Nicaragua

What can I say about Nicaragua? WE LOVED IT. I actually had to talk my big, bad, brave husband into this one. The immigration office was a bit frightening, but it turned out to be quick and painless, PLUS, we got a ton of cheap (but GOOD Nicaraguan Rum at the duty free store) I have never seen so much farmland in all my life. The farmers acutally drive on the highway (the one highway that runs from Alaska to Panama-the "PanAm highway") with the double steer and cart. It was amazing to see. There were cows everywhere. We went to Granada first, which was beautiful. The architecture alone was worth seeing. Then we went and climed up to the top of an active volcano (in the picture you can see our bus). The only way I can describe it is to compare it to looking into the Grand Canyon, but instead of seeing the bottom, all you see is sulpher. It is funny when you leave America, because I guess in other countries they assume (as they should) that you have some common sense. There were no big "WARNING" or "CAUTION" signs at the top of the volcano. No gates so you don't fall in. No barriers on the highway so your bus doesn't skid off the mountian. (there was one sign at the volcano that stated if the volcano started erupting, to please go hide under your vehicle) No signs from your raft telling you to keep your hands inside due to the crockodiles. When we got back to O'hare, I actually got yelled at for walking down the escalator because I could fall and get hurt or hurt someone else. Brett and I just chuckled at eachother.

Later we went shopping at the Market in Masaya. We hired a teenage guide (which was recommended to do because it is so big) to show us around and he was so sweet and gracious. He told us it was his last day there, because in a couple of days, he was moving to Costa Rica to start college. His name was Edmund. :)

Later (and we would see this many times after) we actually saw men ride their horses up to the bar (they call them "sodas" there) and tie up the horse right in front of the place.