Nicaragua.....
Entering Nicaragua on 2nd March 2018 proved to be a relatively easy crossing for us. I'd already filled out the new forms the border was asking for and received my letter of invitation back for us. There was a lovely girl there at the first point (in uniform) who kept her eye on us making sure we were looked after and sent to the right counters.
We had booked into a little hotel in Leon for a few days as we had seen pictures of the square but mainly because we were off on another mini adventure whilst staying there.
It was an easy pleasant ride to Leon and reasonably flat (I've still no back brake)…….in fact the whole day went smoothly. We found the hotel easily and with it's own garage for us to park in....'happy days' as this meant Chris didn't have to unpack his bike. For those of you wondering why....it's because the system we are working at the present is that Chris's bike is carrying 'the heavy stuff' …...all our camping equipment and kitchen. My bike is carrying the stuff we use daily.....clothes and toiletries type thing, so when we get to some places with secure parking, we only have to unload one bike.
Leon was a great town to be in with some fabulous old style buildings all within walking distance of our hotel. The main square was busy with sellers and tourists and housed the cathedral. The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of Leon......to be precise.Good thing about the cathedral was that you could go up on the roof....we did...of course and it didn't disappoint.
Leon was the first city to be liberated after the Nicaraguan Revolution.in the late 70's...and is classed as 'the Home of the Revolution' here in Nicaragua. There's evidence of it everywhere from brightly coloured murals on walls mainly about freedom, to statues and buildings.In fact Nicaragua has a colourful and interesting past which of course you can all 'Google' and save me spouting forth facts and figures 😃
We carried on exploring the city...….there was method in our madness as we were looking for a certain little office…….
And we found it......not far from the hotel.....excellent.....not far to walk on the morning we book for......ha,ha.....and to put you out of ....'so what are you doing?'...….we're going.....wait for it......
VOLCANO BOARDING...….Whattttttttt ??????!!!!!!
Yep....Volcano Boarding.....I think Nicaragua is one of the only countries in the World where you can board down an active volcano !!!!…..Are we insane.....crazy....maybe but hell...I'm looking forwards to it !!
So we managed to get booked. The great thing about the company we're using is that it's also a Childrens' Charity....QUETZELTREKKERS...'Hike Volcanoes, Help Kids', a popular quote from them.
The day came and it was certainly one to remember, an absolutely awesome day and we met some new friends Kirstin and Chris and as it turned out they live in the same place as my brother in Scotland.....It's a small world. To see how it all went...just watch...….
See....well worth it !!
On our return we chilled out for a little and discovered through the power of social media that another couple travelling round were also in Leon. We soon made arrangements to meet up and say 'Hi'...…..so nice to meet you Tim Notier and Marissa Glass.....see you again somewhere down the road.
You can read about Tim and Marissa's travels here......Notier's Frontiers.
We moved on from Leon to Granada, another interesting place to stay at and again all within walking distance of the hotel we were in. From here we visited another volcano, not to board down but to look into.....yep....into the crater.....basically you get driven up there (or you can take yourselves) and are allowed to spend no more than 15 minutes at the crater edge due to the gases being emitted. We opted for being driven up as we didn't wish to ride our bikes back in the dark. Definitely another experience worth doing.
Granada itself was as interesting as Leon with the old style building. Not so much of the 'revolution' influence here, in fact in the past the two cities had been on opposite sides of the political fence. Like both towns Granada houses several churches/cathedrals. We did not find another roof to visit, instead we climbed the bell tower of 'Inglesia de La Merced' which still impressed us with the views over Granada.
We explored further into the squares and down more streets lined with colonial buildings. Finally we ended up at Lake Nicaragua also called Lago Cocibolca the largest lake in Central America.In the 'olden days' Granada also served as a port town. And another snippet of information....this lake was originally going to be utilised in the construction of a canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific but the Panama Canal was built instead. However still today and we have occasionally heard it mentioned in our travels over here is that there is still a possibility a Nicaraguan Canal could be built. How true that is I don't know but an interesting one to watch in the future.
Having seen the lake and also having 'sussed' that we can go kayaking on it and round some of the many 'Las Isletas de Granada' I booked us onto a half day hire plus guide.
We had a great day out, blue skies all round.
That was it for us in Nicaragua. After that little trip we left Granada and continued onwards towards the border, stopping off at San Jorge overnight.
We really enjoyed our time in Nicaragua and can highly recommend visiting. Unfortunately since writing this blog the country is at present experiencing unrest. I hope it is soon resolved and wish the people of Nicaragua all the best for the future.
Adios y Los Mejores Deseos para el Futuro Nicaragua.
WHERE TO NEXT ?
