Bootsnall Blog
We left Nicaragua on the 29th, after 17 days there. We had decided to move on to Honduras because we were concerned that Bjorn and Emma were not enjoying things as much as Margit and I were, and we thought some diving would really get them excited. Of course, we are not certain they will love it, as the only diving they have done was in the pool for their scuba class. However, they are both nuts about marine life, and enjoy the water, so we think it will be a winner. By the time we left, though, the kids were really enjoying themselves again, and we all wished we had spent more time there, and gone to a few more places, as well. I especially enjoyed San Juan Del Sur. It is a beach and surfer town near the Costa Rican border. Great scenery, a nice little town, and some very nice beaches. However, I had to take other people’s word on the fact that the surfing was really good.
Some general thoughts on Nicaragua; to begin, it is a beautiful country. It is relatively sparsely populated, with large swathes of undisturbed jungles. We saw lots of birds and monkeys. Along with that, though, there are not a lot of roads, so it is difficult to get around the country. And many of the roads that they do have are dirt, and often are impassable without 4WD in the rainy season (now). There are also several old colonial cities that have a lot of charm, though we only made it to one (Granada). It appears to be in the process of getting restored, and they are off to a good start. One of my favorite memories is of sitting on the pedestrian plaza near the cathedral, listening to street performers while eating dinnner. It is also a very poor country. Houses are quite small, often dilapidated, and chickens and dogs occupy the dirt yards. We were surprised at the number of people riding horses or in horse-drawn carts, as well as seeing oxen pulling a plow. Despite the poverty, and the fact that we obviously had more money, I did not worry about crime there, though I did hear about an American being robbed on one of the beaches. Nicaragua reportedly has one of the lowest crime rates in Central America. It is a country to which all of us definitely want to come back.
Now we are in Honduras, having arrived last evening (the 30th) in San Pedro Sula. It is a beautiful country, also, but different than Nicaragua, or at least the part of Nicaragua we saw. Much more mountainous with pine forests. Also, it appeaars to be much more prosperous. Stores are larger, better stocked, the roads are much better, and there appear to be a lot more newer buildings. A lot more people speak English, and there are more American franchises.
Mitch
long4adventure
I am so enjoying living vicariously through your adventures! keep up the blogging! Patty
I hope you’ve been taking lots of pictures. Sounds beautiful!
We got into your blog via Barb!!!! Glad to see that you have started your journey and are having lots of fun! We’ll definitely start following your travels now that we have your blog site! We are in Martha’s Vineyard with Mary, Barb, and Diana, celebrating Diana’s 70th birthday!!! It’s great to be by the salt water! We sure learned a lot from Bjorn and Emma’s insights. Keep enjoying and learning! Lots of Love to All! Sue and Helen
Happy birthday Diana! Great to hear from you guys. Have fun on the northern Atlantic we sure are enjoying the beAch down here and are sorry to be leaving in just two days but the Mayan ruins beckon. We saw several eels today while diving. One was huge and swimming around. Usually they hide in the coral. Luckily, Emma was on the boat by the time he appeared. She was disappointed but mom was glad as the eel was larfger than Emma! margit