Nicaragua... Land of the Hammocks, Rocking Chairs and the Sandinistas !

I have been in Nicaragua for about five days visiting the twin colonial towns of Leon and Granada. Leon has it´s revoluntionary roots and history of active student movement and radical clerics while more conservative Granada in in the south was more aligned with the previous Somoza government. Leon is close to the Pacific Ocean while Granada is hemmed in between the largest lake in Central America, Lake Nicargagua and Laguna de Apoyo. Both cities  have cobbled-stoned roads, crumbling churches, and much like their European origin, an pargue central (square) where the catherdral is located and the rest of the city is built around. The air in both cities have been hot, humid and sticky and by early afternoon, my t-shirt is soaked through and I am constantly drinking the blended juices.

Leon has an impressive art museum with plenty of modern art from Latin and Central America on an expansive site and inner court yards, a church roof top you can walk around for views and to catch a cool breeze, a nearby beach with strong Pacfic Ocean waves and volcano sliding. A very touristy thing to do, I being a tourist did it. Essentially, you pay $30 US to get a truck ride to Volcano Cerro Negro, hike up 45 minutes, sit on a modified tobogan and hang on for the steep ride down the rocky volcano. I went down a modest 36 km/ hour and shy of of the 95 km/ hr record. With pebbles flying, your board sliding left and right on the steep run and your speed gaining, it´s actually quite fun with the steaming volcano behind you. The things tourist do. One tour company offered to bring tourists to see a cock-fight (only on Sundays) or cook up a live Igunana from the market in a local home or maybe you want to shoot a modified bazooka from the revolution. That can be arranged.    

I actually preferred Granada and felt more comfortable and things just seemed to fall into place easier here. I didn´t even mind walking around the city at night when I arrived from one hostal to the next to the next as they were was full. I met up with two French travellers from El Salvador and they were very lively and spirited. We visited the craft fair in nearby Masaya, the panoramic views of Laguna de Apoyo and swim in the warm waters of the Laguana. Then off to eat some sushi (so so for Vancouver, good for Nicaragua), listen to a Mexcian band (one member playing the smallest guitar I have ever seen, about the size of a large hand) and dancing after.

Nicaragua seems much safer and more relaxed and propserous than Guatemala and El Salvador (though I am very fond of these countries). The guards with the machine guns and shotguns have been replaced with guards with handguns and night sticks (though there are no gaurds in pastry shops as there were in El Salvador), people openly use their phones on the street, there are mini-casinos with slot machines dotted around and it is common for people to travel on night buses.   

With all the rice eaten in Central America (or more precisely, rice and beans) and second only to the

mighty tortilla, I had mistakenly assumed the rice was imported from Asia. Not so, all the rice in Nicaragua comes from Nicaragua as I was informed by a grain merchant at the city mercado (market). In fact, Nicaragua is the rice bowl for all of Central America and supplies rice from Guatemla to Panama. I have yet to see any rice paddy fields or terraced farm lands though but I have grown to enjoy rice and refried beans or Gallo Pinto (beans mixed into the rice). Off to Isla de Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua.