Touristing Nicaragua's Beauties

I got my first visitor! Danielle came in on Tues. March 6th and left Nicaragua March 11. What did we do?

March 6: hung out in Yalaguina, Danielle and I had a very Nicaraguan dinner at my host family's house(rice, beans, maduros, avocado, and tortillas). Chatted while watching some telenovelas.

March 7: I went into work for an hour or 2 and then we headed to Ocotal to watch the Spain v Germany game at a bar/restaurant called La Yunta with my friend Jen. After the game, headed to Somoto and had dinner with my friends Sam and Katie there.

March 8: Showed Danielle around Yalaguina, introduced her to personnel at the health center, and then we headed to Esteli. Walked around Esteli and went out to dinner with my friend Lauren and another Peace Corps volunteer. Our hostel in Esteli was super cute and definitely a backpacker-friendly place, with an English menu in its cafe(where I've eaten before... the eggplant dish, the veggie burger, and also the poached egg breakfast) and tons of information. At night, we went out to Cigarzone, a fachenta discoteca.

March 9: Amazing lunch at a restaurant called La Casita. Food you can't find anywhere else in Nicaragua: Brie cheese, grainy whole wheat bread, house made yogurt, Indian chai tea, etc. Deliciousssssss. After, headed to Leon for the night. Met up with my friend Tucker in Leon and had a very relaxing night, observing Nicaraguan karaoke- cannot sing on key and they sit from their seats and sing the song. Not quite the same.

March 10: Danielle and I went volcano boarding. Only place you can do it in the world is Leon, Nicaragua. You could either sit down and sled down the volcano or stand on a board, similar to snowboarding. We chose to stand, and I definitely later regretted that. We got in a microbus at 7am with a bunch of other tourists to drive an hour to the volcano, called Cerro Negro. It's still an active volcano and the outside is all black. We took our boards and backpacks, filled with our protective gear. Hiked up the side, through the big crater past fuming rocks and breathing sulfur, up the inside of the crater to the other top edge. Cerro Negro erupted ever 10 or so years during the 20th century and it's last eruption was 1997. Inside the big crater, there is a smaller crater near the top, too. After watching most of our group sled down the hill, Danielle and I started boarding down(after a brief instructional from our guide). While Danielle flew down smoothly(she's a snowboarder), I fell down about every 30 yards or so. Having no experience skiing or snowboarding, I'm thinking the sensation of heading down the hill scared me. Unlike snowboarding, your body faces the hill as you go down and to turn, you put your hand into the gravel/sand and turn the board the opposite direction. I would get some momentum going and then freak out and stop. Finally reached the bottom. Danielle said her experience wasn't the best either, however even though the boarding wasn't great, the view from the top was beautiful. Cerro Negro is part of a range of active and extinct volcanos and from its peak, you can see San Cristobal, the tallest active volcano in Nicaragua. After boarding, we got some lunch and watched the second half of the Germany/Uruguay game. and then walked to Leon's famous cathedral. Although the outside of the cathedral looked similar to other Nicaraguan churches, the inside was spectacular. It was similar to European cathedrals.... but it was in Nicargua. Had to give Nicaragua a big pat on the back for creating something so beautiful. Then we headed to Managua so Danielle could catch her 4am bus up to Guatemala. Thanks Danielle for coming! She said it was the cheapest trip she's ever taken, so you all should be inspired to buy a ticket down and spend $5 on meals :)

Pictures: Danielle in front of La Casita and the cathedral in Leon