Nicki in Nicaragua

Loyal blog readers know that Nicki is my go-to second photographer. She is an excellent shooter, assistant, and all-day wedding trooper. Summer is Nicki’s vacation time since she teaches photography to high school students during the school year. Even though she was working hard with me this summer, she also made some time for a vacation. She had a friend traveling in Central America, so off to Nicaragua she went to join him. I’ve asked Nicki to write a guest post to share her journey. Enjoy!

__

Hello everyone! It’s Randi’s favorite sister, Nicki! I just got back from Nicaragua with some pictures I’d like to share and since Randi’s blog is so great I was excited when she asked me to guest post.  I hope you enjoy!

Lets start with some Nicaraguan cuisine, rice and beans, fried egg, salty cheese, avocado, and of course fried plantains.  It’s called “the typical” probably because it’s the most typical breakfast.

Probably my favorite night time picture I’ve ever taken.

Just a cow driven wagon on the road..  sharing is caring.

The truck we were riding in stopped when we turned off the main road and onto a dirt road.  This guy got on.  I guess he was a friend of someone.

We were on our way to go volcano boarding.  It’s just like sled riding, but instead of snow and 20F, it’s igneous rock and around 90F. Camera on the front, a board for El Hoyo on the back.

On our way to volcano boarding, we quick stopped at an active volcano. That smoke is sulfur gas.

One of my favorites…

These are the boards we used to sled down the volcano.

This is my buddy Dave.  He’s a Giants’ fan, but I can forgive him because he spoke Spanish for me during the trip.

The streets of Leon

My favorite hostel, Lazy Bones in Leon. Look at those hammocks.

This was my favorite way to pass the time.

A lot of Nicaraguan confusion. Everyone wants our business for our bus ride across town.

We stayed at a coffee farm (Finca Magdelana) where our accommodations were $3 for the night.

 

Photo by David Wodka. After afternoons like this, I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect hammock to bring back home with me.

The finca had a pet badger.  His name was “El Diablo”–he was so great.

They also had a raccoon as a pet.  I couldn’t get over it because raccoons are certainly not viewed as pets in the USA.

See me representing the Black and Gold?!!!

The best mango I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Another night time photo… this one was during a lighting storm when the finca lost power.

Just a scorpion I (luckily) found in my hat.

Some grainy, but very very delicious Nicaraguan chocolate.

We were waiting for a “chicken bus.” Basically it’s an old and busted school bus that was shipped to Nicaragua after America was done with it. They cram three times the normal capacity of people in there and you pay about 75 cents. They keep making stops and people keep getting on. Even when you think no one else can fit, they just jam more people in.

While I was visiting Granada, the city celebrated a patron saint festival.  The town had a horse parade.

Some Nicaraguans watching all the horses walk by.  I think there were over a thousand.

We then went to see an active crater in Masaya.

You know the part in the movie Sand Lot  where the kids look into the Beast’s yard and it’s all smokey and scary?  That’s what this crater felt like.

Then we took a flashlight guided tour or the lava tubes.  Photo by…. our guide. Not bad for only having two faint flashlights.

Here’s Pittsburgh from my plane on the way home.  The bright lights on the right upper portion was the Steelers playing the Eagles in preseason.  Vick threw 3 interceptions, we destroyed them, no big deal.

I’m honored to be Randi’s very first guest blogger.  Thanks everyone for reading/looking!!!