Norome Villas Granada

... is too beautiful to even describe, the architecture is classic Spanish and it borders a gorgeous lake with little islands in it (formed by the eruption of Mumbacho Volcano).
After a night of dancing, we headed to the volcano, and proceeded to hike up (round 2). Suzanne and I are the "senior" volunteers of the group since we have been here a month longer, and as such have decided that as a right of passage, every new ...

... an eight km trek in the middle of the day with very little shade to be found anywhere on the road so we opted for the shuttle bus. From there we were able to go right to the edge of Volcan Santiago. It was like looking into the gates of hell. All smokey and dark, hard to make out shapes or colours and the smell was something else. The guides advise that you only spend a maximum of fifteen minutes around the crater edge as the sulphuric fumes can be so ...

We zijn blij dat het weekend is....

Gistermiddag veranderde de plannen. Het Hollandse feestje kon niet op maandag plaatsvinden maar wel vandaag. Dus moesten we als een gek boodschappen doen gistermiddag, een nieuwe gasfles regelen voor het fornuis, pannen regelen, de zooi opruimen.....het zwembad verschonen en ook nog even langs het kantoor van de huurbaas om de nieuwe bankpas van Heleenop te halen die Margreet verstuurd had (denk je alles geregeld te hebben..gaat ...

... course, us participants had no real idea of any of these goings on as we were concentrating on moving quite fast away from where the bulls were, though at the last bearable moment of course! Occasionaly we would catch word that someone had been tossed assunder or whatever, but without actually bearing witness to it first hand it was difficult to put in perspective the actual degree of danger to our lives. That isn't to say that there weren't moments when I was somewhat ...

... with wads of money who asked passengers if they needed to exchange money.

Near the end of the border stay, we had to get our luggage checked. I my baggage claim document to the border worker, he pointed to a button that connected to a traffic light right next to him on a table. I pressed the button, the light turned green, meaning I didnt need to have my bag checked. I put it back on the bus.

After another 30 min, I got my ...

... times. For hours. The 5 hour journey turned into 7 long vom-ridden, wave-sodden hours of hell. I thought we weren't going to make it, sometimes you'd have your face over the side of the boat and the sea would be inches away. Someone elses stomach contents blown in your ear was a blessing compared to what could have been. We learned later that the captain thought it was going to capsize twice. I spent a long time wondering how cold the water was, whether there ...

... itīs more than 3 months since I set off. As luck would have it, Iīd spotted 2 dentists yesterday and the 2nd was open when I rolled up at 8.30. Actually the dentist was sitting on his front porch reading the paper and holding a snoozing infant, but I managed to explain what I needed and find out what it would cost. 40 minutes later and $20 lighter I emerged with clean shiny ...

... the tours require a minimum of 2 people. Tourism is limited enough here that, unlike Thailand and Costa Rica, the tour operators don't have customers everyday so if you're a single traveler it's kind of potluck as to what tours you can sign onto. I could, of course, pay for 2 and go by myself but I'm too cheap. And anyway, it's more interesting to meet others on these tours. On my third attempt ...

... map to get a better idea where I am.) I went back to the mall, walked a few more laps, had a slice of pizza, and started to prepare for my ESL training meeting. I haven't had anything else to eat today (except water). I don't get hungry. My goals are to lose 25lbs (I gained 10 lbs in the last two months.), and get more fluent in Spanish.