Our vacation to Chinandega and Leon.

We left Selva Negra Sunday morning to head to Chinandega. It took us a grueling 3 hours to get there. On the way to Chinandega, we stopped in Leon. Leon is the university town of Nicaragua. There was a very well maintained park in the middle of the city. I was impressed by the vibrant colors and playground. 

 There was a "Castle" in the park that was shut, and had boards over the windows. We asked some of the locals about it, and it turned out that it was an arcade that was only open at night. We drove by it later, at night, and saw it open.

We stopped for a picture with the cathedral in the center of Chinandega.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we checked in, and dropped off our luggage. We then got in the pool. 

After having swum in the pool for a while, we left to get dinner in Leon. We went to a Spanish restaurant called Alioli. We had five appetizer plates for the five of us, and it felt fancy because they were taken out one at a time, which gave us time to finish the first one before moving onto the next one.

The second day, we went to Jiquilillo to go kayaking. Jiquilillo is a small town down a dirt road in the northern part of Nicaragua. We went with our guide, David, to where the kayaks were. Again, down a dirt road. Once we got the kayaks to the shore, he gave us a lesson on how to use the rudder in the back of the kayak. He explained that they were sea kayaks, and that was necessary for kayaking here.

There were two types of mangroves, Black and Red. The black mangroves are the ones with the roots sticking out of the ground. The red ones have their roots shoot from the trunk of an already existing tree to the ground.

We paddled from the shore, across the lake, and to the entrance of a good size river. The river slowly thinned, until there was an entrance to a channel that was only one kayak wide. This was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. We almost had to turn our paddles completely vertical just to fit through the gap. this went on for about twenty minutes, us getting more tired all the while. We didn't realize it though, because we were having so much fun. 

Once we made it out of the mangroves, we were getting tired, and Hanna was complaining that she had to go to the bathroom. The row back, was arduous, to say the least. And, even at full speed, me and dad couldn't catch Hanna and Astoria who had the guide's help.

Some of the fishermen of Jiquilillo go out in the evening. I managed to take a picture of one as they hit a wave.

Here is a picture we took next to a sugar cane field.

To conclude, it was a fun and exciting vacation, and we all had a great time. i'm looking forward to the next time we get to do something like this.