Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Just over a week ago, I left Guatemala de una vez, as we say (for good), at least for now. Since I'm still in Central America, it hasn't completely hit that I'm not going back to what I've called home for the past two and a half years, yet at the same time, it has, since it's been more than two months since I moved out of my house in Sija.

It feels good to be on the road. Ever since I knew I was heading to Guatemala nearly three years ago, I knew that I wanted to do this trip. Although at the same time, I am antsy to get home after such a long time away from friends and family and other things that I miss dearly, like not being stared at and feeling safe hiking and running alone. That doesn't mean, however, that I am not going to enjoy my current journey!

In Nicaragua my traveling partners, Laura and Meredith, and I visited Leon, which was the center of the Sandinista revolution against the evil Somoza government in the mid to late 20th century. We went to the Gallery of Heroes and Martyrs which was put together by the mothers of fallen revolutionaries. It was very inspiring to see these young faces that had fought for such an important cause. I won't give you a history lesson here, you can read up about it on your own, but basically it is a typical Central American story: Dictator has large tracts of land, treats peasants like shit, and the U.S. helps smash the revolt. The one thing that stands out about the Sandinistas in Nicaragua is that they briefly succeeded and produced lots of land reforms and pro-environmental policies, but then the U.S. CIA came in to kill that dream. The people are still very unified though, as we saw in a bar one night when everyone was singing along to revolution songs.

Also in Leon, we took a trip out to the volcano Cerro Negro where we went "volcano boarding" which is better described as volcano sledding. We hiked up to the top, then used sleds to get back down. I reached 37km per hour! (I'll post photos when I can.)

We briefly stopped by Granada (Nicaragua's version of Guatemala's Antigua -- i.e. very touristy) where we ate breakfast in a kiosk in the park: the tipico gallo pinto - rice and beans - with fried cheese. At the end of breakfast, a young boy came up to our table, took Laura's plate, and without a word finished her food!

Next we took a ferry on Lake Nicaragua to Isla (Island) de Ometepe, a beautiful island that was formed by the eruptions of two volcanoes. I would love to study the biogeography of this island to see how all of the species made their way across the lake (like the monkeys). Here we went hiking, swimming, horseback riding, and relaxing. My horse was very antsy to get home at the end of the ride and took off in a full canter, while my saddle was a bit loose. I was frightened that I would fall and be dragged. I was not. It was a good thing to try... once.

Then we headed across the border to Costa Rica. After a long delay in immigration (Laura and Meredith are traveling on their Peace Corps passports whereas I have gone back to my regular one; theirs have been causing many unexpected problems). Our first stop here in Costa Rica was the Monteverde Cloud Forest to go ziplining, or as it is commonly known in Central America, on a canopy tour.

Costa Rica is much more expensive, but it is also much nicer, so I suppose you pay for what you get. The canopy tour was very safe and organized. We did 11 ziplines and were also scared shitless on a rapel and a tarzan swing, where they just shoved us off the platform and let us free fall for a few seconds before the rope caught us!

All of this we've done in about a week's time! Now we are in San Jose, the capital, and are about to make our way to the Caribbean Coast at Punta Uva. There Meredith will make her way back to Guatemala, as she still has a year left in her service, and Laura and I will continue on to Bocas del Toro in Panama and then the Panama Canal. On September 1st we part ways, Laura will jump ahead to Panama, and I fly into Cartagena, Colombia. I'll be spending three weeks in Colombia, one in Ecuador and two in Peru. You will see my face back in the States in October!