Nicaragua (Nic-ar-ag-oo-a)

This country is incredible. I've been here for a week and a half so far and I absolutely love it. It's so different from both Costa Rica and Panama. A bit dirtier, a bit louder, hotter. I love the street food, the chicken buses, the currency. I spent several days in Leon: the most beautiful city I've seen this entire trip. It's not very touristed yet so it was easy to walk through the streets (sticking to the shady side of course) without being hassled or hustled--no more than the locals are hustled by the regular vendors with baskets of various food and drink on their heads. I went to the central market there several times and each time I found something amazing. Refrescos naturales (fresh juices) in all sorts of strange flavors for 10 cordobas (50 cents). Dulce de cacao, a type of sweet with cocoa. The largest papayas I have ever seen in my life. Delicious home baked pastries of all kinds. You're allowed to walk all over the roof of the cathedral (unsupervised) for great views of the city and all the neighboring volcanoes, provided you don't ring the bells or run around on the domes. I would have spent more time there but it was just too hot. And I'm near the end of my trip so each day must be carefully planned (yikes!).

I then spent several days in Granada which is also beautiful but entirely filled with tourists. It became overwhelming with everyone offering taxis, buses, hammocks, vases everywhere, even in restaurants. I was dying slowly from the heat--seriously, I've never been this hot before for an extended amount of time--and suffocating from all the attention so it was a relief to go to Isla de Ometepe. It's a huge island in the middle of the Lago de Nicaragua, a huge lake with sharks. The island is in the shape of a figure eight with a volcano on each side, one larger and one smaller. The natural beauty there is incredible. It is not highly developed or overly touristed yet so my entire stay was very relaxing. I stayed at Finca Magdalena, a coffee farm at the base of the smaller volcano, Maderas. One day Emily and I climbed the volcano with a group from the Finca. The hardest 6 mile hike I've ever done (not to mention the terrible shape in which I find myself cardiovascularly). The trail passes through several kinds of forests with great views of the larger volcano, Concepcion, and there's a muddy lake at the top in a crater. The second day I took a bus to Ojo de Agua, a natural spring that was turned in to a swimming area. I tried to swim in the lake on the way back but it was pretty dirty and too shallow for hundreds of feet from the shore.

I'm now in San Juan del Sur on the southern Pacific coast. I've been hearing opposing opinions about this place for several months now so here I am to judge for myself. The beach looks nice? It's hot.