Flor de Sacuanjoche
The Flor de Sacuanjoche (a frangipani) is the national flower of Nicaragua. The trees flower around May each year and I finally saw my first tree in full bloom on Isla San Fernando in the Solentiname Archipeligo. Love the smell!

The Flor de Sacuanjoche (a frangipani) is the national flower of Nicaragua. The trees flower around May each year and I finally saw my first tree in full bloom on Isla San Fernando in the Solentiname Archipeligo. Love the smell!

Stayed at the Hotel Sábalos for 2 nights on my way back up the river to San Carlos. I highly recommend it if you are going to stay at Boca de Sábalos – Maricela is wonderful and friendly, first warm shower I’ve had in 2 weeks, the fried fish and the pancakes are amazing and…
One of the key things I wanted to do while in Estelí was visit Don Alberto Gutiérrez, a bit of a recluse who has spent the last 40 years carving all sorts of designs into the stones on his farm in the Tisey-Estanzuela Nature Reserve just outside of town. Once again, I arranged a day trip through Treehuggers, and…
Another thing I love to do while travelling is try the local dishes of the country I’m visiting. Nicaragua has quite a few of these (and I’ve tried almost all of them) but the specialty of Matagalpa in the northern highlands is the Güirila. There are several places to buy Güirilas, including some restaurants, but most people simply…
After another week in León (how I love that place!) I started heading towards El Salvador. Although I’m not a beach person, I decided to spend a couple of nights at Rancho Esperanza in Jiquilillo. It is basically a surf spot and a gateway to the Padre Ramos Reserve – one of the most important…
With Katrina and Daniel – a couple I met yesterday on the NicaAsí Cooking Tour – we decided to tackle the Vía Vía trivia quiz last night. It was good fun hanging out with a bunch of new people, and lasted longer than any other pub quiz I’ve ever done! It began an hour late (about 9:30pm) and…
Having hung out in León for more than 2 weeks, I feel like I can weigh into the “where to eat” dilemma with my 6 top eats in León. These are unashamedly influenced by my love of a good curry and wanting something different to normal Nicaraguan cuisine (rice, beans and corn) after 3 or…