Leading up to the trip, I spent two days in College Station, TX visiting Texas A&M University. Friday night was a long night out with current grad students bouncing from bar to bar; they wanted to make sure we experienced all the local places. By the time I got back to my hotel, it was already Saturday morning and I had only three and a half hours to pack, sleep, and get to the airport before my flight out of College Station. The airport in College Station is by far the smallest airport I have ever been to. While I’ve always thought Knoxville’s airport was small with twelve gates, College Station only has two and never has more than one United plane and one American plane on the ground.

The flight to Managua left at 5:55 but I got the Atlanta at 11:45. This wasn’t a problem for me though; I love the airport in Atlanta. I had checked my suitcase, so with my camera bag in tow I started exploring. There were people all around me running with bags dragging behind them. I final came across a great view of the runway so I took a seat and listened to podcasts while watching the organized scramble. As my flight’s departure time drew closer I headed to the gate to meet up with the rest of the group. We didn’t talk much, opting to get some final school work done before leaving the country and our responsibilities behind.

The sunset as we flew over the Gulf and leaving us to arrive in Nicaragua under the soft light of the moon. Two nurses greeted us at the jet bridge, checking our paperwork for recent illness and using a thermal imaging camera to check everyone for a fever. Passing through immigration was simple but customs stopped me. Its not often I make it through customs without them wanting to take my camera bag for a closer inspection; I’m sure the number of cables and batteries alone looks bad under x-ray but they wanted to check for a drone. After convincing security that I didn’t bring a drone into the country I rejoined the group. Our guide for the week, David, meet us at the door and took us outside for introductions while we waited for the bus to come around. Gauging everyone’s level of excitement for having arrived was difficult but one thing was obvious, they were all tired. After a quick drive to Granada we had a simple dinner and then everyone rushed to bed.

On Sunday morning, we found ourselves greeted with a traditional Nicaraguan breakfast of rice, beans, eggs, and fruit. After everyone had gotten their morning coffee and refilled their waters we ventured out into the city of Granada. As we walked down one of the main city streets David gave us an incredible history of Granada and the country of Nicaragua. During part of our tour, we climbed to the top of a church bell tower to gain a better view of the city and surrounding landscape. For lunch we stopped at Café de las Sonrisas, a café and hammock workshop staffed entirely by people with hearing disabilities. This project is run by Tío Antonio and does incredible work for the community while also producing fantastic hammocks. After lunch, we made a quick stop at a local handcrafted market before heading to the top of Volcán Masaya. There we saw the incredible exposed lava lake that has surfaced in recent years.

Monday was our most athletic and relaxed day all rolled into one. We started the morning with a nearly eight-mile bike ride through the city of Granada and to the tip of the Peninsula de Aseses. It was fun to ride through the countryside but it quickly reminded me how long it’s been since I rode a bike that far. Once we reached the end of the peninsula we were picked up by a private boat that took us to our own private island for lunch. The view from our private island was incredible! Everyone found their own way to relax: swimming, napping, kayaking, playing tennis, and even getting caught up on unread email (Me – 456 but mostly junk thankfully). Eventually, our boat returned and took us back to the city of Granada. We immediately left Granada, driving to the city of San Juan del Sol and arriving just in time for sunset. I found myself in aww of the colors in the sky but even more impressed by the contrast created by the houses in the hills overlooking the bay.

On our third full day in Nicaragua we went horseback riding through the hills of San Juan del Sol. Rancho Chilimate was a fantastic location to spend a morning. While we weren’t riding a horse, there were great views and tons of places to relax. After a nice relaxing morning we returned to San Juan del Sol and spent the rest of the day visiting the beach and exploring the city.

Ferry & Island of Ometepe

In preparation for our final days in Nicaragua, we rode the ferry from the city of Rivas to the Island of Ometepe. While the view from the ferry was nice, I couldn’t get good pictures because I was stuck sitting on the floor. Instead, I took the only picture of myself from the trip as a selfie with my giant DSLR, forgoing the easy to use front-facing camera on my phone. On Ometepe we stayed at the Charco Verde nature preserve, home of beachfront views, nature walks, and monkeys!

Bona Fide

For the final two days of the trip we spent our time at Bona Fide, a permaculture farm on the Island of Ometepe. This is a wonderful project that has revitalized an area that was originally barren cow fields. While working there, we learned about the history of Bona Fide and permaculture, and how Bona Fide gives back to the community with their purchases and practices. It was really fun to work with the locals as we worked around the farm. On our final day working with Bona Fide, we consulted with them on engineering designs for new buildings that they hope to build in the coming months.

This trip was awesome!