Last Sunday , 7th August , we traveled by bus from Costa Rica to Nicaragua. We left Liberia , Costa Rica at 8am & arived in Granada around 4pm , including about 2 hours of queueing at border checkpoints. The longest we have had to wait for a stamp in our passports.

They were partying in Granada when we arrived , but not in honour of us. Apparently we had just missed the bull - running.

Tonight will be our final night in El Club Hotel , the longest we have stayed in one place. I think we are just slowing down , or maybe getting lazy !

Granada is situated on Lake Nicaragua, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Founded in 1524, it is the oldest colonial city in the Americas, full of colourful old Spanish-style houses & churches, many beautifully restored. It has a pleasant relaxed atmosphere & the people are very friendly. They very much want the tourists here , seeing it as the solution to their economic problems & knowing how tourism has changed their neighbour , Costa Rica. Although Nicaragua is reputedly the second poorest country in the western hemisphere , we have not encountered as much poverty here as in many other places on our travels. There are many natural reserves in the country , but they are still struggling to recover from the war in the 1970's & from many years of political scandal & corruption , & the economic damage caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. Several members of the previous government have been found guilty of fraud, embezzlement & money laundering. It seems also that they bought themselves palacial houses with international relief funds immediately after Hurricane Mitch whilst the poor devastated people suffered. What an unfair world we live in !

Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America . There are 11 major volcanoes in the country , which makes the soil very fertile.

On Tuesday we visited Mombacho volcano which towers above Granada. Unfortunately , above 800m , the volcano becomes cloud forest & it was very cloudy that day. We travelled to the top in a specially adapted 4WD "ecomobile" , a 20-seater open-sided lorry. It was a very steep bumpy, windy road. It seems that on a clear day we would have had wonderful views over the lake & the city. Still I had an enjoyable walk through the forest & past steaming fumaroles.

On Wednesday , after a Spanish lesson (yes, I'm still trying ! ) , we went to Masaya Volcano , not so high but very smelly, churning out thousands of tons of sulphuric gas each day. Our taxi had to reverse in to the parking spot , in case we needed a quick getaway & other safety procedures included lying under your car if the volcano began throwing out rocks & lava ! There was an excellent museum there (about volcanoes ) & further on in the town of Masaya some excellent markets selling leather goods, wood carvings , jewellery , pottery & hammocks. We still resist buying things because we have to carry everything , but on this occasion we relented & bought a hammock. We will probably regret it. We then visited Catarina from where there is a lovely view over Apoyo crater lake.

Thursday , we spent the day on Ometepe , a beautiful island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua , consisting of 2 volcanic landmasses. We spent some time on 2 isolated beaches on the island.

Yesterday , we went for a cruise on the lake to visit Las Isletas, a group of 365 small islands formed 10000 years ago when Mombacho volcano erupted. They are all privately owned , mainly by North Americans , & many have impressive houses built on them. They vary in price between 15,000 & 500,000 dollars Would be a good buy !

We spent several hours this afternoon at a hipica ( horse procession ) in the centre of town. It was fun. It seemed like the whole population was there , & many had travelled from surrounding towns for the event.

Tomorrow at 3am we leave for Managua from where we will continue into Honduras.