Horse festival and cloud forest in Granada, Nicaragua

15 August

+ It was hard for us to leave Leon because that same day there was some kind of town party. However, it was the best choice because it turned out that in Granada there was also a party, but much much bigger!! There was some kind of 'feria', of those from Andalucia. The theme were two: horses and beer. You can imagine the combination of both... a bit chaotic...

+ Granada is another colonial city like Leon but much bigger. Plenty of churches, pedestrian streets and nice colorful houses. Not much else to say.
+ We also visited Masaya, close to Granada. This town holds a very big market with plenty of handcraft from all over Nicaragua. Their speciality are hammocks and we bought one...

+ From Granada we also climbed a volcano, called Mombacho, which is in a natural park. The volcano is 1300 m and still active, although its last eruption was in the 16th century. The trekking went through the cloud forest part of the volcano and we had an excellent local guide just for the two of us who knew all the plants, trees, insects... he gave us a true biology lesson. Apperently one has amazing views from up the volcano on the Nicaragua lake (largest lake in Central America), but we were not that lucky with the weather, as it was so cloudy & rainy that in parts we couldn´t even see 100 m far... However, we still got a glance of the lake.

The lake Nicaragua

Dani was actually "camouflaged" for the jungle, so you almost can't see him



Leon (Nicaragua) and the volcano surfing

13 August 

+ After one week of island and beach in Honduras, we decided it was time to visit Nicaragua. Even if both are small countries, to get from one to the other by bus it takes its time. That's why we needed to sleep one night in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras. Just to say few words about this city: it is perhaps one of the most dangerous and spooky cities in all Central America. That's why we don´t even have pictures :) too scared of showing the camara  in the street. Basically we didn't do anything in the city except going for dinner in the closest restaurant to the hotel.
+ One funny annecdote : We were in the taxi driving to the bus stop when the taxi driver tell us than in the street where we just were, there is a gunmen gang which usually robs tourists in taxis. Then we asked: ok, but just during the nigth, right?  His answer was, "noooo, in the very mornings like now..." we didn´t encounter them so I guess we were lucky!

+ After many hours on the bus from Honduras without break for lunch or anything, and seeing that we would be arriving very late to Granada (our original destination), we decided to stop on the way, in Leon. What a great decision.

+ Leon is a student city and perhaps one of the cheapest cities in Nicaragua. As it is full of students, there is great party where locals and traveller meet in the same bars and pubs. The food is also great and you can eat a very big dish with a drink for just 2€ : Awesome!

+ It is a typical colonial city with very nice buildings and beautiful patios to rest from the heat.

The hostel and its beautiful patio

Kinga and the biggest Avocado on the planet

+ Leon is surrounded by Volcanoes. We decided not only to climb one but also to surf it!! At first glance looks crazy but it is actually very funny. The Volcano of just 700m high is still active, with its last eruption in 1995. It is really impresive, totally black surrounded by the forest. 

 We also went into the crater 

With our protection clothes, googles and home-made surf board: so hot!!