Goodbye Nicaragua

On one of my last couple days in Nicaragua, I chose to climb yet another volcano, Volcan Mombacho. I boarded a local bus and met Heather, a 39 yr old woman from Santa Cruz. She is currently studying Spanish in Granada and will look to start a tour business in Alaska and move out there. We joined forces and chose to hike the more difficult El Puma route together. Sweeping views of the line of volcanoes as well as the cities and countryside surrounded us. During the hike, some of the 1000 howler monkeys that inhabit the nature preserve yelled out hellos to us from above. And the strong winds at the top kept us on our toes. We returned to the city to dine in one of Nicaragua's finest steak houses. I broke my budget spending $18 on my meal. ;-)

Tomorrow, I board a flight back to LA and will spend a couple weeks there before heading down to Bolivia. I am saddened to leave this country behind. Nicaragua will always bring back fond memories because of the people I met along the way who enriched my experience. I will carry forward the laughter.