Leon

We arrived in Leon one day later than expected. Leon is an old city, very safe to walk about, but not properly maintained. The pavements are all broken with gaping holes able to break an ankle or leg and very dirty with rubbish lying everywhere.
A guided walking tour of the city in the afternoon allowed us to visit the famous Metropolitan Cathedral in Leon. The whole cathedral is made without any steel or cement. The structure is made from lime, egg shells and egg yolks and sand. The cathedral has withstood every earthquake since it was built in the 1600's.

The most amazing this was that we climbed up inside the church and were allowed to stand on the roof!

We were able to see the whole of Leon from the roof as well as the surrounding volcanoes. This is the Momotombo Volcano, and as you can see very active.

We also visited the local undercover market. Here we saw the largest papayas we have ever seen.

Danny took me to get my hand x-rayed (after my experience with the howler monkeys) at the local hospital. This was a very interesting experience. We lined up with all the locals at the hospital emergency. Not clean and some very unwell people seeking help. However, everyone was dealt with quickly and seen very soon. My camera was confiscated from me before I could register. Anyway, I was lead upstairs to the x-ray department, had my hand x-rayed. The image was sent to the orthopedic surgeon and a few minutes later, he confirmed that I had not factured my hand but had probable damaged the tendon in my thumb. It is still very painful! All medical treatment in Nicuragua is free. Amazing!
Early next morning we were taken to a small seaside town Las Penitas beach. Mostly the beachfront properties are owned by Italians. Here we caught a open boat to visit one of the very important nature reserves of Nicaragua. This small buffer acts as a defence against hurricanes for the small local indigenoue villagers that live behind this reserve. They are the custodians of the reserve and maintain the cleanliness if the area. It is really beautiful mangrove area to visit.

Here is a pelican that we sighted on our journey.

Isla Juan Venado Reserve is on an island within the mangrove. It is here, that for the past 35 a local indigenous women has saved turtle eggs in an attempt to prevent the extinction of turtles.

These are Olive Ridley Turtle hatchlings, due to be released at night to avoid decimation by birds of prey during the day.
The only problem is that within the village the rubbish is aweful so the turtles are likely to eat the plastic and die from hunger! There is little thought here about either over fishing or just dropping your rubbish wherever you are, much if which is plastic.

This El Convento, where we stayed a beautiful hotel in an old convent. The air conditioners were a problem. In the first room we were given, the air conditioner was producing freezing cold air along with a constant stream of water, flooding thevfloor of the room. The second room we were given, after we reported the problem, had an air conditioner whose fan worked, but not the cooling part, so the room was steamier than outside in the corridor.