Fall in love with Nicaragua!

I had a little trouble getting used to the men's whistles, looks and remarks in Spanish, I took a few days to visit the city and didn't go out alone at night. I met many travelers and locals who taught me about the country's History. 

A few days are enough to go around, few street restaurants, and some interesting museums (but unfortunately closed when I was there), like the museum of the revolution, museum of legends and traditions... 

For $2 you can climb to the roof of the cathedral, located on the main square, visit the botanical garden, and all the churches. For shopping lovers, there are many shops everywhere !

There are several activities offered around Leon, such as the famous toboggan descent of the cerro negro volcano. 

During the day, several small street restaurants offer cut mangoes and banana chips.

And at 45 minutes/1h30 by chicken bus, you can leave the noisy and hot city for the beach of las Penitas. Many locals go there on weekends, so prefer the week... It's the perfect spot to learn to surf ! I Can recommand Mano a Mano hostel, directly on the beach.

To get to Granada from Leon, you have to stop in Managua, the capital, to change buses. I do not recommend stopping there (nothing to visit, and above all a lot of insecurity for tourists...)

The proximity of the lake makes this city very humid and hot, but it is very easy to walk through its streets and visit its many churches ! You can also climb on the roof of Merced church for 1$ and admire the view of the whole city and catch a glimpse of the isletas and the island of Ometepe (weather permitting)

I tested the specialty by the first evening of my arrival: the Vigoron ! Cabbage and carrot salad, fried pork rind, wrapped in banana leaves. well, not a delight but the discovery always worth it !

I took time to visit Granada and arround, because there is a lot to do :

- la laguna de Apoyo by chicken buses, it's a nice place to chill an afternoon and to swim in this old crater

- the treehouse (25 minutes from center) for a friday night party in the jungle. An Amazing place, but only travelers, not a lot of locals to meet there !

- las isletas, by boat (but you can also rent a canoe). These 365 islands formed by the ancient eruption of the mombacho volcano, rich in vegetation !

- Masaya volcanoe : this active volcano without eruption allows us to observe the lava from the top of the crater, an extraordinary and quite rare experience ! 

Tip : you don't know what to do a night ? Go to the Magician lounge !! I won't say much more to leave you the pleasure of being shocked by the power of divination...

Ometepe is a place where calm and nature (very dense) reign. The island is not very big and everything is done by scooter, by bike (for the more athletic) or by bus (for the most patient: it there are very few). 

Discovering the local flora and fauna. I met several tarantulas, snakes, monkeys, (giant) toads, scorpions... Nothing dangerous, just impressive when you are used, for example to seeing only small spiders !. We accepted the nature of the place where we are, but I had a lot of trouble accepting the flying insects after dark (especially at finca mystica).

Just before the rainy season, the heat was unbearable and the humidity very high, so I didn't have the courage to climb one or both volcanoes. it's a minimum of 7 hours of hiking, sometimes without shadows, but if the weather is nice, the view is worth it ! 

You Can rent a canoe and navigate on the lake and enter the river Río Istian between the 2 volcanoes to observe several species of birds and caimans. The sunset behind the Concepcion volcano is absolutely divine !

There is other things to do, like climb up to the waterfall of San Ramón, chill at the beach, take a coffee to El Pital (and do their farm tour) and discover all the finca of the island !