A group of us all ended up leaving Leon together and making our way south by a couple of collectivo's to Granada. The adreneline of yesterdays thrill seeking worn off, we were all feeling the effects of being on the road long term and looking forward to a few chill days doing not a whole lot. 

Kylie found us this great little hostal called Entre Amigos, and for $5 a night, it was perfect! The lovely guy on the front desk pointed us towards a place called the 'Garden Cafe' which was heaven. Fresh green vegetables are pretty hard to come by in this part of the world and we all gorged ourselves on the delicious homemade, western style, salads and wraps.  

During our stay a couple of other girls heard that there was a local baseball match on at the stadium, so we all decided to head down to join the locals. When we got there though, there was a game on, but it was more of few kids throwing the ball around than what we had been expecting. The security guard told us there was no match until next week but let us in to have a look around and watch the kids playing. Kristine, yesterdays speedy demon, is from Norway and since it was Norway Day back home the next day we headed to the supermarket to stock up on ingredients for a champagne breakfast. Pancakes with maple syrup, bacon, scrambled eggs with chives, salmon, toast, and champagne with strawberries - Happy Norway Day!
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Happy Norway Day!
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The local baseball stadium
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Tiny turtles!
We had hoped to visit one of the local volcanoes at night to see the lava, but due to a fire a while ago the trail had been closed so it wasn't to be. I sometimes feel guilty about stopping and doing nothing while we are away. We are in these exciting new countries and it feels a bit like if we have a 'do nothing day' that it is a day wasted. But I need to remind myself that if it was a 6 month period at home we would have down days, and we actually need them to make sure we are still refreshed and excited when we do see new things. So we spent a lovely couple of days catching up on movies, doing laundry, eating and drinking and just generally chilling out. 

On our last day in Granada Ty, Paul and I headed to Lake Nicaragua for a boat ride around the isletas. There are 365 islands of volcanic origin which were formed when the Mombacho Volcanoe blew its top thousands of years ago. Most of the islands are covered with vegetation and are rich with bird life. We even managed to spot a couple of little turtles lazing on a branch. Some of Nicaragua's wealthiest families also have holiday homes on the islands so we had a good nosey as we went past. I do feel sorry for the inhabitants of one island though - a group of monkeys! The island is SO small and they are effectively marooned there as a tourist attraction by the nearby restaurant. Its not even big enough for them to be able to scavenge for food and they rely on the restaurant owners to bring food over to them. 

Next stop: Costa Rica