Blogging from a hammock in Las Penitas, Nicaragua

On a bus bound for Managua, we took a leap of faith and hopped off in a town called Esteli at the recommendation of a few locals and a couple from Belgium. Intending to stay for one night, we ended up staying for four and a week later we continue to travel around Nicaragua with the lovely Dutch/French/English/Spanish-speaking couple from Brussels. It started out as a busy few days in Esteli then took a turn for laziness in Leon, where the extreme heat brought out our inner "Lazybones" and drove us toward the beach at Las Penitas, where I now sit in a hammock overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Here's a recap of the last week:

In Esteli we toured a local cigar making factory which was interesting; the people rolling the cigars get paid based on how many they make in a day:

We bought a few but have yet to figure out how to mail them home safely. After Jody's haircut we intended to walk/hike to a local waterfall but along the way the locals kept offering us rides in the back of their trucks; they are so kind & generous here, and would not accept payment.

 The waterfall was beautiful and unspoiled; we were able to swim right underneath it

The next day we heard there was a local baseball match between the towns of Esteli and Somoto. We convinced our Belgian friends that it would be fun and took them out to the ball game. The game was good and the view was very nice!

We took a tour of the Somoto Canyon the following day which was 're-discovered' for touristic purposes only 8 years ago. We swam, cliff jumped, canoed and hiked then had a much needed lunch cooked by a local family in Somoto

We took an early morning chicken bus to Leon and after hostel-shopping for about an hour in the mid-day heat we decided a pool was a necessity and checked into Lazybones Hostel. We took it easy for a few days in Leon then headed to the beach, where we are now at Barca de Oro hostel in Las Penitas. We've been staying in a cabana made of bamboo! The nightly chorus of dogs barking + frogs croaking + gheckos chirping + crickets screeching makes it a bit difficult to sleep; not to mention my mosquito net doesn't seem to be doing its job... I guess I'll continue enduring the nightmares & vivid dreams for the protection the Malaria pills provide.

We're not exactly sure what's up next but we're taking a bus back to Leon this morning to decide - either set out on an adventure trying to get to the Corn Islands by buses and boats OR move on to Granada. Decisions, decisions!