Every Sunday is Sunday-Funday in Nicaragua...

Next on the list was Granada! There was a shuttle bus from Paradiso Hostel to the hostel Townhouse in the city of Granada which only took about half an hour, giving us the whole day to explore. Granada is a truly beautiful city, and it’s extensive colonial heritage is evident through the architecture, especially that of the buildings surrounding Plaza de la Independencia. Interestingly, the majority of Granada was burnt down in 1857 by American filibuster William Walker, and the city was later rebuilt in the old colonial style. The multicoloured shops fronts combined with the abundant leafy trees on every street corner and the white horse-drawn carriages make it my favourite city to date. We spent the afternoon visiting a chocolate factory again and again as its free rum brownies samples and rather aggressive cocoa butter arm massages were just too good to pass up.

After watching the sunset over Lago Cocibolca from the rooftop of one of the cathedrals, we wandered to the central plaza and stumbled upon a boxing match with teams from all over Central America, so we stayed to watch for a while, in the shadows of the beautiful Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral and the full moon above.

The next day was a Friday which meant it was time for a fiestaaa. Every Friday night, the Treehouse (an eco-hostel about 20 minutes out of Granada) throws a huge party in its treehouse, so we spent the day exploring Granada’s many thrift stores and relaxing in the hostel by the pool, not to mention another trip to the chocolate factory for good measure...With our shuttles booked and friends who had arrived throughout the day, we were ready, and with neon paint, a fireman’s pole and impromptu bar tending, it was a night to remember...

Granada has so much to offer which was why it was such a shame that we only had a handful of days there. One day we met up with the other volunteers and walked down to the lake which is a strange scene to behold as it seems more like a sea than a lake; its waves crash down on the sand and the lake is so big that you can’t see the other side, giving the impression that you are looking out over the ocean. It's a wonderful city to just wander around and get lost exploring, learning about its complicated history as you go.The city is known for having been the center of commerce for hundreds of years, and walking down its narrow streets lined by market stalls and bartering locals, it seems as though nothing has changed. As a result of being such a focal point of trade, it comes as no surprise that the food that can be found throughout the city is just as multicultural as its history and it is INCREDIBLE.

Soon it came time to say goodbye to Granada and move onto our next destination - the island of Ometepe. Amazingly, a friend we made was travelling with his car which made the journey so much more pleasant than it would have been on the Central American chicken buses (so thank yooou Cristian, we definitely weren’t just using you for your car I promise…).

After a kerfuffle with ferry times and an interesting encounter with a sunglasses vendor, we caught the hour long ferry from San Jorge to Moyogalpa on the island and then a shuttle to our hostel, the Lazy Crab, in Balgue. Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes in the centre of Lake Nicaragua which makes for a pretty stunning view from the ferry. The island has beautiful beaches and swimming spots, such as Ojo de Agua, a natural spring pool which originates from the river beneath the volcano Maderas. The swings and tightropes over the pools combined with addictive rum-filled coconuts meant there was endless entertainment provided by rather tipsy and emboldened locals who gave the acrobatics their best shot...

Playa Mangos was another place we spent our evenings, getting to know the staff and messing about on the rope swings. There are also waterfalls which you can either hike to or, as seems to be the fashion on Ometepe, you can access them by motorbike. My rather questionable ride on the back of one driven by a 12 year old reminded me of my host brothers back in Candelaria and their constant comments about how they were going to teach me to ride one so I’ll have to remember to take them up on that when I get home.

Most of the Central American countries are known for their cacao plantations and chocolate exports, and Nicaragua is no different. On Ometepe, hostel El Pital - otherwise known as the chocolate factory - has an organic cacao farm and you can take an in depth tour of it and learn all about the harvesting and production processes which is fascinating, and the chocolate is to die for. One of my favourite things about the island though was the sky at night. The stars were incredible; thousands of them litter the sky, almost as though someone had flicked the end of a paintbrush. Nighttime walks between hostels after visiting friends or coming back from the beach after a busy day were some of my favourite moments from our time on the island which had quickly become a very special place to me.

As always, it was sad to leave Ometepe but we received a rather sweet sendoff as one of the managers at Playa Mango offered to drive us to the ferry port in his pickup truck and waved us off onto the next leg of the journey - San Juan del Sur!

San Juan del Sur is a coastal town on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and is known for its beaches and The Mirador del Cristo de la Misericordia - one of the tallest statues of Jesus Christ in the world - which looks out from the northern point of the bay. We stayed at Hola Ola hostel which was wonderful and the staff were great, and we were greeted by a friend we met in Guatemala who was now volunteering at the hostel which was a lovely surprise. I have nothing bad to say about the booming coastal town; the sunsets were incredible, the people were kind, the food was great, the flow and feel was just right. A perfect place to take a moment to step back and realise how fortunate I am to have experienced this with some of the people I love most in the world. It was here where we reconnected with the other volunteers as we were planning to celebrate Sunday Funday altogether, and I truly have no words to describe that weekend - it was absolutely insane, but being with some of the best people in one of the best places means you can’t really go wrong, can you.

Yet, like anything, our time in San Juan del Sur couldn’t last forever, so after an emotional goodbye to friends who had become family, we bundled into a taxi and made our tearful way to the Costa Rican border.

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