Estoy agradecida para el calor.

 I'm thankful to see the sun showing itself again in the MidWest. It had been missed. January weather kept many, myself included, either at work or at home indoors. It is nice to once again have temperatures that will allow me to get outside and stretch the legs. We joke from time to time that God could end up sending us to Siberia. It's a joke, but seriously... I sometimes wonder if that would be a physical impossibility for me. Loosing fingers to frostbite one at a time, strikes me as cruel and unusual. But I digress, the sun has shone again and I still have all my fingers!

Jake and I headed out to the East Coast at the end of January. Spent some good time with friends and family there mainly focused on the work done last year in Togo and Honduras, but also projecting steps ahead of us. The following weekend we sought sunshine in Nicaragua. No other reason really than the flights were cheap and I had the weekend without call responsibility, so why not. 

We were pleasantly surprised with Nicaragua and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had been expecting communities more similar to where we had been in Honduras. However, in Nicaragua we flew into the capital and stayed in that general region with more infrastructure and development, so honestly not really comparable to the mountainous countryside dotted with small villages where we had been in Honduras. 

We did appreciate that the majority of the tourism built up (outside of the national parks) was funded by foreigners and not really Nicaraguans themselves. Still speaks to the poverty of the locals. 

sunrise flight out of Chicago

Granada, Nicaragua at night

We stayed at Selina Hostel

Walking around Granada

San Francisco Church

Xalteva Church

Lake Nicaragua (Cocibolca)

View from Granada Cathedral bell tower

View from Granada Cathedral bell tower looking towards Lake Nicaragua

Looking down on Cathedral plaza, you can see Selina Hostel across the park.

Inside Granada Cathedral

View from Granada Cathedral bell tower

Granada Cathedral bell tower

horse drawn carriages lined up alongside the park

surprised by how nice the roads were in this area of Nicaragua

Finca Malinche, where we stayed on the edge of Laguna de Apoyo

those two small windows were to our kitchen

Our little Suzuki Alto and the road leading up to Finca Malinche

Had to ring the bell and then wait to be let in

Visiting the Masaya Volcano National Park. 

You can see the Bobadilla Cross in the background of this picture. Native peoples used to sacrifice babies and maidens to the volcano. Bobadilla placed the cross at a location he called la Boca del Infierno (The Mouth to Hell). 

Volcan Masaya

Crater de Santiago, Volcan Masaya (Boca del Infierno)

believe us or not, but a park ranger himself told us to go there!

Making friends on our hike around the Masaya Volcano National Park

Comedor Angelito

Comedor Angelito

the pool at Finca Malinche

looking out over Laguna de Apoyo

swimming in laguna de apoyo

sunrise over the Laguna de Apoyo

Much Love.