After Hope and I travelled to Nicaragua in March, 2012 with Adventure Life, we could not wait to go back and this time, we brought Andy along with us, making us ''Un Hombre y Dos Mujeres''!!!

We arrive in Managua and take a short tour of the city. Andy takes the zip-line down from the Parque Historico Nacional Lona de Tiscapa with its large (I …

We're up early for a beautiful breakfast then off for our long van ride to San Carlos. We stop at a roadside fruit stand and have fresh coconut water right out of the coconut---not something I can get in Maine on a regular basis! I admit it, I also bought a whole watermelon (my favorite fruit) and very strange looking candy for the ride.

A …

Amazing day!! We took the boat down the river even further to the Indio Maiz Reserve were bored looking young army guys meet our boat at the dock for what will be the first of many checkpoints with army stations.

Nicaragua is trying very hard to insure that no drug trade can make it through their river waters and also trying to preserve the …

After our action packed day yesterday, we sleep a little later and then Hope and I head to the butterfly farm where the owner puts out large pieces of fresh papaya and other fruit. Huge (I mean the size of my head huge) moths and butterflies are all around us, as well as two beautiful hummingbirds that have managed to get into the farm. The owner …

Ever since our first trip to Nicaragua, Hope has been dying to go to Solentiname. We figure we are never going to get closer to those islands than we are now, so we arrange a boat trip there for the day.

We leave early in the misty morning with jelly sandwiches and a thermos of coffee and it stays humid and misty until the sun breaks through. …

We have a leisurely morning and enjoy walking on the nature trails at the Lodge and Hope and Andy practice doing their yoga poses on the wooden bridge over the creek---warrior and tree out there in the middle of nowhere. No jelly sandwiches today-the breakfast is fantastic!

We check out and board the boat to return to San Carlos, then to our …

Surf day! We love Playa Hermosa and the weather is perfect. They have warned us the water is cold. . . 84 degrees is not this surfer's idea of cold! There are stingrays in the water though so we have to shuffle our feet and make sure we fall off the board flat in the water to avoid them.

What could be better than grilled fish on the beach, a …

The last time we were here, we fell in love with the town and Hope actually took the initiative to find out what projects and programs were going on for children here. She connected with Barrio Planta Project, a project for school age children that has been given an old government building now painted with bright murals and filled with arts, …

Hope and I take a run and decide to use things in the town along the way to do strength training like push- ups and tricep dips on an old cannon. I am sure people think we are nuts.

We venture to Playa Madera to try a different surf beach and it was beautiful. No shade and a very bumpy rough ride out to get there but well worth it.