Los Robles Managua

... on a local chicken bus for an hour long trip to Granada. I hadn&#8217;t caught a local bus since the early days of Mexico and was happy to be on one again. I had been catching mostly tourist class bus&#8217;s and even though they are more comfortable, I was feeling a little guilty and felt like I was taking the easy way out and missing some of the cultural experiences. This was the reason I decided to catch local bus&#8217;s on all my journeys in Nicuragua.<br><br>

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 ...

... the perimeter of the lake.<br><br>After the Laguna it was back to Granada and then of to Popoyo, I wasnt entirly sure how to get to popoyo but I figured I would work it out. When the bus dropped me in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere and the guy simply pointed down a dirt road and said popoyo I realised I maybe should have looked into it a little more.<br>After walking down the road for about half an hour an American guuy on a motorbike picked stopped and offered me a ...

... Overall, everyone did really well for not having played much soccer - and I won't lie, I think it was a good decision for me to give up soccer for other sports in which my height actually gave me an advantage. Every single player on the other team barely came to my chest... so I was thinking that maybe my height would give me some sort of advantage. Boy was I wrong! I think I was at a disadvantage! haha But it was a fun game and definitely a good exercise.... I was exhausted and very ...

... their faces. It was a rice, soy, and bean mixture with a piece of bread. Their drink was a soy-based drink/shake. They do this in order to increase the amount of calories the kids consume. They said they shoot for 1,000 calories, but rarely ever reach that. That definitely made me think about how many calories I consume every day and don't even think anything about it! After the kids ate, our job was to clean up the room and the dishes. This was pretty gross, and it was difficult to ...

... half had influenced us personally. I can remember sitting in a circle looking at all their faces wondering if we would ever share a moment like this again. Our last night in Costa Rica was coming to an end and so was my out of body experience of viewing a different culture. The following day was hectic. Bags all packed, a complimentary breakfast of rice, beans and hope were served. The hope being, one day I would return to once again to view a culture proud of what they ...

... rivals Rivas. It was a rowdy crowd. The field had a tall fence around the whole field with barbed wire on it to keep people from getting onto the playing field. Cheap tickets behind the dugout and down the line cost .75 . The fans would sing and taunt the opposing team fans. They had a band and noise makers in the stands. They would climb the ...

... become a paradise - it definitely has the potential! The way back to the park we walked the street where locals live. Big difference. Houses are small, no gardens inside. But everyone is really friendly. It seems the poorer people are, the more friendly and smiling they are! We did not feel any danger at all, like some (may) suggest. Back at the hotel, got online, read a bit to wait off the heat. Then we went into residential area on the west side of ...

... the guy stop, we get out and look at the address I had in the trunk with our bags. A look of surprise washes over his face and he says "Aha! Son TRES Casas Naranjas!" So, beware when you try to find the place that there are 3 of them in Managua! They have a breakfast every morning, but our flights left too early to partake. Coffee and empanada at the airport is all we got.

... budget somewhat!! There was also monkey island which was tiny but had 4 monkeys living on it. Next stop was to see Volcano Masaya, which is actually 2 volcanos and 5 craters - one of which is still smoking (so there were lots of toxic gases in the air!). Then it was onto a handycraft market and then to a village well know for its pottery, here we saw ...