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!

Massaya

Here is a typical Nicaraguan bus station scene.  Rows of colorful buses with tons of street vendors selling everything from ice cream to empanadas...

...to live chickens.  And everything in between.  We walked past vendors selling toothbrushes, shirts, produce, brooms, haircuts, everything you could possibly imagine. 

We kepts looking for the "nice" part of Massaya. Well, here's the truth.  There is no nice part of Massaya.  It's all totally sketchy.  However, we did find a decent hostel after an hour walk around town. 

The main reason we came here was to walk along the edge of Volcan Massaya.  Unfortunately, when we arrived at the gate they said it was closed for two weeks because the volcano was too active.  It was throwing huge chunks of lava all around and producing bug gusts of smoke.  Bummer! 

Fortleza de Coyotepe

Now tourist attraction, this fort was once a compound run by the Sandistas until 1912 when the US marines intervened. 

The fort has a prison underneath he fort, and we took a tour.  This is a picture of one of the few light holes the inmates had. 

They were kept in cells of 15-40 people.  There was no electricity.  The tourguide told us not to walk in the cell areas, but in the hallways.  I'm not quite sure, but I think it's because this beateria-fest was only closed about 30 years ago, and he was afraid we might get ill.  It reeked of urine.

The people in captivity were usually considered traitors of the government or such.  They were often tortured.  There was one room that was pitch black, and they put people in there for years at time, and they went blind.  Another room still had the blood on the walls of victims of torture: tearing out fingernails, whipping, etc.  I asked if the torture was effective.  The guide said, "Yes, but often the information was false, and then they would kill the person for that." 

Bicycle Tour of Granada

Granada is a lovely town.  It was one of the more touristy places in Nicaragua, but we definately found some old world charm.  We went on a bike ride down to the penninsula and through town.  Here is my cute blue bicycle, complete with horn and basket. 

El Merced is my favorite cathedral in Granada.  Not only is it exquisite, but youcan climb the bell towers. 

We walked up a winding staircase and several sets of stairs.  Here is a view of Granada from on of the windows. 

This is the best view of Granada! 

Dona Elena Cigars

 If you go to Granada, you can't leave without a visit to Dona Elena Cigar Factory.  Ask for Kerri; I hear she's a really good tour guide. 

 This guy rolls 5 different  kinds of tobacco leaves into each cigar.  He's so fast. 

They compressed them for 20 minutes.  Then, finished off and ready for smoking.  They are supposed to have a slight raisin flavor.   

Granada

Granada is known for its grandiose colonial architechture which always includes a beautifully tiled floor, very tall ceilings and doors fit for a king. 
 
 It was the most expensive town we visited, and with that came the beggars.  There were lots of children who sold trinkets or simply asked for some of our food. 

San Ramon Waterfall

Alfonso rode in the front of the motorcycle while I rode on the back.  I figured if a 3 year old wasn't afraid to ride the gnarly, unpaved roads of Ometepe Island, then neither was I. 

Volcan Concepcion, one of two volcanoes on the island, is 1647 meters tall and last blew in 2011. 

 Elmer shows off his huge avocado. 

At 60 meters tall, San Ramon Waterfall is refreshing on a hot and humid day.