LEON/GRENADA

as close to a convent school as Rhaani ever got

WHERE: Leon and Granada
WHERE (less detailed): two colonial towns in Nicaragua
DAYS: 55-50 days to go
PEOPLE ARE: more American than previous cities in Central American. Large groups of teenage Americans seem to be present learning Spanish, doing charity work or just drinking beer and being loud.

"I was hoping for something a lot younger, but this gringo will have to do" thinks Bozo the Nicaraguan child molester

 WEATHER IS: rain, rain, rain, with some sweltering, humid heat  between downpours. You look in envy at the amazing array of vegetation and greenery around but then when the downpour starts you realise it's a high price to pay for some shrubbery.

pretty blue buildings

TEMPERATURE: 36-42 degrees
FOOD IS: Rhaani's salad longings are finally met. Paul didn't fare do well. Having not had to take malaria tablets for well over a month Paul forgot how inadvisible it is to take one on an empty stomach. Despite chowing down a hearty breakfast he was back to having an empty stomach a few moments later. The American influence meant local dishes were the exception on menus.

always look on the bright side of death

HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: our plan had been to spend a day on Nicaragua's twin-volcano-boasting Island Ometepe, unfortunately heavy cloud coverage meant we could barely  see roadside trees so we abandoned the plan and headed to Leon, where Rhaani eases her disappointment with a massage - her first since leaving Thailand in March ... for the first time in Latin America we experience Indian-style in bus dining as locals jump aboard to sell their baked and fried goodies....

some cool Nicaraguan street art

 ... small bags of water replacing bottles... Kayaking around Grenada's Las Islatas until the rain started and we became wetter than if we'd capsized.... Rhaanni relives her "blue-light disco" days as the Grenada nightclubs seem to be inhabited by 17-year-olds... watching a grind and hump dance-off ... Sunday lunch at the beach ... experiencing some fantastic Nicaraguan hospitality when a local family insist on driving us back to our hotel rather letting us catching a bus ... laughing as Paul's broken Spanish is torn apart by a very chatty 9-year-old ... watching our friend Damon accidentally vandalise a piece of "non-interactive" modern art ...

Rhaani takes to the high seas

THINGS LOST/STOLEN: just the usual, with possibly a couple more travel locks thrown in for good measure. Oh the clasp on the waiststrap of Paul's backpack disappeared in Panama forcing him to rely on the "knot" school of fastening.
UP NEXT: a straight dash through Honduras and up to the Bay Islands for some scuba diving and beach time.