Nicaragua - a round up 🇳🇮

Total days: 31 days

Total trip days: 134

Distance travelled: 329 miles 

Total distance travelled: 8628 miles

Number of places stayed: 7

Number of planes: 0

Number of ferries: 2 (one where Ash got pushed over!)

Number of buses: 10

Number of trains: 0

Number of Mayan sites visited: 0

Favourite place: 

Ash - Isla Ometepe, because he enjoyed spending time on the bikes on the island, our hostel with a view of the volcano, and lots of nice food! 


Holly - La Mariposa Spanish school; we had a great two weeks here, learning Spanish, meeting interesting people, and learning more about the culture and context in Nicaragua. 

Highlights:

- Volcano boarding in Leon - we had so much fun! 


- Staying for two weeks at La Mariposa Spanish school, learning Spanish, meeting lots of interesting people, and learning more about the history and context in Nicaragua (Ash says he especially liked the dogs!). 

- Meeting Diana, Kati and Luna in Managua, staying with them, and exploring the Managua, volcan Masaya and Granada together. 


- Learning to ride motorbikes on Ometepe island!


- Ash’s birthday in Granada, visiting the Islettas de Granada and having a tasty off-budget meal. 



- Spending time swimming and sunbathing at the Laguna de Apoya - a lake formed in the crater of a volcano. 


- Visiting the active Volcan Masaya to look inside the crater, and see the sulphuric acid steam rising out of it.  

Overall reflections: We spent about a month in Nicaragua in total, and it felt different again from the other Central American countries we have visited. We enjoyed the time we spent here, and it is a beautiful country with lots of nature and wildlife. 

Nicaragua has had a difficult time politically and socially, and the history is both complex and terribly sad. There is a lot of political corruption in Nicaragua; President Ortega is a dictator, elections are rigged, and anyone who speaks out against him or his government is imprisoned. There is a huge disparity between rich and poor in Nicaragua, more than other countries we have visited - the poorest people really have nothing. 
It was hard to see first-hand the poverty and hardship faced by the local people in Nicaragua. It was upsetting to work with children in the psychology clinic and hear that they have no toys at home, and no time to play or be children as they have to look after their siblings and do the house work as their parents need to work. 
We felt an undercurrent in our interactions with local people, and when walking around the towns here from the moment we arrived. When we learnt more about the political and economic situation for people in Nicaragua we could really understand why - on the one hand the people welcome tourists who bring money to the country, but on the other hand they are desperately poor and disadvantaged, and (rightly so) see us as rich foreigners. Despite this undercurrent, all the people we met in Nicaragua were kind and helpful towards us, we didn’t experience any problems or feel unsafe during our time here. 
It brought about difficult feelings for us, on the one hand enjoying our travels in Nicaragua, and on the other hand being confronted with our privilege. Not being able to do anything to help the situation for people also felt hard, and we were pleased to spend two weeks at La Mariposa and in doing so contributing to their projects which help people in the local community. 

Next step: Monteverde in Costa Rica!