Hi readers, happy October!

This past month has been by far my best month of travel ever. I’ve spent the past few weeks busing it around Nicaragua, splitting my time each day between exploring, writing, taking pictures, eating, and meeting both other travelers and locals.

I’ve totally fallen head over heels in love with this Central American country, and am so excited to see where the next few months in the region take me.

That said, I’ve decided to start doing a monthly recap, with a few short summaries, highlights, lowlights, and other stories from my trip.

While I’m doing my best to keep my blog up to date, I’m already behind on writing about a few different locations. I promise I’ll try my hardest to crank them out ASAP, but in the mean time, this recap will help fill you in on what I’ve been up to.

Locations Visited

Granada, Nicaragua

Leon, Nicaragua

Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Highlights

• The kindness and hospitality of the Nicaraguan people. I feel like the locals are constantly watching out for me here, from the guy at the front desk of my hostel reminding me to hide my phone when I go out, to the women who scoot over and offer me a few inches of their seat on the jam-packed chicken buses. Everyone is so easy-going and good-natured, and extremely patient with me as I struggle to make sentences that a five-year old could breeze through (although, they also always have a smile on their faces that lets me know that they’re totally laughing at me). I’m pretty sure the locals here see me and say, “Ah, look at this confused little gringa making a fool of herself–she’s so cute and lost, like a puppy! Maybe we should help her?”

• Hiking a volcano. Actually, hiking two volcanoes. During my stay in Granada, I ended up hiking both Masaya and Mombacho, both of which offered their own totally unique and totally epic experiences.

• Staying in Matagalpa. I really enjoyed my time in this quiet little mountain town, from the Nicaraguan cowboys to the coffee farm tour (and tasting!) at Selva Negra.

• Isla de Ometepe. I was prettyyy sure that Matagalpa was going to be my favorite stop on my Nicaraguan adventure…until I got to Ometepe, that is. From motorbiking around the island to hiking to a waterfall, and from the chilled out vibe of La Omaja hotel (and their sweet infinity pool) to countless smoothies and frozen cocktails, I’m pretty sure Ometepe is going to remain a life-long travel highlight for me.

Lowlights

• My Spanish really sucks. I’m learning quickly, but simple things like asking for directions are still a headache for me. Basically no one here speaks English (aside from maybe one person in each of my hostels…if I’m lucky)–not bus drivers or fare collectors, taxi drivers, waiters, street vendors, or shop owners, and certainly not random locals on the streets. I’m doing my best, but it’s still a challenge.

• As much as I absolutely love Nicaragua, there are some things that really just bring me down if I let myself think about them too much. The catcalling, the poverty, the disregard for the environment, the hundreds of skin-and-bones stray dogs roaming the streets…I find myself wishing so badly that I could somehow “fix” everything here. Each and every elderly person begging for spare change and little kid asking if they can have a bite of my food breaks my heart over and over again.

• Sunday Funday in San Juan Del Sur. I told myself (and others) over and over “I’m not sure if I even really want to go to San Juan Del Sur. It just doesn’t seem like my kind of place.” And yet I went anyways…and oh boy, don’t even get me started! I arrived to the beach town on a Sunday with no intention of participating in the debauchery that is “Sunday Funday”, a pool & bar crawl that takes place weekly. But everyone in my hostel was going, and I decided to give it a shot. Guys, it was repulsive. Girls running around in skimpy bikinis with no regard for the local conservative standards, people both puking and making out left and right, tequila shots everywhere…it was disgusting. It was horrible to see my fellow travelers acting this way…as if Nicaragua was a just a cheap place to get drunk and hookup (with no regard for the local culture or way of life). I’m all for having a good time, but I really felt like a line was being crossed here. 

Tall Tales & Funny Moments

• A Nicaraguan medical student inspected my eyes for his homework assignment. No, really! My friends and I walked into a bar one night for happy hour, and as we were sipping our mojitos and chatting, two locals (one girl, one guy) who looked to be about our age approached the table. The girl explained that he was studying to become a doctor, and asked if he could examine our eyes! We said yes, so he looked around, and who did he set his sights on first? ME! So he came over, pulled my eye open wide, and pointed a flashlight into it. He then started making notes about the dots and lines in my iris, and asking me questions about my health–do I have back pain, or stomach problems, or frequent headaches? He eventually examined the entire table, and at the end declared that I was the one who was muy enferma (very sick). Great…remind me to schedule a check-up ASAP when I get home!

• We paid a taxi to take us in a complete circle. I’m still not sure if this was a scam, or simple misunderstanding. My friends and I took a day trip from Granada to Masaya, and had used the cheap local bus to get there. We had just finished eating in Masaya’s Parque Central, and were walking back to the bus station when one of our friends flagged down a cab to ask how much it would cost to head back to Granada. We were shocked when the per-person price came out to be lower than the bus fare! We asked if he could take us to Granada’s Parque Central, and got busy chatting and talking about our day in Masaya. We were shocked when a few minutes later, we pulled up to Parque Central…Masaya’s Parque Central, that is! We had literally been driven back to exactly where we started! We had no choice but to pay up and shrug it off, and start our long walk all over again. The lesson? If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Most Popular Post

I Told My Boss I Was Quitting My Job to Travel, and This is What Happened: Miss the story on how I ended up backpacking around Central America? Thinking of quitting your own job to travel? Give this one a read.

Other Posts

“The Hills are Alive” in Berchtesgadener Land

Packing for 3 Months in Central America

First Impressions of Granada, Nicaragua

Indulging at Granada’s ChocoMuseo

Into the Cloud Forest: Hiking Mombacho Volcano

Learning to Love León

Most Popular Instagram

While I was really hoping it would be one of my recent travel photos from Nicaragua, my most-liked picture was actually this throwback from Thailand!

A photo posted by Kelly | The Wandering Blonde (@thewanderingblonde_) on Sep 10, 2015 at 3:37pm PDT

What’s Next?

Next up, Guatemala! I’m planning to spend at least four weeks or so exploring Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Languin/Semuc Champey, Livingston, Rio Dulce, and Flores/Tikal.

Some might say an entire month in Guatemala is too long, but I’ve got a lot of ground to cover! Plus, based on how much I loved Nicaragua, I’ve got high hopes for Guatemala and don’t want to rush my time there in the slightest.

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What have you been up to this month? Any exciting stories to share? Anything else you want to know about my month? Let me know!