A taste of: Nicaragua

~ Maderas ~

     

Fish Taco

"Lemonade"

~Jinotega~

The local children from the kids bank that Alicia runs

      

   

 Our lovely homemade meals: 1)brown butter pasta with walnuts; 2) scrambled eggs (made with fresh eggs from Alicia's neighbour's chickens) with Gouda cheese toast; 3) homemade soy burgers (Alicia made the soy meat from scratch with beans) mixed with onions and fresh herbs from Alicia's garden.  Sooooo fresh!!!

     

Making tortillas which we would later turn into Repochetas.  A repocheta is similar to a quesadilla but we used fresh cheese  which was similar to ricotta in texture.

El Capitan

     

Coffee

Young coffee plant

A bean

Cool beans!

~ Somoto Canyon ~

Rosquillas -- corn flour and cheese cookies--some were savoury and some were sweet with a sugary topping.
These were a popular snack for us which we would  purchase on our many bus rides. 

     

Towards the end of January 2013, I went to visit my very good friend Alicia who has been volunteering in Nicaragua for nearly two years.  I was there for about nine days, and thanks to Alicia's familiarity with the country and her excellent Spanish-speaking skills, we were able to see quite a bit in that short time frame.  I flew into the capital city, Managua, where we spent the night before starting on our journey the next morning.  Aside from the one time we hitchhiked, we did the majority of our travelling by bus.  Looking back, I really wish I took some photos from our bus rides.  The buses were old school buses that were always vibrantly painted.  They were usually quite crowded, and throughout the journey there would be vendors who would hop on and off the bus to sell their various snacks and refreshments to the passengers. 

The pictures I have featured were taken in the three areas we spent the most time in.  We spent a couple of days at Maderas Beach which was pretty relaxed and not too busy, but it definitely was a more touristy spot that attracted a surfer crowd. 

From Maderas we went much further north to the region of Jinotega which is where Alicia has been posted. It is so lush and beautiful up there and it is where a lot of the coffee, as well as other crops, are grown.  It was really great to see Alicia in her element and meet some of the many friends she has made there. We ate very well and a lot of the food came straight from her garden or from her neighbours.  It was wonderful having a few days to relax and avoid the stresses of constantly being in transit.  

From Jinotega we traveled to the Somoto Canyon which is further west and is next to the boarder with Honduras. We had a day of hiking and swimming through the river that flowed through the canyon.  I admit I found it a little challenging at times but it was definitely worth it. 

Nicaragua is so beautiful and definitely one of the best vacations I have been on in a while. Alicia was a fantastic guide and it would not have been the same trip without her!

If you are curious to learn more about Alicia's experiences living in Nicaragua, feel free to check out her personal blog!