Well, I decided to sneak away from Panama for a few days and see something new - Nicaragua. I based myself in Granada, a gorgeous city that thrives on tourism. I did 2 day trips - one to Volcan Mombacho, a nearby volcano where I did quite a bit of hiking in cloud forest. It was absolutely gorgeous, though we didn't have amazing weather... There were supposedly amazing views of the surroundings, but we didn't see any of that, just fog/clouds.
The other was to Volcan Masaya, an active volcano, and also included stops at one of Nicaragua's most famous markets, in the town of Masaya, plus another at a small town where a lot of ceramics are made. We visited with a family who makes pottery, and I bought a few incredibly cheap things (I saw turtles on them, so how could I resist?)
Overall, the poverty in Nicaragua was quite intense. I knew it would be a change from what I've seen in Panama and Costa Rica, but I didn't expect it to feel more intense than in Bolivia. Street children would ask for food off of my plate when I ate outside at restaurants, and our tour guide pointed out the Victoria's Secret factory down there, with a huge number of employees earning about $5 a day (which he said isn't that bad for here, since at least they have jobs then...) The country was slightly depressing, but the people seemed incredibly nice and the country was also quite gorgeous. Hopefully in the future I'll get to see more of it, since I really barely saw any of it!
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