Hanging out with my new Nicaraguan family.

There was that time I was adopted by a local Nicaraguan family for a day. I had barely left Miami for Managua, Nicaragua, having just boarded the plain, before I ran into Nichole and Richard. They were a yong married couple on their way to visit their family in Managua and, as they told me, in the middle of planing their first ever backpacking trip; at least six months through Latin America. During the plane ride Nichole asked my for tips on packing for a long trip and I learned more about her family in Nicaragua.

My first day in Nicaragua I spent with Nichole, Richard, and their family. I didn't really speak Spanish, but the kids had fun trying to teach me while I helped them out with a few English phrases. The family let me visit them in their home, and they took me around markets in town and down to the dock for dinner. The whole family, children, cousins, and grandparents included, dined together, and our meal was continuously interrupted everytime we hit the dance floor, shaking our hips to Latin Americans rythms between courses!

Some of my new travel companions.

There was that time I went on a solo backpacking trip through Central America and ended up with seven new travel companies within my second day of the trip. Nicaragua was the starting point of my trip through Central America. I had booked myself into a hostel for my first two nights which I spent in Managua, the capital city. The first day I spent with Nichole and Richard, whom I had met on the plane, and their Nicarauguan family. Within a few hours of waking up on my second day in the country, ready to leave Managua for Laguna de Apoyo, no less than seven other travellers from all over the world had joined me. Lisa and Nora from Norway, Matt from Florida, Sophie and Lot from the Netherlands, and Shaun from Australia became my travelling companions for the next about two weeks through the country.

Out first stop out of Nicaragua was Laguna de Apoyo (or, technically, it was Granada, because we accidentally drove past Laguna de Apoyo, because it wasn't a real stop). We hitched taxis to get from the road to the lagoon. By the time we got there, accommodation was completely sold out (bonus info: despite Laguna de Apoyo being something close to paradise, very little accommodation has been built close to the lagoon). We ended up securing accommodation at a (very!) basic bul also (very!) private place by the lagoon, quite a distance from any decent accommodation. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the privacy of the place also meant that we couldbe as loud as we wanted for as long as we wanted. So, after securing sufficient amounts of booze by a little shop a few Ks down the road, we threw ourselves a magnficent party by the side of the lagoon, complete with warm summer weather, music and dancing. Oh, yes, and the owner of the place joined us for the party. And yes, he gave me a lapdance, at my command. Because of course!

The next day we did manage to secure accommodation at an actual hostal, giving us the option of renting kayaks to sail across the lake and enjoy the true paradise that was the Laguna de Apoyo. But that first night at the basic barely-actual accommodation place, that was the real memory I took with me from the lagoon.

Becky and I having dinner in Granada, six years after we first met in Namibia.

There was that time I met up with an old friend in Granada. My new travel companions and I had left Laguna de Apoyo for the colonial town of Granada. While there I managed to locate what I am convinced must be the biggest hammock in the world (!). But more importantly, I managed to meet up with an old friend who also happend to be in Granada at the exact same time! Becky and I first met in Namibia five or six years earlier while working at a volunteer project. We had instantly made great friends and kept up with each other via Facebook over the years. Now, as I regularly updated my profile to let my friends and family know where I was during my Central American adventure, Becky commented that she was in fact also in Granada! So the two of us made plans to meet up and go out for dinner. Seeing her again was so amazing (she looked exactly like I remembered!) and we talked all night like the six years since we last met had never happened and we hadn't been apart at all. The wonders of backpacking!

There was that time in Nicarauga which was dedicated to just plain out chilling on Isla de Ometepe and in San Juan del Sur. To be fair, we did get around to trekking up a volcano on Isla de Ometepe and doing some surfing in San Juan del Sur. But I mostly remember the chilling part (safe for getting really really sea sick on the ferry to Isla de Ometepe...I really need to buy one of those anti-motion sickness wrist bands!). Almost like the Laguna de Apoyo, Isla de Ometepe felt strikingly like paradise, although a bit more crowded and touristy. So what does one do when paradise becomes too crowded? Well, one finds (very basic!) accommodation far away from the tourist area, of course (I'm spotting a pattern in my travel strategies by now). So this very basic shed that we came about was located right on the water front, and although it was kind of spooky walking home efter dark, because the area was so deserted, as soon as light broke the place was tranquil paradise!

Chilling aside, we did manage to trek up a volcano while on the island (which nearly killed me since I hadn't done any exercise in months!).

By the time we got to San Juan del Sur, the touristy place in Nicaragua, it was time to (try to) learn to surf. Having had a go at most of the common kinds of adventure sports by now on my trips around the world, surfing was actually one I had not tried out before. This was unacceptable, of course, so surfing time it was! A nice day at the beach and countless bruises later, I finally got to tick surfing off my list, simultaniously concluding that I never ever need to try surfing again! Auch!

A standard grey suit would have been too boring, of course.

There was that time I went volcano Boarding in Leon. Leon became my last stop in Nicaragua, as I decided to cross the border into Honduras after that. By the time I made it to Leon, the group had split up in two, so only Matt, Nora, and Lisa accompanied me to Leon.

Going volcano boarding in Leon basically means dragging the board to the top of the vomcano, dressing in the funniest attire and then riding the board like a sled down the volcano (since none of us had the balls to ride it standing up!). We were basically dressed like we were out to cook meth in pour secret lab...