The kitchen started cooking breakfast at 6am and we were eating not long after. The standard Nicaraguan fare of Gallo Pinto with scrambeld eggs on the side for David and a healthier fruit bowl for Maria, all washed down with some very good coffee. Last night we had arranged to go on an early kayaking trip on Lake Nicaragua to get to Istian River with a bit of wildlife spotting thrown in. Our guide Simeon got the two double kayaks ready while we finished off brea...

For the second time in a week, we were up and out without breakfast for a walk across town to the bus station. The chicken bus to Rivas was the first of many trips today. The bus was okay although there wasn't much in the way of padding on the seats. As we slowed to enter the market area of Rivas, a bunch of taxi drivers jumped on the bus and started harrasing the tourists about taking them to San Jorge, where we needed to get to next. They told everyone that the...