Honduras

I only took one picture in Honduras.  It's my hostel in San Pedro Sula.  I had to leave after only three days (which is a nice way of saying I got kicked out of the country - for reasons that were totally not my fault, and I will not go into at the moment). 

Basilica de la Asuncion

 It's the largest church in Central America.  The tomb of Ruben Dario is inside under a statue of a lion. 

 We climbed up to the top to see the bells. 

 What a magnificent view of Leon from the rooftop. 

Workers are tediously scrubbing away years of dirt and grime to reveal the church's white facade once again. 

Reserva Natural Isla Juan Venado

 We took a boat tour of the mangroves and saw lots of birds. 

 Our guide got crabby.

 We had the entire beach to ourselves. 

Daily Life in Nicaragua

 Typical bus station scene with buses lined up and vendors walking around, tons of trash on the ground. 

 Some men bringing produce to the market. 

 Want to buy a chicken?

Vendors selling everything from pigs feet to flip flops. 

Nico. Food

 Veggie burrito.

 Veggie tacos with side salad and rice.  They always give you exactly 1 cup of rice. 

Veggie fajitas with spicy sauce. 

Imagenes de la Revolucion

 Leon was in a long civil war with Granada.  They invited William Walker (secretly an American) to help fight.  He declared himself president and was later killed.  

 Leon is fiercely Liberal, and most people who live there are Sandinistas. 

In 1956 the original dictator of Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza Garcia was killed by Rigoberto lopez, a famous poet.

Maria gave us a tour of the beautiful murals depicting Leon's tragic history.  She was a young woman when all the fighting took place.  She told us how she was pregnant at the time and had to run away from bullets with people falling dead all around her. 

Cerro Negro

Cerro Negro: rated #2 by CNN on their Bucket List and rated #4 by Reader's Digest as the Most Death Defying Activities.  This active volcano is 726 meters and growing.  It last blew in 1999. 

Bev and I hiked to the top where it was very windy. 

Yes, carrying a 10 pound sandboard up a volcano is an easy as you can imagine. 

Sandboarding down a Volcano

We put on our orange prison suits and were given a lesson on how to sandboard.  Hold on.  Don't put your hands down.  Try not to fall off. 

Here's Bev!  It should be called rockboarding because there is no sand anywhere.  There are sharp volcanic rocks, and they fly into your face the entire way down. 

I got up to 56 kph, and then promptly tumbled the rest of the way down the mountain.  My giant prison suit proved to be useless.  This is what volcanorash looks like. 

I was the fastest girl and the second fastest of the entire trip.  Whoopie!

Go Team USA!