Nicaragua Trip
Thursday- We got on the road around 9:00 am. We stopped for lunch just before we hit Chicago. Then we went to the Field Museum. Our ASTC membership allows us to get in for free. Mike took Maddy and Westin to the play lab then Caiden and I headed up to the evolving world. Caiden is obsessed with the Silurian time period so we spent over and hour working our way through the Paleozoic area. Seeing trilobites and jawless fish exhibits were his favorite. Then we headed to a local parking garage (Riverstreet parking $83 for 10 days. They do valet parking and free shuttle to the airport) We got through security and then had dinner then we waited for our 6:30 flight. We passed the time by reading and working on the hangman book.
Friday- Our flight landed at 1:30 am and we made it to our hotel at 2:00 am. Despite our late night Westin still woke up at 7:00 am. We enjoyed a free breakfast then relaxed until our taxi came at 1:00. We drove for 2 1/2 hours to Poneloya, then we took a boat, then we took a horse drawn cart to our hut on the beach. We got settled into our hut, played in the ocean, had dinner then crashed.
Saturday- The kids were up early. While we waited for our breakfast we found out that a batch of sea turtles had hatched and were almost ready to be released into the ocean. We ate breakfast then joined a group for the release. It was amazing. We spent the rest of the morning playing in the ocean and with the games at the ecolodge. Then after lunch we walked into town to get ice cream and some sandals (her sandals had broke) for Maddy. We had a rest time then had dinner. After dinner Westin and Mike and Maddy and I went for a sunset horse ride on the beach.
Sunday-We wanted to do the 8:30 am Volcano boarding outing so we had to leave the island early. We had the horse meet us at 6:30, which wasn't bad because the kids had been getting up at 6:00. The kitchen wasn't open so we had breakfast in Leon. We loved the beautiful colonial city of Leon. We took a bus ride with about 25 other people for about an hour then we got to Cerro Negro. The hike was windy and took about an hour to hike to the top. The view from the top was awesome. We also got to see the vents that were steaming due to the Volcano being an active one. We also srcaped the top layer of dirt away and could feel the warmth of the volcano. Maddy and Westin were too young to board down so we ran down. We were up so high that the trucks at the bottom looked like toy cars and Westin kept asking if he could play with them. It was fun to run down. It reminded us of running down sleeping bear dunes. The boys enjoyed their ride down too. They were clocked at 60 kph. We got back from the outing around 1:30 had lunch in Leon. By the time we got back to Surfing Turtle is was about 3:00. We had a rest time played in the ocean then had dinner. We spent the evening playing games and chatting with people from around the world.
Monday- After our big day Volcano boarding we spent all of Monday at the ecolodge. We played in the ocean and packed up for our next location.
Tuesday- We left surfing turtle at 8:00 am just after breakfast. We drove to St. Jorge and arrived at 12:30. We got lunch at the docks then to the 1:30 Ferry. The ferry was small and they over packed the boat with trucks and people. It was an hour long ride that was terrifying as Lake Nicaragua is very choppy and the boat was so small and sat low into the lake. Ometepe is made up of 2 volcanoes. Our driver picked us up at 2:30 and it took about an hour to get to our Airbnb. After spending some time settling into our new house we did some exploring then ordered dinner in. It had been a long day of travel so we went to bed early.
Wednesday- In the morning we went Zip lining. We hiked up a steep hill then took a system of about 20 zip lines down the hill. All 5 of us did it and had a blast. The staff was wonderful. They showed us a lot of fun ways to go down a line. The whole experience took over an hour. Then we went out for lunch. After that we went to a fresh water lagoon, Ojo de Agua. It felt wonderful to cool off in the water as the zip lining made us hot and tired. We came back to the rental for a rest then walked to town for dinner. The walk into town was fun as we saw a variety of animals. We saw several monkeys, cows, horses, and pigs on our walk into town.
Field Museum
Evolving world
Egyptian exhibit
Sue
Jawless fish
Cool fossils
Paleozoic sharks
Paleozoic Sharks
Talking cephalopods with a staff member
Play lab
Friday- Our flight landed at 1:30 am and we made it to our hotel at 2:00 am. Despite our late night Westin still woke up at 7:00 am. We enjoyed a free breakfast then relaxed until our taxi came at 1:00. We drove for 2 1/2 hours to Poneloya, then we took a boat, then we took a horse drawn cart to our hut on the beach. We got settled into our hut, played in the ocean, had dinner then crashed.
No car seats or seat belts this week
Boat ride to our island
Boat ride to the island
Horse drawn cart
We made it!
The current was very strong in the evening so we couln't play too far in the water
Everyone loved the swings at the bar
Each night we enjoyed a gorgeous sun set.
