The Nica adventure begins

There were a few ways I could have gone the other day. If the bus for Limon had come I would have gone there and then up to Tortuguero for a few days. But as it turned out the bus for San Jose came first so here I am in Nicaragua. Leon actually at the moment.

Driving into Nicaragua, it was interesting to notice how so much of the land was cleared, a lot of it for no particular reason. There were some animals and crops but for the most part there were hills of cleared, unused land. In Costa Rica and Panama this would have been dense jungle.

It was a pretty long day on the bus yesterday including buggerizing around at the border for a few hours and we finally rolled in to Managua about an hour before sunset. Just enough time to get some dinner and be back at the hotel before dark. I even had a TV in my room - first one I have seen in a few months...

This morning I hopped in a taxi winding through the streets of sunny Managua with an ABBA medley playing a little too loud on the radio. I ended up with Voulez Vous in my head for the rest of the day and in the bar where I am eating and writing this to you tonight, they are also fond of ABBA, and John Denver. I digress.

A short microbus ride brought me to Leon, a university town. I already love being in Nicaragua and can't wait to see more. So far I have seen the inside of three banks and they are so much nicer than those down south. The architecture here uses a lot of heavy timbers in a beautiful old colonial style.

I am heading off tomorrow for a bit of a trek on some volcanoes. Hopefully they'll behave themselves...