Mirador at Catarina

This was a beautiful place, a large vista with restaurants looking out over a crater lake and in the far distance the city of Granada and the largest lake in Central America beyond. My camera does not do this view justice.

We ate dinner at one of the restaurants which served with the meal mashed potatoes, rice and french fries, very healthy.

We had to take 2 local buses to get to Catarina, and they piled us in. The bus back had 23 of us stuffed into what would hold 11 in the US, at one point I thought they were going to pile us like pancakes, but at 50 cents a person to go a long distance, I can't really complain.

It is another beautiful day here, sky is blue with lovely white clouds, the parrots and mondies are making lots of noise. I'm just about to start my Spanish classes.

Volcan Masaya

This is the living volcano near where we are staying. It is always smoking and supposedly we are able to drive up to the lip and look into the crater and see lava.This is the volcano near where Simon teaches.

Nicaragua is the land of volcanos. Yesterday we hiked up Volcan Mombocho, which is a dormant volcano. It was quite beautiful, surrounded by forests, coffee plantations, and views of Granada and the lake in the far distance. Because the area was high up in the mountains, we were surrounded by a mist.

Viva La Revolution

We attended a political rally in Managua, unfortunately Fidel was unable to attend.

It was held at the old palace, which was

destroyed in an earthquake in the 30's, and then became a prison during Nicaragua's civil war, and is now a park that has rallies. Newly added is a Zip Line ride that goes across a lagoon and has great views of the old prison, and a restaurant.

One can protest against the government, have a few refreshments and go on rides all in the same place. Eat your heart out Disneyland

Panama School

A picture of 2 of the student's Simon is teaching. They walk to school in the rain without raincoats or umbrellas, and were wet through out the day, so Simon went out and bought 24 raincoats and school supplies for them. He said they are so poor and so eager to learn. I will be visiting the school next week. The school is next to the volcano and the smoke and ash from the Volcano eats away at everything.

After the deluge

We have had 3 days of non stop rain, and as the Wifi runs on solar energy here, we have been unable to blog. It is very beautiful and very green. This is a picture of La Mariposa, our room is on the top floor. Mariposa is also an animal refuge and there are 7 dogs, several monkies, numerous parrots, and horses, chickens and turkeys.

It is quite an amazing place, I am taking 4 hours of Spanish daily and Simon is volunteering at a small school.

We will blog more later, hope all is well in California. Too bad we can't send you some of our rain

Our transportation

Actually we didn't go by horse and cart from Granada to Masaya, but by bus. Our bus, an old American school bus, stopped at every corner to pick up riders, even though the bus was full at the beginning.

We were dropped off in Masaya in the hood, and in a 2 block radius, we saw 2 car accidents, an arrest, and a women with a carving knife, chasing a young thief.

However everyone was very nice and helpful and we made it to La Mariposa without any further incidents.

Alex, where is papa Simon?

We arrived in San Jose this morning at 9:30 am, after an uneventful flight, always the best kind.

We were met at the airport and taken to La Gioconda House hotel, which is quite nice. I think Caryn might even like it.

We spent the morning and afternoon walking around the city and visited the National Museum of Costa Rica. This exhibit reminded me of where is goldbug or where is Waldo.

It is now 7pm and after pizza and wine, we are ready for bed. We have a wake up call at 4:30 am and then we are off to Grandada.

We have discovered one negative regarding the hotel. it is on a very busy street.

Does this back pack make me look fat?

I'm taking my back pack for a test drive. I quess Simon is going to make me carry my own.

Salimos miercoles

Who needs a pack mule?

Simon practices carrying both back packs and studies the map, while I take pictures.
Maybe that is why we are frequently lost.
We are not leaving for a week but our packs are already packed and Simon is wondering if it is too early to leave for the airport.