The kids loved playing with the games
I love it when the boys play chess together.
Half way through Maddy felt confident enough to ride alone.
Westin was ready to be done too so we walked back and I took some pictures.
Maddy and her horse
All 4 of us on our ride
We found these parrot out side the shop maddy got her sandals at. It was fun to walk into town.
Sunday-We wanted to do the 8:30 am Volcano boarding outing so we had to leave the island early. We had the horse meet us at 6:30, which wasn't bad because the kids had been getting up at 6:00. The kitchen wasn't open so we had breakfast in Leon. We loved the beautiful colonial city of Leon. We took a bus ride with about 25 other people for about an hour then we got to Cerro Negro. The hike was windy and took about an hour to hike to the top. The view from the top was awesome. We also got to see the vents that were steaming due to the Volcano being an active one. We also srcaped the top layer of dirt away and could feel the warmth of the volcano. Maddy and Westin were too young to board down so we ran down. We were up so high that the trucks at the bottom looked like toy cars and Westin kept asking if he could play with them. It was fun to run down. It reminded us of running down sleeping bear dunes. The boys enjoyed their ride down too. They were clocked at 60 kph. We got back from the outing around 1:30 had lunch in Leon. By the time we got back to Surfing Turtle is was about 3:00. We had a rest time played in the ocean then had dinner. We spent the evening playing games and chatting with people from around the world.
Colorful colonial city of Leon.
Look at those beautiful large colonial doors.
Our transportation to and from the Volcano
The hike up
The hike up was challenging but the breeze cooled us off and made it not too bad
The view on top was awesome
The board the boys rode down on
Maddy and Wesin walking down.
Evening domino building
Monday- After our big day Volcano boarding we spent all of Monday at the ecolodge. We played in the ocean and packed up for our next location.
Tuesday- We left surfing turtle at 8:00 am just after breakfast. We drove to St. Jorge and arrived at 12:30. We got lunch at the docks then to the 1:30 Ferry. The ferry was small and they over packed the boat with trucks and people. It was an hour long ride that was terrifying as Lake Nicaragua is very choppy and the boat was so small and sat low into the lake. Ometepe is made up of 2 volcanoes. Our driver picked us up at 2:30 and it took about an hour to get to our Airbnb. After spending some time settling into our new house we did some exploring then ordered dinner in. It had been a long day of travel so we went to bed early.
Ferry ride from Hell
The ferry coming close to it's dock on Volcano Conception.
The ferry coming close to it's dock on Volcano Conception.
The path to our rental on Ometepe Island
The rental had 2 floors. It was nice for Mike and I to have our own room and for the kids to have their own space too.
Wednesday- In the morning we went Zip lining. We hiked up a steep hill then took a system of about 20 zip lines down the hill. All 5 of us did it and had a blast. The staff was wonderful. They showed us a lot of fun ways to go down a line. The whole experience took over an hour. Then we went out for lunch. After that we went to a fresh water lagoon, Ojo de Agua. It felt wonderful to cool off in the water as the zip lining made us hot and tired. We came back to the rental for a rest then walked to town for dinner. The walk into town was fun as we saw a variety of animals. We saw several monkeys, cows, horses, and pigs on our walk into town.
The kids playing in the national tree of Nicaragua. While we waited for the zip line crew
Gearing up for ziplining
I had a blast with this!
Westin loved this activity too.
Lunch restaurant
There was a nice beach near our lunch restaurant.
Westin has been enjoying riding around the island with out a seat belt.
Enjoying the swing at the lagoon
Lagoon
Walking to town for dinner. The kids love seeing all the animals that roam.
Thursday- We started the day with a tour of the farm we had been staying on. The tour was awesome. We learned a lot about permaculture as well as the local vegetation and animals. We went out for lunch then hiked to the San Ramon waterfall. The hike was intense but beautiful. The kids like playing in the waterfall.
Friday - We woke up had breakfast then worked to pack up our rental and our taxi came at 11:00am. We drove to Punta Jesus Maria to play in Lake Nicaragua. Then we caught the 3:00 ferry. This time we got on the bigger ferry and which was much better! A taxi driver meet us on the other side and we stopped for dinner at a great Nica food restaurant. We then drove to the Masaya Volcano around 7:00. Which was perfect because it was competently dark and the crowds had cleared out by then. This one was very cool because you could see and hear the lava inside it. We arrived at the airport a little after 8:00. The kids were exhausted. We had played hard all week and squeezed as much activity as possible into our trip.
Playing in Lake Nicaragua
There is a sand strip here that juts out as much as 1 kilometer into the lake but the sand strip was really small today. The kids were more interested in climbing and swimming.
One last beach trip
One the ferry to the main land
These kids are amazing travelers!
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