Esteli, Leon & Granada - Week 9

11th to 15th October

Our first night in Nicaragua was in Esteli which was a nice little town in the west. Then on Sunday we moved on to Leon which is a colonial town. We had a wonder round the town to see all the sights (churches and the cathedral with the tomb of famous Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Dario) but there was not much to keep us there for more than a night. We could have visited beaches nearby but there are alot of beaches to come and you can't swim at the ones here so we decided not to go.

Cathedral at Leon

So on Tuesday we took two express buses via the capital, Managua, to Granada. Another very old colonial town with many churches; one with a great view from the roof:

We stayed in the Beared Monkey which is a great, very sociable hostel. On Wednesday we went with some others from the hostel to the nearby Lake Apoya which is a beautiful spot. This was the best swimming we have done so far. The water is crystal clear and a perfect temperature. We passed the day swimming, kayaking, sitting round reading books and taking in the beautiful surroundings:

Katie, Henriette, Daniela and Elin on the pick-up

Books we read: Villa Incognito, Tom Robbins - very wierd and funny