After traveling about in Guatemala we took the long, two-leg bus trip across El Salvador and Honduras to Nicaragua. Our three weeks here were spent visiting the colonial city of Leon and the island of Ometepe, meeting up with friends from the US on vacation outside of the San Juan del Sur and studying Spanish for a week in Granada.
Leon
After being on the move for a few weeks it was nice to finally stay put in once place for a few days. After checking into our hostel we we ran into our new friend Mila from our Spanish studies in Guatemala. Besides taking self guided walking tours of the city, the week was pretty low key with lots of pool time, with the exception of Volcano Boarding. What is Volcano Boarding you ask? Well, pretty simple; climb a volcano with steep sand slopes, sit down on a piece of plywood that has been built out with a few modifications, lift your feet off the ground and see how fast you can go! (See youtube video below for the first person view)
Ometepe
We made our way to Ometepe Island located in (massive) Lake Nicaragua. The majority of the island is made up of two volcanoes rising high above the lake. With the intension of climbing Concepcion, the higher of the two, we took the bus to the opposite side of the island. In the end we didn't climb due to Rosie getting sick so the rest of our time on the island was spent laying low.
Leon
After being on the move for a few weeks it was nice to finally stay put in once place for a few days. After checking into our hostel we we ran into our new friend Mila from our Spanish studies in Guatemala. Besides taking self guided walking tours of the city, the week was pretty low key with lots of pool time, with the exception of Volcano Boarding. What is Volcano Boarding you ask? Well, pretty simple; climb a volcano with steep sand slopes, sit down on a piece of plywood that has been built out with a few modifications, lift your feet off the ground and see how fast you can go! (See youtube video below for the first person view)
Ometepe
We made our way to Ometepe Island located in (massive) Lake Nicaragua. The majority of the island is made up of two volcanoes rising high above the lake. With the intension of climbing Concepcion, the higher of the two, we took the bus to the opposite side of the island. In the end we didn't climb due to Rosie getting sick so the rest of our time on the island was spent laying low.
San Juan del Sur
Located on the southern coast and known for it's surfing and party scene, our time here didn't really involve either of those things. We met up with our friend Kelsey and her cousins Shelby and Julian who had come down for the week of Thanksgiving. We stayed in an amazing house a short (4wd) out of town. With lots of pool and reading time, we had a nice relaxing week.
Granada
The last week in Nicaragua was spent in Granada studying Spanish. Located on the west shore of Lake Nicaragua, Granada is the other major colonial city in Nicaragua. With our days filled with study, school activities and hanging out with our host family, the week went by fast and before we knew it we were on a bus to the Costa Rican border. The highlight of the week was definitely the night tour of the active Masaya Volcano.
Click the play button below for a slideshow which can be viewed in fullscreen. If the slideshow does not show up on your screen, click here for direct link to the photo album.
Here are a couple video clips from the trip:
