Leon - photos

Leon:

Prior to reaching El Salvador we stopped in the nice city of Leon. Leon is the second largest city in Nicaragua and was founded in 1524 by el Senor De Los Caballeros de Leon. In 1610, due to an eruption of the Momotombo Volcano, the city was abandoned and the inhabitants decided to move to its current location next to the indigenous village of Subtavia. The ruins of the old city were called "Leon El Viejo" and were named Unesco World Heritage in 2000. Leon was the original capital of Nicaragua but the long conflict with Granada (see Granada post) lead the government to chose Managua as capital of Nicaragua.

We were pleased to visit Leon with its charmng colonial buildings and churches. And at the inverse of its competitor Granada, the city was full of life especially due to a high population of students (the university of Leon was built in 1813) but also locals. We stayed in a nice B&B quite expensive but after the night spent in Masachapa we needed to relax and why not some "comfort": water! and hot water, nice mattress and pillows, a quiet place and a delicious breakfast. We were supposed to stay only one night but it was so comfy that we stayed 2 nights in the end!

- The Cathedral of the Assumption, the largest in Central America. The building started in 1706 to end in 1779,
- View of the cathedral from the Parque Central and its fountain,
- While taking pictures of the Cathedral, we chatted with a local boy who at the end wanted some money. But as he was a nice lad, we gave him a couple of cordobas (the local money) and he accepted to be photographied with Lee,
- The Iglesia de la Recoleccion with its baroque facade was built during the 18th Century. We could not take any picture of the full church because of all the kids around. There was a girls school just in front of the church and the girls were happy to see 2 gringos and were "fighting" to be taken in picture!
- Iglesia El Calvario, also built during the 18th Century. Superb brick facade,
- How relaxing was it to have the breakfast on this patio! The hotel was a renovated Spanish colonial house and included this refreshing and quiet atmosphere.

Pochomil - photos

Pochomil:

Our second destination in the Pacific coast of Nicaragua was Pochomil (surf oblige!). Pochomil is a beach close to Managua, the capital. It is not a town or village but a touristic place with some restaurants, bars and hotels.

At Pochomil, we were supposed to meet Dave and Neil who from San Juan Del Sur were supposed to come directly here. We arrived early afternoon and no sign of the boys. Well we were puzzled but seeing the place, we understood why the guys did not stay here: a couple of empty restaurants and bars and expensive hotels. Also no waves!! We were not certainly lucky for surf! Finally a woman from a restaurant remembered seeing them during the morning but they left the place straightaway. As searching for the boys took us long time, we decided to stay for the night in the small fishing village of Masachapa in a very basic place and the cheapest we have been so far ($5 each). Finding food and specially fish in this village was a nightmare, for a village dedicated to fishing what a surprise, isn't it? We spent a very bad night between the bad mattress (well Lee decided to spend the night on the floor), the mosquitos and the noise of the mangos falling in the metallic roof of our room due to the high wind. Who can imagine a small mango can make so much noise!!! I was jumping in the bed all night quite having a heart attack each time! And to top it off we had no water in the morning!
The next day, by mail, we had the story of the boys. On their way to Pochomil, the taxi driver told them that it was not a nice place so they stayed somewhere else overnight. Then the morning they caught a bus to Pochomil in order to meet us but they left before we arrived. Seeing the place, they decided to head off to Managua and take the bus the next morning for San Salvador. So we will meet them later in the playas there.

- Pochomil beach. Very well appreciated to play football, volley-ball...,
- Sunset on the beach. I like this picture with the dad and his son, hand in hand walking on the beach. For the people interested in surf, you can see how small were the waves!
- Moonrise. Bright and full, superb moon!
- This parrot was playing close to us while we had our breakfast (2 chocolate donuts, mmm...). It was like an acrobat with some nice figures with a foot on the rope, turning and watching us with pride. A true artist!
- The roof of our room and the mango tree full of green mangoes. Well half was on the roof and half on the floor. I like mangoes but at this moment I was regretting that! No worries I have passed my anger and I am still eating mangoes!!!

Granada - photos 2

Granada:

Well lots of churches (I know that I am putting lots of pictures of churches in my blog but they are part of the history of the towns relating different architectural eras) in this post but they have their own charm specially coming from the colonial epoch.

- Iglesia (church) La Merced, probably the most beautiful church of Granada. It was built in 1539 but destroyed many times and finally restored in 1862,
- View of the town centre from the tower of the Iglesia La Merced. In the background, the Cathedral and far the lake Nicaragua (or Cocibolca),
-Iglesia de Guadalupe,
- Convento y Iglesia de San Francisco. Built end of the 16th Century, the structure was burned by the American Walker in 1856 and rebuilt in the late 1860's,
- Iglesia de Xalteva. The name is coming from the indigenous settlers of the area where it is located. The church was built during colonial times and was used as a military fortress during the national war. In 1890, the church was severely damaged by earthquakes and rebuilt at the end of the 19th Century.

Granada - photos 1

Granada:

Before going back to the beach, we had a break in Granada, not in Spain but in Nicaragua obviously!

Granada was founded in 1524 by Hernandez de Cordoba and was named after the the Spanish city of Granada. The city has been witness and victim to many of the battles with and invasions from pirates trying to take control of Nicaragua. One American,Charles Henningsen, set the city on fire destroying much of the ancient city and leaving printed the words "Granada Was Here". For many years Granada was in conflict with an other city, Leon, for the hegemony as the major city of Nicaragua, conflict which became quite violent between the cities and political factions. In the mid 1800s it was agreed that Managua, situated in between both cities, will become the capital of Nicaragua.

We took the bus from San Juan Del Sur to Rivas then from one of the worst bus station we have seen (all surrounded by market stalls), we took the bus to Granada. We arrived early afternoon and spent the rest of the day exploring this colonial city with lots of pretty churches and typical spanish little streets.. I am not utilising "charming colonial city" because the buildings were great but it was missing life. Streets and plazas were empty except one street that I can call the "gringo's street" which was full of cafes and restaurants quite dedicated to tourists. Less nice! So we only spent one night here before heading off to the beach the next day.

- "Plaza de la Independencia" with the town hall painted in red. The building was superb but as you can see nobody can't be seen around and it was more like a used decor for a movie. This is mainly due to the foreigners who are buying the old houses at high prices and pulling locals out of the town centre. What a shame!
- The "Parque Central". Again nobody!
- The famous "calle" or street "La Calzada" or for me the tourists' street. In the background on the left the Cathedral,
- Close view of the newly painted Cathedral which was built in the early 20's upon the foundation of an earlier church,
- This lady is selling tins and how easy it looks for her to carry that on her head! We saw lots of women in Nicaragua using their heads to carry everything imaginable!

San Juan Del Sur - photos

San Juan Del Sur:

From Omepete Island, we went to visit San Juan Del Sur on the Pacific Coast in the South-West of Nicaragua). The town, dedicated to fishing, is a popular tourist location because of its many nearby and spectacular beaches and is popular among surfers.

So obviously the boys were hoping good surf but again strong wind and no waves. Also the water was freezing (I did not try but Lee was shaking after a swim!) Anyway, they found nice ways to occupy their free time, playing cards, watching a baseball game and doing the monkeys on the beach!!

- San Juan Del Sur beach,
- Sunset on the beach,
- A new representation of the evolution of man seen by Dave, Neil and Lee. Who looks the most credible?
- A the baseball game. Very friendly ambiance and good dancing from the couple in the middle of the crowd. The standard of the baseball was pretty low but the beer drinking was of a high standard (thanks to the Irish boys!),
- Dave and Neil managed to climb this bus despite being in full view of 4 policemen with guns!!! They went down pretty quickly once they caught the policemen's eyes!

Ometepe Island (Nicaragua Lake) - photos 2

Ometepe Island (Nicaragua Lake):

- Punta Maria beach. Not very great. Not to much sand and it was dirty.,
- So the boys tried to catch some fishes...
- ...and here is the lucky guy!!! Dave with his catfish. How proud he looks!!! That was the only catch of the afternoon,
- We finally after so many months saw some monkeys. Due to the bad light, we can only perceive the shape,
- We were still playing "Belote" with the boys and they did not like to much the rules because they were losing so lots of arguments!!! They were thinking I was inventing them so they can lose. I am French but I am not a cheater!!!
- Ha! What a good souvenir! Still due to the bad weather, all the boats and ferries were canceled just the day we wanted to leave. We managed to stay 2 hours on this ferry waiting for the agreement of the police to leave this island. But it came negative and we had to stay 1 more night on this island. Hopefully the next day the weather was far better and all the boats could sail.

Ometepe Island (Nicaragua Lake) - photos 1

Ometepe Island on Nicaragua Lake (Nicaragua obviously!):

We carried on our trip with the boys and after crossing the border, we head off to Ometepe Island on the Nicaragua Lake. This island, whose shape is similar to a hourglass, is composed by two volcanoes, Concepcion and Maderas and its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome (two) and tepetl (mountain) so two mountains. The lake is connected to the Caribbean Sea with the river San Juan and the island had been attacked many times until the 17th Century by pirates like Francis Drake. The volcano Concepcion is still considered in activity. In the inverse, Maderas volcano is dormant since the 13th century.

When we arrived at San Jorge to take the boat, we were lucky to find a boat leaving because of the big water. The 1 hr crossing was pretty bad but I managed not to be sick (yeah!!). Once on the island, the weather was not great either due to the high wind. We went to visit the beach at Punta Maria which was given as a great beach of the island by the travel guide. Well the beach was not very attractive and instead of having a swim, the boys tried fishing and Dave has been lucky to catch a small catfish (see pictures next post). We went also to visit the Charco Verde laguna and its wildlife. And how nice it was to see some monkeys!!!

- The boys were happy to cross the border hoping for better surf and cheaper prices than in Costa Rica,
- Drawing of the island. We found this painting on the wall of a restaurant we went for breakfast. On the menu, 10 different choices of breakfasts but in reality they had nothing! Lee had to change 3 times his order...to finish with 2 eggs and 2 toasts!
- View of the Maderas Volcano. As I said previously, the weather was rubbish with light rain and fog so it was difficult to have a decent picture of the volcano,
- View of the Concepcion Volcano. Still under the clouds but with some sunny patches,
- View of the laguna Charco Verde from the mirador close to the main road (don't think there is a proper name for this mirador). We had a nice walk around the laguna and saw some monkeys. We reach the mirador after a short walk but really really steep. I still can feel the pain in my calves!!!

Playa Tamarindo - photos

Playa Tamarindo:

After San Jose, we went to Playa Tamarindo, on the Pacific coast, where surf is supposed to be good. Well again and again, when we arrived there was too much wind and no surf. We met here Dave and Neil who arrived the day before us. Dave had some surf but already not too much. The water was cold probably due to the high wind. We spent the day at the swimming pool of the hotel, away from the wind. The next day we were leaving for Nicaragua as the forecast for the surf was not good.

- Dave surfing. As you can see the waves were not great,
- Original design from a worm on the beach. Lots of them were in the sand and the beach was covered of arabesques similar to this one. I pick up also lots of shells that I will give to my niece when we will come back,
- View from the hotel. Nice little oasis...but they were building in front an horrible Hi-Tech Hotel which was overlooking to the garden. Shame for the hotel and also the little town!

San Jose - photos

San Jose (Costa Rica):

From Puerto Viejo, we took a bus to San Jose where we stayed only a night. San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and one of the youngest capital cities in Latin America. Founded in 1738, it was named capital of Costa Rica only in 1823 (before Cartago was the capital city).

Well we decided to stay only one night because San Jose was not a great town. a 70's something, dark and dirty town...Nothing special just full of fast food and red taxis! You can see a McDonald store every corner! Pathetic!!! We also did not try to push to much to see any colonial buildings as few remain. Lee has not taken any picture of San Jose. Just to tell you as much as he was not inspired! Due to the US influence in San Jose but also all around Costa Rica (which is one the best holiday destinations of the Americans), the prices were quite expensive and for that we decided to shorten our stay in Costa Rica and move on more "backpacker friendly" countries like Nicaragua for example.

- The main plaza: the Parque Central with the metropolitan Cathedral on the left. All around, the red typical taxis. This park is given as one of the best in San Jose!!! I can't imagine how the other parks look like!!!
- In front of the "superb" park, traditional restaurants can be seen: Burger king and Co! We have not seen a restaurant during our stay in the town centre...amazing...
- Typical pedestrian street. Not very attractive to do your shopping no?
- Again a street in town centre. This picture could come from a 70's movie,
- The only colonial building we have seen in the town centre. The Post Office building. Unfortunately, it was left a little in abandon and it could have been superb with some restoration work.

Puerto Viejo (Costa Rica) - photos

Puerto Viejo (Costa Rica):

Our first stop in Costa Rica was in Puerto Viejo where surf is supposed to be good. From now some of our destinations will be based on where is the best surf specially on the Pacific coast. Lee wants to see nice waves like in the TV! So far he has not been very lucky but there are good spots all along Central America. Fingers crossed!

Well not enough because the water was damn flat and the weather was again rubbish!! So the guys, because we were traveling with Dave and Neil, played football on the beach. At the hostel, the Pagalu, we met 3 other irish guys with who the guys were playing also with local guys. As we were here during the week-end, Saturday was England-Ireland at rugby. Everybody was disappointed because no bar or hostel had the channel to see the game. So they just watched on the computer but the picture and sound were not great but enough to see Ireland winning. The Irish celebrated the victory like good Irish!!! Beers and beers...

- Puerto Viejo beach. Flat and very cloudy. No luck for us...
- Dave, on the left, Neil in the goals and Lee were playing football and here Neil just had a look to the ball which was just passing on his right. Easy goal for Dave!
- On the beach, still football with some local guys and our Irish friends,
- Lee and Steve (left) were celebrating a nice goal after lots of efforts made as the local guys had a good technique and were not easy to play...well done!!!
- Ha!!! I taught the boys how to play the French card game "belote". Since they saw the Frenchies playing at this game during the boat trip, they were curious to learn and to understand how we could have been so serious when we played with Harold, Olicvier and Julien. It was difficult for them at the beginning because there are lots of "bizarre" rules but they managed very well and we had lots of fun specially counting the points! Since, a month later, we are still playing the game and the guys are really enjoying it specially when they are cheating because they can win...