Grenada, Nicaragua

Don´t think this posted yesterday, since the power went out when I was trying:

We took a taxi from the Managua airport to Grenada,
The taxi driver dropped us at the Parque Central, where we had our first meal, vigoron, which is a sort of salad of cassava, shredded cabbage, and chicharron (fried pork skins) wrapped in a banana(?) leaf.


To give a brief description, Grenada is a smallish town on the large Lago de Nicaragua, has colorful pre-Columbian architecture, checkered tile sidewalks, and smells faintly of horses from the buggies that drive people around.

I will try to post some pictures soon, but Calvin is currently snoring away with his head and torso on the bottom bunk, legs dangling off the side. We barely got any sleep on the plane.

We set ourselves up at The Bearded Monkey, a hostel/bar/restaurant/internet cafe, chilled for a while ´til I grew tired of the reggae-ish remix of Dark Side of the Moon that was playing, so we walked to the lake in hopes of finding yummy street vendor food, which we really didn't find, apart from a few ladies grilling corn and cutting up watermelon and mangoes. We did, however, go into the "tourist center," which had some dilapidated-looking carnival rides, benches near the lake, where some locals were swimming, and a main thoroughfare lined with restaurants and nightclubs.

Today, we found a new hostel with a private room. We stayed in a 12-person dorm last night. There is currently an energy crisis in Nicaragua, so the power randomly goes out, as it did last night. A 12-person dorm with no air circulation is not so good for sleeping. We headed to the market, where we took lots of pictures of random foods, and stopped by another hostel to deliver a letter to one of Sarah´s friends from when she and Nick were down here. He invited us to get some food and drinks with him and some others at 3, when he gets off work. Am hoping some of them speak a little English...

Til then, I´m off to chill in the hammock and drink some coffee. Adios.

Nicaragua

Seems it is time to refresh my travel blog, template and everything!

Calvin and I leave at 1:30 a.m. this evening/tomorrow morning for an 8-day trip to Nicaragua. Attached picture shows our rough itinerary: Managua --> Grenada --> Ometepe --> San Juan del Sur, with some stops along the way. My friend Sarah, as well as two of Calvin's roommates, have spent some time in Nicaragua, so they've filled us in on all the things we shouldn't miss. ATM has been visited, lists have been made, backpack has been acquired. Just have packing left to do and I'm off!

We have a really short layover in San Salvador, and, luckily, we're just in time for increased security measures. Apparently all sunscreen, toothpaste, and items of such consistency must now be in checked bags. Perhaps the luggage fairies will bless us and we won't arrive in Managua sin equipaje.


Note: All photos will be taken by Calvin, so that is why you might notice a marked improvement in my travel photography.