I am not so sure about the highlights of this trip anymore, but Nicaragua is definitely one of them. After visiting the colonial cities in the west, I have spent some time in and around San Juan del Sur, close to the Costa Rican border.

First I took my first surfing lesson at Playa Madera, an appealing, quiet beach & Nicaraguan surf hot spot. It went actually all pretty well as long as my Dutch instructor was holding my long board. Once I was on my own on a shorter board, I really had a hard time standing up. Spending 1 night at Crazy Dave´s Hideout camp was quite an experience, even though I didn´t see him starting a fight or shooting at anything while I stayed there (he is known for that all across the area).

After 2 days I returned back to San Juan, luckily with all my luggage. People use to get mugged around Playa Maderas, so was a German couple I met in the middle of the day. Once more, Central American thieves are not always to efficient - they left the bag with everything inside in the woods after 2 unarmed locals followed them.

My next stop was Isla de Ometepe, a gorgeous island in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua. The island is nominated for the new natural wonders and you can really see why - formed by 2 volcanos with several black-sand beaches, Ometepe is still touristy small and absolutely safe. I hiked up the very muddy trail in order to see the little lagoon in the middle of the crater. 2 Americans disappeared here 3 years ago and couldn´t be found by local guides for 2 weeks, until their skeletons and backpacks were finally discovered. Since then you have to book a guide who leads up the volcano and through the fascinating cloud forrest.

The swimming hole Ojo de Agua and the beaches of Charco Verde are only some more nice spots on Ometepe. Check out my last pics of Nicaragua - my knees and legs have healed, so I am off now to my next surfing lesson at Playa Remanso before I am heading down to Costa Rica tomorrow. Pura vida!

All by myself now… After a quick stay in Honduras capital Tegucigalpa, I made my way to Nicaragua. Or - the country where you can do pretty much anything, like VOLCANO BOARDING. Staying in the really nice city Leon, I took the chance and went on a volcano boarding tour. Right, active volcano, next to Leon, no lava though. After walking up the volcano, we had to listen to some instructions as volcano boarding is not as easy as it seems. Basically, you sit on a board, dressed like a Dutch clown (orange suits and glasses for the protection) and try not to break hard with your feet, otherwise you fall. Speed record is 68km/h, I surely didnt break that one as I fell twice. And - you should keep your mouth shut and avoid to scream, otherwise you end up like me with a mouth full of volcano stones.

Next stop was Granada, the oldest colonial city in Central America, really pretty. Granada is right next to Lago de Nicaragua and surrounded by volcanos. I went on a tour to the Isletas, about 350 tiny islands right in front of the city, the results from a volcano eruption 10000 years ago. Most of these islands are for sale, starting from 25.000 US up to 250.000 US. One of them is the home of 5 spider monkeys where all the touri boats stop by. So did we. While having a stop at a nearby island later on, I swam to Monkey Island and visited the monkeys again, sitting in front of them in the shallow water while we were staring at each other and became friends.

Check out the photos of Leon & Granada - I am actually already 2 steps ahead, now in San Juan after 2 days of surfing at Playa Maderas, heading to Isla de Ometepe now. I will upload more fotos the next time. Cheers!