After spending time in Costa Rica and meeting native Nicaraguans we have been talking about visiting this beautiful and still not very touristy country the past few years. We were excited for the new adventure. We landed in Managua and took a taxi to our first hotel in Granada (about an hour away) Hotel con Corazon. It was simple, clean and a very friendly staff. It had a small pool, large life size chess set and swings in the dining area. These are always big hits with the kids.

One of the highlights is to climb up the bell tower and get a great view of the city center.

Day 2 We hired a cab who took us around to the local highlights of the area. One of my absolute favorite experiences was happening upon San Juan De Oriente. We got a demonstration explaining how making pottery has been a way of life for this community for generations. The locals hike 1 kilometer to get the clay and carry it back over their shoulders. They play drums and dance on the clay for 3 hours and add water and sand to make it the right consistency. They use local rocks from the area to create colors. Everything is still locally sourced using a seed of a fruit to buff the pottery and handmade knives from bamboo sticks. The pottery sits for 8 days and then is heated in the brick ovens.

Next stop Catarina Mirador a small pueblo at the lip of the Laguna de Apoya.

Day 3 Ometepe Drove to port San Jorge. We piled onto this very antiquated ferry with mostly locals and backpackers to cross over to the island of Ometepe. We checked in to the Totoco Lodge. This lodge felt more like upscale camping with the compostable toilets.

Day 4 Exploring Omotepe and first was the San Ramon Waterfall hike. At first we didn’t see anyone for an hour and it was thick jungle traversing across rocks and water. I was a little skeptical if this was good choice for 8 year old Jack, but he was a trooper. The hike took us an hour and a half but the waterfall was beautiful and refreshing once we arrived.

Next stop the fresh spring Ojo de Agua water from the local volcano.

Day 5 Off to San Juan Del Sur and checked into the luxurious Pelican Eyes Resort.

Day 6 Surfing at Redondo Beach

Next Stop..Playa Maderas

Day 7 Costa Rica bound. Crossing the boarder by foot was an experience. We were swarmed by people at the boarder and headed to customs but were asked for our passports several times and waited in long lines unsure of what to expect. It costs $2 per person to leave the town. We then waited in line at customs, did not have the proper papers filled out and were handed them and told to step aside and fill them out, however the papers were not provided anywhere in the customs building, We did finally get through and walked across the border to Costa Rica.

Headed off to spend the following week running a yoga teacher training in Costa Rica.