Lookin a little rough, but a HUGE thank you to our tour guide, José! He was such an AMAZING guide! I almost cried when he dropped us off at the airport. I tried to speak as much Spanish as I could during our time here and he was quite impressed! He was basically my tutor for 10 days. If I had a question he would say "pedir ayuda." He was such a great guy inside out, I'll miss walking into the bus yelling ¡Holã José! At the break of dawn.

Good Morning, everyone! It's currently 4:30 am and we are headed an hour away to Managua Airport to depart home. As much as I miss my parents, I'm not ready to come home! People were complaining last night about the bugs, the heat, the food etc. meanwhile I was soaking the entire trip in one last time. This trip has been the trip of a lifetime and hopefully the first of many trips to come. Besides the lizards in our room, the mosquito bites and the lack of AC, I wouldn't trade this trip for anything! Rice and beans and all! It has truly opened my eyes to several different cultures and made me step out of my comfort zone, especially hiking up the volcano! I can never thank Chris Cos and Valerie Cos enough for letting me go on this trip. As I said once before, I knew 1 other person on this trip, and the relationships I was able to make in 10 short days are truly amazing. I hope I have many opportunities to travel and experience life like this!
¡Pura Vida!

Our lunch view today!! Bought everyone in my family and some friends really beautiful, handcrafted gifts from one of the markets. We still have another market in the downtown to go to. Can't wait to get home to show everyone the memories I've made and the memories I have off of my go pro! It's going to take a while to make a video, but looking at the footage and reliving the memories will be amazing!!

Our last day in Nicaragua and last day for this trip :(( we spent the morning hiking up Mombacho Volcano. It was a 2.7 KM hike all up hill, up the mountain... we saw many craters close up but when we were supposed to see the main crater, it was too foggy to see! We are now headed to the local market to see the local artisans and their work.

¡Buena noches! Today we took a bus/walking tour around the city of Granada, its a small, colorful and rich in history city. We learned a lot about the civil war that took place here which killed thousands, even our tour guide's father. Geno, the tour guide took us to the cemetery which many of those people who died are now buried. The cemetery was above ground coffins due to the unpredictable rainy season they have here that could cause floods easily. After our bus/walking tour we stopped for lunch, it was fried tilapia with rice and beans. A lot of us, maybe 9/33, were not feeling good at all, including me. Nicaragua does not have the safest drinkable tap water, luckily I did not have any, but a combination of the heat, all carb diet and dehydration really got to me today. After we stopped for lunch, we then went on a boat tour around Lake Nicaragua. The lake includes 365 islands, most of which are bought by millionaires. Some islands range from $80,000-2 million. We saw the island of a owner of a grocery store here in Nicaragua, compared to Walmart, and man was it spectacular! One of the islands was a vacation home to a prestigious vet who brought some animals to live with him on his island, he brought 2 spider monkeys and 4 white faced monkeys and a few horses. 2 white faced monkeys passed away, however we saw the other 2 and the spider monkeys. They were so used to the vet and other people that they were not shy when our boat came up to the shore! I stuck out my hand from the boat and one hopped down to the roof and grabbed my hand!! I won't lie, I cried! We saw the spider monkeys as well and I got really closed to them as well, but I only got the go pro footage because of my extendable selfie stick, I could get even closer. We got back to the hotel at 3 o'clock and by that time I was absolutely exhausted and drained, I took a 2 1/2 hour nap as soon as I got into the room.

First night in Nicaragua! As soon as we got to the Mansion de Chocolate, I headed straight for the spa! I got a chocolate massage AND a chocolate facial! Wow was it great!! The hotel is a courtyard styled, with the hotel based around the pool and a small garden.

¡Buenos Días! Our first breakfast in Nicaragua was a success! We had many options to choose from, which was the first time we were able what to choose from a menu, so I of course chose the French toast! Since we're staying at the Chocolate Mansion, I decided to splurge and get a ice coffee, little did I know how large it was! I took a quick picture then got 4 more straws to share with my table mates at breakfast. We are now on the bus headed for a bus tour around the city of Granada, Nicaragua. Later today we have a boat tour around the lake here.