One with Nature

Quick addendum to the election coverage. While driving back to Leon yesterday, I drove past a couple of FLSN blockades. I found out today that the Sandinistas put those up because they didn't want any of the Liberals to enter into Leon for the 2pm protest. Even I was a little afraid of the blockades and put on my sunglasses to avoid being known as a tourist. During the protest, the police had to use tear gas to calm the crowds since the Sandinistas and Liberals started to clash. I missed the riots I had been looking for, but I'm sure there will be more. Considering how the country is reacting to the local mayoral elections, I can just picture how fun the presidential election might be.


Besides the people, I have also interacted with nature. For fun, I climbed a young active volcano, Cerro Negro near Leon, and volcano boarded down. The hike up took an hour and the ride down, a few minutes. Surprisingly, the volcanic rocks were small and didn't hurt much when I fell. I only face-planted once at the very end. Volcano boarding is similar to snow boarding although, I had to keep my weight on my back foot otherwise I would fall forward. To slow down, I had to drop my back hand in the volcanic rock and manually slow down. Thankfully, I had gloves to help with the volcanic rock drag. As much as I enjoyed the new experience, I probably won't do it again; checked off of my life experience list.

In Managua, I zip-lined across a lake inside a volcano in the middle of the city center. I zip-lined down the first leg by myself and got stuck 3/4 of the way. My guide had to zip line down and rescue me as I hung over the lake helpless. On the next leg, my guide turned me upside down and we zip lined together. I only wish I had a photo of this crazy stunt and I don't plan to do that again either.

Near Leon, I visited the Isla Juan Venado Wildlife Reserve of mangroves and tropical dry forest. While there, I had the opportunity to watch newly hatched turtles scamper back to the ocean. The turtles are protected in this area from potential thieves, mainly predators. The conservationists watch over the eggs until they hatch and then free the turtles into the ocean as seen in the photo below.




More nature... Mainly because I'm behind on my blog, I thought I would fill this entry with more pics than content. Over the weekend, I went up to Esteli and then into the Miraflor natural reserve where people live without showers and electricity. I stayed with a local family who allowed me to be a part of their lives for a couple of days. Of course, I didn't shower as they do with bucket water out in the front yard in the freezing cold, but I did capture a glimpse into their farm and cowboy lifestyle. They go to bed by 8pm and wake up by 4am to milk the cows and start their day. Children receive free schooling up until age 12 and then when they enter secondary school, they have to pay about $5 a month to attend. The secondary school only meets once a week on Saturdays so that the kids have time during the week to help earn money for their schooling and to help with the family chores. I'm not sure how much the kids learn in one day a week schooling, but if the family is wealthy, the children can receive schooling every day at a private school. Life is slow-paced here for the tourist like me, but the work for daily survival for the local is tough. Community tourism is helping increase their income as well as educate tourists on their culture. I left educated and covered with a million mosquito bites; hopefully not with Dengue Fever too.