Follow the Journey

Guat is over. The section was fun while it lasted. We had a flawless travel day coming into Nicaragua. We spent are first few days in Granada.Most of Granada’s streets are narrow, as the city evolved centuries before the advent of motorized vehicles. Therefore, today, many streets allow only one-way traffic, offering a challenge to visitors traveling by car. Luckly we were striking on our feet. Granada is located along the coast of the Lake Nicaragua (a.k.a. Lake Cocibolca), the world’s twentieth largest lake. Here we expelled some of our rage by holding a wrestling tournement on the beds of are hostel. On our last day in Granada we traveled to the Monkey Hut. The Monkey Hut in Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua, is a beautiful hostel in the middle of a pristine natural reserve, only half an hour away from Managua, and less than 20 minutes from Granada. The hostel, which derives its name from the many resident howler monkeys, is situated at the crater’s crystal clear lagoon and offers visitors spectacular views of the beautiful surroundings. While there we had a boys vs girls king of the hill to settle who was the better sex once and for all. Needless to say, with numbers not in their favor, the boys pulled off victory after victory. For the last part of the week we traveled to the ocean to volunteer with Project Waves of Optimism. Project Wave of Optimism, a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization, takes a grassroots approach to promote sustainable community development in the surfing regions of Latin America. By traveling to far-flung global surf destinations, the international surfing community is able to witness firsthand the daily struggle faced by the majority of the world’s citizens.  This interaction between the surfing world and the developing world presents a unique opportunity to create relationships with local residents and support the growth of their villages in a meaningful way.