I still am not able to post photos because I am not able to transfer the photos from the camera to the computer in the hotel business center. So I will try to do that when we get to the next hotel on Wednesday. In the meantime, I will do a post about our activities yesterday.
We started the day with another wonderful breakfast by the pool. As I mentioned before, the hotel has a great breakfast buffet with traditional Nicaraguan food and they have tables set up next to the pool where everyone eats. There was a large group from Minnesota who were in Nicaragua with a national nonprofit organization that provides microloans to small businesses. They were going to be visiting some rural farms and helping out. We talked with people in that group for a long time (everyone is attracted to Jenny and Ava so it is an instant conversation starter). The people were really nice.
After breakfast, Rachel took Ava up the room to give her a bath (we brought an inflatable baby bathtub with us). Jenny and I wandered around for about an hour. First, we went back to the coffee shop that we had found the night before. We bought coffee for me and some bottled water for Rachel. While we were sitting there, we met a nice guy from Australia who was on a 6 month trip around central America. He had been in Vietnam and Cambodia and a bunch of other places. He was making his way across Central America and was on his way to Cuba. We talked all about his travels and when he found out I worked for the Fed and was from Washington DC, it turned out that he had been a student of international affairs at George Washington University in DC and he was very knowledgeable about finance and monetary policy. So we talked for a while about what the Fed has been doing and he told me about two books he was reading about monetary policy! It was so funny given that he looked like such a surf dude and had the big Aussie accent.
Then Jenny and I found a bank and I got some cash. Then we went back to the hotel and met Rachel. We met our guide in the lobby at 10 am and we all loaded into the minivan. We drove to the shores of Lake Nicaragua. From there, we boarded a boat that was very comfortable. It had a covered top to keep us out of the sun. We put Ava in a little baby life jacket (she did not like that very much). Then our we explored the volcanic islands in Lake Nicaragua. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about nature and he told Jenny about all of the different kinds of birds. We saw beautiful birds, lots of turtles, and even monkeys swinging from the trees. Jenny just loved it.
After exploring many of the islands, the boat docked at an island and we had a really nice rest. They served Jenny a wonderful pineapple drink, I tried another one of the local beers (called Toña), and Rachel stuck with sparkling water. The island was covered in mango trees so Jenny collected mangos. There was also a beautiful parrot that Jenny liked. After a while, we boarded the boat again and explore more of the islands. Some of the islands have big houses on them. One was so big, it had its own landing pad for a helicopter! We finally headed back to the shore and boarded the minibus. Rachel asked the guide whether we can visit a town that has a big crafts market (she had read about it in the guide book). The driver said they could take us and there was a nice spot to have lunch along the way. So we drove for about 30 minutes. The lunch spot was amazing. It was on the top of a mountain overlooking the lake (the lake is so big, it looks like the ocean). We ordered an amazing soup for me and Jenny and Rachel shared a really good chicken dish. I also ordered a traditional meat dish that was similar to what I had for lunch the day before -- rice and beans, sweet plantains, and different types of mean (mainly pork and steak). It was really good. They brought Ava a baby high chair and it was the first time she had every sat in one! She had a good time destroying napkins and banging on the tray of the high chair!
We next headed back to the minivan where we drove to the crafts market. It was huge and we spent about an hour walking around. Rachel bought beautiful embroidered dresses for the girls and also shoes and a beautiful doll for Jenny. All of the locals thought both girls were so beautiful and kept saying in Spanish "so beautiful!". We were all tired so we headed back to the van and made the 40 minute drive back to the hotel.
Rachel took Ava down by the pool to feed her and Jenny and I got our bathing suits on. We splashed around the pool for a long time and got ourselves so tired out we could barely make it to dinner. So like the night before, we just had a few tapas from the hotel. Rachel took Ava to bed at 6 pm. Jenny and I were going to walk to the business center so Jenny could play on the computer (she wanted to find Disney videos). But on the way to the business center, we were walking by the pool and we met a family from Colorado with a girl who was a senior in high school. That was it for Jenny. She started playing with the girl and pretty soon they were best friends. The girl had her laptop and they were listening to Taylor Swift and looking at funny pictures on the computer. We ended up hanging out with them for over two hours. The husband was a captain in the Littleton, Colorado fire department. The wife was a public school teacher. It was really nice talking with them and Jenny asked if she could play with them the next day.
We went back to the room around 9 pm and after Jenny brushed her teeth and got her pajamas on, she went straight to bed next to Rachel. I just woke up a few minutes ago and ordered two cafe con leches for me and Rachel. Now I am going to head back to the room and make sure everyone is up. We have a tour today to a working coffee plantation and then to visit the volcano. We plan to make this a more restful day. So we think we should be getting back to the hotel around lunchtime and hopefully can just hang out in the beautiful pool.
More later...
J.
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