Halloween!
We were temporarily distressed on Halloween morning as we were candy and costumeless in a deserted fishing community (maybe 100 people and most families have 4-5 kids) on the pacific coast. We had quite a hunt for candy and in the end were able to scrounge up some hard candies, marshmallows, and cookies. In the midst of the hunt we encountered the horror of a large pig being hauled up to the top of a chicken bus. There was a mere twine rope around its neck that it dangled from as the bus attendant took his sweet time with the pig literally screaming. The pig problems continued as the ranch dog who faithfully escorted us was crazed about chasing pigs out of pens and around town. Once it was more or less dark we started our feasting and boogie boarded in the night waves until thunder and lightning signaled for us to get out.

Volcano Number 2:
We headed for the top of our second volcano behind our 16 year old guide and his machete for simultaneous trail work/trail creating. It was five hours of easy up but sweat still flowed from every pore. For a large part of the trail we found dumb struck cows in bushes who seemed to be playing hide and seek with their owner who trotted past us on his horse many times in attempt to round them up. There were also many encounters with mosquitoes and them trying to eat us alive. They especially liked Zoe´s forehead, so I was continually slapping her across the face. The top was, as we expected, magnificent. A perfect volcanic caldera with a perfect blue green lake nestled in it. The top was also a prime view point for much of Nicaragua, and parts of El Salvador, and Honduras. Back down was a few hour stroll, but I managed to stab myself in the heal on a thorn creating a gooey blood mix in my shoe.

Abominable Managua:
We headed to the much hated Managua with high hopes that were crushed within hours. We found ourselves instantly lost and consulted our map. This proved to be useless though as there are no street signs and no one knows street names, including the big ones (pretty typical of everywhere in central america). Still, we resisted the sketchy taxis and began walking. We walked a meager two blocks and then were rescued by a missionary couple. Usually we would be cracking jokes, but they were overly helpful and led us to the exact block were we had 3 hotels to choose from. We settled and then stepped out of our home for some lunch. Within 30 seconds we were approached, offered a taxi to ten mentioned places, then marijuana, and then coke. To avoid such confrontations we stayed cooped up in our room most of the night. We fled in the morning from the god awful capital and are now in Masaya which is quite pleasant and we are offered only tasty bread off the streets, no coke.