2012 - San Juan del Sur - country and Masaya Markets

Awoke to a public address saying a white vessel had been spotted of the starboard bow and looked suspicious. For those who hadn't noticed in the paper about this time last year, three Mexican fishermen were rescued off the Mexican coast and after they were rescued said this ship, the Star Princess passed them and took no notice of their distress. So this time the captain turned the ship around to investigate and confirmed fisherman spotted were under sail and fishing. The issue with last year I recall was the fisherman ran out of full just...

Nov 15, 2012 - San Juan del sur

San Juan del Sur Come back Antigua roads all is forgiven! We have off roaded in jeeps to see turtles, to beaches and to zip line and have completely lost all feeling in the nether regions. I'd like to think that's why both andy and i had to get a set of britches stitched up but mines probably due to a 12 burrito a day diet and Andys through over enthusiastic surfing.  San Juan del sur is a tiny cool town full of surfers and those just there to wear shades, and talk about surfing. We fitted right in obvs! Looking more like Dora the explorer...

Nov 12, 2012 - Granada

Granada A gorgeous town. A colonial fun shabby but chic place. Is to Nicaragua what Antigua is to Guatemala. Loads of bars lots of expats and the beer is so cheap!! Found the garden cafe for much needed fruit, salad, veg and traipsed across the rooftops of the churches and cathedrals. Granada is set next to a great big lake with 350 little islands dotted around them. We spent the morning kayaking round the water lily strewn waterways spotting amazing wildlife, incl more monkeys. ( one is so keen to escape that he recently severed his own...

Nov 11, 2012 - Leon

Leon A 2 day stop here. Cheap food, cheap beer and hot hot hot. Leon is where taxis go to die. The one we took to the bus station from Managua had loose axles so we bobbed up and down independently of the front of the car like a circus clown car. The driver who brought us back from the beach screamed with delight at his ' car fantastico!' as his door flew open whilst turning a corner. The driver we took to the bus station to leave we had to pay through the window as his door was welded shut. Of course we wear seatbelts but that's...

Nov 8, 2012 - Managua - Nicaragua

Managua - Nicaragua Up again at 3pm for a 12 hr coach ride. Much more national express, broken tv screen and dodgy music.  So. Many. Borders. Out of el salvador, Into Honduras, out of Honduras, into Nicaragua. On the bus, off the bus, passports out, passports away. Payment to get in the country, payment to get out the country. honestly can a girl not get through a jackie Collins in peace?! Made it to managua. Another major hub. Arrived at dusk so opted to stay at the bus terminal jail.. I mean hotel. Everything made of concrete. A wee...

Oct 21, 2012 - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

In Nicaragua we took a tour of Old Town and a church full of pre-Colombian art. The pot that looks like a pregnant woman's belly is a burial pot. They would put the deceased remains into the pot to prepare them for rebirth in the next life. This is a very poor country but you'll notice that the coastline is full of corporate mansions for vacationing executives. more pictures will be coming...

Aug 13, 2012 - Onald!?!?

After another lovely Day on chicken buses and an even better mini van where we got to play pass the child/bag of rice/animal we finally pulled up into Leon, the old capital of nicaragua.  So after spending all our time in nice small sea side towns so far it was a bit of a culture shock to be dropped off in a large city. There were far more hustlers than usual and everything was that little bit busier! The main form of taxis turned out to be pedalo type rickshaws which were any experience in themselves but nothing topped the retarded layout...