Best Western Las Mercedes Managua

... hand - the equivalent of five dollars. I thought then that they must be releasing us if she is giving me money. About 20 mins later the car stopped, then started then stopped again, it sounded as if they were checking to see if people were around. They then opened the one door and pushed both me and Al out shouting at us to not turn around. The car sped off.

We were left standing on a gravel road in a suburb with high fences. Al and I first ...

Sunday was an easy version of planes, trains and automobiles. A ferry and hour-and-a-half taxi ride got us back to Granada, where we picked up our bags and briefly checked out the parade marching through town. We schlepped several blocks to the bus station just in time to catch a microbus back to Managua. Another taxi ride brought us back to Marco and Judy's house, where July impressively chewed out the taxi driver for charging us double ...

... after playing!

Luckily we all got to take a break, relax, and eat some lunch. However, the break could not have lasted long enough.... before I knew it we were back with my newfound best friend, concrete. Oh how I hate concrete now. Today we had to mix another batch and then patch up the holes around the school wall. We all thought this would be way easier than it really was... but the first batch of concrete we made was too runny and just slid right down the wall and did ...

Thank goodness I am not an ice cream cone or I would be melted within seconds!!! I can not believe how hot and humid it is here in Granda, Nicaragua! Wowzers!!! Nicaragua fast facts: Official Name: Republic of Nicaragua Size: 129,494 square km (similar to the size of New York) Capital: Managua Languages spoken: Spanish and English along the Caribbean coast Population: 5,145,000 I don`t really know too much about the country so I can not tell you what ...

... asking us for something: horse ride? glasses? food?  No, gracias!The alley is very westernized. Looks kind of fancy. A lot of restaurants and hotels. It is interesting how it doesnt look like much on the outside, but if you look inside the doors that you are passing by, you can see a garden inside, some tables, etc. Very traditional of Granada...Since we've read a lot about being cautious about the food in Nicaragua, we decided to have breakfast at ...

... Belgium) on January the 24th early in the morning. First flying to London, than another plane to Miami and finally a last flight to Managua. January 24 will be a long day!!!

During the months before our departure I was very busy reading travelguides, snuffling around at the internet, reading forums and travelblogs, asked my brother for some information about his ...

... enough Spanish to argue. We decided to stay a second night since a good hostel is hard to come by, and traveling is stressful enough to warrant breaking it up as much as possible. The next morning (Jan. 25) we walked about 7 blocks to a bus stop where we could catch the bus to Managua (the capital. From there we could catch a bus to Matagalpa. All in all, Granada was nice but hot. Still looking forward to those mountains in Matagalpa.

At the border, there was an amazing number of trucks stationed for about a mile before and one after. It was the first time that a chicken bus actually dropped me off right at the border. I was able to walk across in less than a minute. The Honduras exit and the Nicaragua entrance were 50 cm apart, so close that the Honduras officer gave my passport directly to the Nicaraguan one. The bus to the next main town is right at the end of the street. It took me seven ...