Granada to Managua to Little Corn, Nicaragua, el 17 al 18 Febrero, 2017

Over 140 poets from Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa are in Granada for a week.  This year's theme was world unification and peace.  This poet said something in Portuguese.  Everyone clapped, either politely or comprehending???  Not me!

Cameron Heaps, a Canadian and co-owner of Steam Whistle Brewing, bought the former mansion of Mario Favilli, an Italian architect who built many notable structures throughout Granada in the early 20th century.  He combined Art Deco and colonial styles.  Heaps turned it into Mombocho Cigars-

All cigars are rolled by hand in climate controlled rooms-

I treated myself to an hour massage, 30 minutes of reflexology and 30 minutes of acupuncture.  The resident turtle at Pure Spa is old and gigantic-

Vigeron is the "Nica" speciality:  coleslaw, boiled yucca and chicharrón which is deep fried pork rinds. It's very good-

I drove back to Managua to my dental appointment.  My new crown is perfect and I can't even tell which tooth it is!  

Decorations on the boulevards are large metal trees that are lit up at night-

Carolyn arrived safely and after a short night's sleep we were on our way to Big Corn Island.  It's a short 55 minute flight.  Managua is on the far left and Big Corn Island is the blue circle on the right-

We bought our lancha tickets and had half an hour to kill.  Here's to a great 3 weeks-

The port is very busy-

We left an hour early, something unheard of in Nicaragua-

Little Corn is truly little, only 2.9 square kilometers-

We're staying at Las Palmeras Boutique Hotel.  A worker was at the port with a sign with my name on it, ready to wheelbarrow our stuff to the hotel-

Our room is nice.  I'm going to try sleeping on the futon-

We walked around the island investigating.  The paths are simply paths-

There are no vehicles: no tuk tuks, no golf carts, only a few bicycles.  That's really nice!

Lunch was ceviche-

Interesting English-

Looking forward to a few days of diving and doing nothing!  Doing nothing?  What else is new?

Granada, Nicaragua, el 16 de Febrero, 2017

Iglesia de Merced was rebuilt many times but this facade dates from the 1780s-

Inside is a little more modern: 1862-

Iglesia de Xalteva is named after the indigenous tribe that lived here when the Spaniards arrived.  Final restorations concluded in 1921 and it's in baroque style-

Our Lady of the Assumption was remodelled in 1972.  It's gigantic-

Paintings are just being completed on the ceiling-

The views of Granada from the bell tower are excellent-

I went on a 3 hour boat trip in Lago Nicaragua with La Bella Del Mar.  It's run by a fellow Canadian.  The boat is lovely and could hold 100 people but there were only 8 of us!

There are 365 islands, thanks to the explosions of Volcan Mombacho-

Volcan Concepción, on Isla Omotepe is to the left and Volcan Zapatera is on the right.  There are 50 volcanoes from the northwest Pacific to Lake Nicaragua.  20% of the land mass is protected and 10% of the world's biodiversity can be found here-

Volcan Mombacho is a strato volcano and 1344 meters high.  Its last eruption was in 1570, but it's not dead-

It was lovely spending the afternoon on the lake.  We stopped for swimming.  The water was really warm and it was fun going in on the water slide.  Afterwards, I said farewell to Barb and Reinie and went to my hostel.  Reading Facebook, I learned that friends I met in San Pedro La Laguna were here so I met them for a short visit.  They are spending the next month in San Juan Del Sur.  The travellers world is so small it seems!

There's a poetry event happening in Central Park.  Poets from all over the world read their work in their native tongue.  In the 20 minutes I was there, I heard Norwegian, Portugese, English and Spansih.  

Looking forward??? to my new tooth tomorrow but especially welcoming my sister Carolyn to Nicaragua!

Volcan de Masaya, Nicaragua, el quince de Febrero, 2017

After breakfast we went on a tour of Barb and Reinie's property.  They have a few baby piña-

and many trees - avocado, orange, platanos, limón, cafe, mango, etc.  Their finca is lovely and they are lucky to have some very good employees who keep it looking nice.  They are just in the process of pruning and planting even more so are hoping to eventually be able to sell a lot of their produce-

Men are digging a 20,000 gallon reservoir for rain water.  It looks like a lot of work to me.  Luckily the ground isn't rock but volcanic ash so it's sort of easy to dig.  Everything is done manually-

Lunch was Mexican- tostados with chorizo, peppers, queso and onions.  It was too much-

My hotel is pretty cool.  There is a nice terrace with rocking chairs, a hammock, television and a well stocked kitchen.  I have my own bathroom and so far I'm the only one here!  It's like having my own house-

I was lined up at 4:30 to see Volcan Masaya but our convoy didn't leave until 6 pm.  Only 60 people are allowed up at once and only for 15 minutes.  It would have been nice to be there for sunset-

The crater is fairly small but you can see lava bubbling when the sulphur smoke blows away.  It last erupted in 2008-

I'm looking forward to Granada tomorrow - a boat tour in the islas with Barb and Reinie!

Juayua, El Salvador to Managua,Nicaragua, el 13 y 14 de Febrero, 2017

There is a 7 waterfall walk activity in Juayua that takes about 4 hours.  Having already done my hike of 2017, I passed and went village exploring yesterday.  However, the last couple of waterfalls are only a few kilometers from Juayua so this morning I went looking.

A  mermaid statue is at the fork in the road on the way to Los Chorros, the seventh waterfall-

The path is a bit tricky going down but easier going up-

It's a great swimming spot for locals but early in the morning, I had it all to myself-

I said farewell to my great hotel and headed for the airport.  The drive was uneventful-

Well, sort of.  It's 122km and takes 3 hours.  No accidents or anything like that but I didn't know where the airport Alamo office was to drop off my car.  The first policeman told me it was at the end of the terminal. There, a Budget employee told me it was 7 km back along the carreterra!  I was glad I had a lot of time!  I drove back about 14 km - nothing.  Finally I stopped in a gas station, only to be told it was on the other side, 8 km back!  At least he gave me excellent directions.  Soon I was shuttled to the terminal and on my 55 minute flight to Managua.

I stayed at Airport X Hotel which is a convenient 8 minute walk from the terminal.

Tuesday morning I picked up my Payless car and headed for the dentist.  My El Salvador car was a 2016 Nissan Versa - automatic, keyless entry, fancy, fancy.  This car is a 2014 beat up wreck!  It took forever to go over the car marking all the dints and scrapes!  Oh well, probably a better vehicle for me to drive in this crazy place!

I had a 9 am appointment with a dentista and thought I had plenty of time but underestimated the trafico so arrived late, which didn't matter because so had the dentistas!  A couple hours later -

I had my temporary crown!  I'm going back Friday afternoon to get the permanent one installed.  Barb and Reinie Jahnke from Rosetown also had appointments and after a stop at Nicaragua's Costco, we drove back to their home.  It's where I spent New Year's Eve with all the bombas.  It's much quieter at this time of year!

What I didn't realize is that their house is directly above Casa de Sol where I stayed with Minishes on Laguna Apoyo.  Because the road weaves around so much, I had no clue where we were!

Granada is across Laguna Apoyo-

Downtown is very visible with binoculars.  I'm going to explore Granada on Thursday-

Looking forward to the Masaya Volcano tomorrow night!