Whew! Getting to Nicaragua from El Salvador, via Honduras, was a long, hard day: twelve hours of travelling, five busses, one cab, and two sets of border immigration officials. This is the first time I've been in three different countries in the same day.

My first stop was Estelí in north-central Nicaragua. This area of Nicaragua sided with the rebels during the war. On the side of a building downtown there is a mural of struggling workers that still has bullet holes in it. I also found a small art gallery with some excellent paintings.

Next I came to Matagalpa. The mountains around here are beautifully green. The town is in a valley and the houses line the hillsides—it reminds me of Guanajuato in Mexico. Carlos Fonseca, founder of the Sandanista rebel movement, was born here.

Wow, the rainy season has definitely started. It has rained every day for the last ten days with no end in sight.

From the northern highlands, I came south to the capital, Managua. I walked around the area that was hit by the big quake in '72. Now, most of the central area is just empty lots. I remember seeing the story on the news (when I was 10). We kept hearing about it for days so it's kinda weird to actually be here. Other than that, it is an ordinary big, dirty capital city.

One thing not destroyed by the quake was the Palacio National which now houses a small art collection—wow, great stuff.

I also looked at some 6000 year old footprints. They were made in some soft clay by people, children, and animals running from a volcanic eruption. The volcanic ash preserved the footprints which were uncovered during constuction work. As tough as life is for these people now, it must have been even harder back then. But some things never change—earthquakes and volcanic eruptions still happen in this part of the world.

After Managua, I came to León. This is the intellectual center of the country. It has lots of beautiful colonial architecture and a huge cathedral. The people here seem to have a young, vibrant spirit about them; I like it.

I took a hike up a nearby hill to the abandoned fortress El Fortín. The views of the several volcanos surrounding the city are magnifiscent.

Came to Granada on the shore of the large Lake Nicaragua. This is a nice colonial town with lots of gringos—much like a down-scale version of Antigua, Guatemala. I toured a museum which had some primitive, humanoid statues carved from rock. They reminded me of the Easter Island statues.

Made the four-hour ferry ride to Ometepe island. The island is two big volcanos ringed by small, black sand beaches. It is the world's largest island in fresh water. The pace of life is slow and I saw lots of colorful birds and dung beetles rolling balls of dung thru the sand.

Next I went to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast. It's a pleasant little beach town with pellicans diving into the surf and fishing boats anchored in the harbour.

I crossed into Costa Rica from San Juan and made it as far south as Liberia along the Interamericana. So far I like Costa Rica; it is wealthier, more organized, and cleaner than the countries I've been in during the last four months. It is also more expensive.

After Liberia, I made a one-night stop-over in Tilarán. I was fortunate to be there durning the town's anual festival. A carnival was set up in the church-yard and I rode on a couple of spin-you-around rides and ate hot, sugar-coated churros. Mmmm...doughnuts....

From Tilarán I went up into the mountains to the national reserve called Santa Elena. I walked thru the reserve and saw hummingbirds, caterpillars, and moss-covered trees—a very nice hike. I also went on a "canopy tour" in which we became one-man cable cars and rode along cables strung thru the treetops, sometimes over very deeps valleys. It was occationally scary and always exhilerating.

From Santa Elena, I came to La Fortuna to see the Arenal volcano. It was too cloudy to see the flowing lava, but I did get to bathe in some hot nearby springs.

Then I came to San Jose, the capital. I spent the last week living with a family in San Jose. Victor, the dad of the family was a student of my uncle in Oregon many years ago in an exchange program. They are a very nice family with three kids, a dog that barks too much, and a parrot that loves to talk and sing. I started teaching the parrot to whistle the Beatle's Yellow Submarine.

Victor works in the American Embassy and he brouht me in for a look around. I saw the Voice of America being broadcast, the Drug Enforcement Agency office, and met with many people who represent US interests in Costa Rica. It is always interesting to see how your government spends your money.

Made an overnight stop in San Isidro on my way south to the Osa penninsula. This is a pleasant little city with the usual tree-lined park in front of the church and lots of happy, busy Ticos (Costa Ricans) doing their business.

I did a two day trek into the Corcovado national park on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica. I hiked for a full day in and then out the next day. Most of the walking was along the beach, but I went thru the jungle a few times too. There were monkeys lounging in the treetops, a big tapir strolling along the beach, flocks of scwalking scarlet macaws, packs of foraging coatamundis, big lizzards, and irridescent blue butterflies. I even rescued a sea turtle which I found flipped on its back. It was a great two-day trek!

Did an overnight stop in the city of Neily. It is a few miles from the Panama border.

Then I came to the city of David. I have never seen my name written all over town so many times...it's kinda cool. The border crossing was easy and I found Rambutans! I first encountered them in Asia. Here they call them 'mamones'. They are bright red, golfball sized pods with big yellow hairs all over, and they are the best fruit in the world! They taste a bit like lychee, only better.

From David, I came up into the highlands to Boquete. This is a nice little town with a view of Panama's one volcano. I walked into the mountains around town and saw pretty beetles and birds.

Ahhh....Panamá City, I finally made it! This is going to be the last stop on this long trek. Panamá City is the most modern, wealthy capital I've seen on this trip. There are high-rise apartments and office buildings; the shops are full of techno gagets; there are peoples from all over the world living and visiting here.

I have taken it easy here, just relaxing, going to some movies, and walking around the old part of the city. I did, of course, do a boat trip thru the Panamá Canal. What a fantastic engineering marvel it is, especially considering it was build with the relatively primative tools of the 1910s. I was impressed by how quickly these huge ships can get thru the locks and the Canal.

So now it's time to end this journey and this Journal. Tomorrow, I fly back to LA to start over again. The trip took 10 and 1/2 months and cost about $9000. Yeah....it was definitely worth it!