Yesterday was Charlotte's special day as we celebrated her 40th Birthday! The day started with the giving of gifts and a wonderful breakfast of homemade granola (made by me). 

We then headed to Hostel Paradiso on Laguna Apoyo (the caldera). We timed the weather perfectly and had an excellent time in between storms. We played in the lake, did some canoeing and enjoyed a very nice lunch. In the afternoon I made a wonderful cake which we all enjoyed eating. 

We have just come home after spending the morning on a boat trip around some islands that are in Lake Nicaragua near Granada. It was a very lovely and relaxing way to start a Wednesday morning. Our boatman, Marlon (not the one from Casares), gave us a very good tour. Many of the islands are privately owned and people have built houses or hotels on them; a couple had restaurants. It was interesting to see the mix of opulence and poverty, as some islands had very grand houses built on them, and the poverty of those that have been inhabited by fishing families for generations. 

We also noticed the impact that the lack of tourism is having on this area. Like Boquita and Masaya volcano, the whole area has been deployed to a high standard for tourists, but yet again the footfall just isn't obviously abundant. There were lots of boats in dock, but hardly any customers.

After this we headed back into Granada for our third foray and a quick look around. We had a bite to eat before doing the obligatory Pali shop and heading back to the finca.   

Friday night was another dream come true as Harold took us up to look into Masaya volcano. On the way we stopped off at the mirador in Catarina where we got another view of Laguna de Apoyo. We could see Granada across the other side of the crater. Mombacha also looked very majestic in the waning evening light. Then it was off to the main event.

On Thursday we hopped into Michael's tuk-tuk and headed off to the market town of Masaya for the morning. This place is famous for its massive market and, not quite as massive, tourist artisan market. I reckon you could buy almost any necessity in either market. We, however, just bought a bag.

On Tuesday we struck out for Granada for a second time. We called upon our trusted and, more importantly, reliable tuk-tuk driver Michael to drop us off in the city. This time we headed to the area of the municipal market and then headed back towards the main square where the cathedral is. After exploring this area a bit more we then headed back to the market area to have a bite in the Banana Burger cafe, which I had seen on the Long Way Up and wanted to check out. The market was vibrant and gave us an authentic taste of life in the city. The food in the cafe was delicious! 

Monday was Isabella's 5th Birthday. We had a quiet day on the finca, opening presents and going to the pool in the morning and in the afternoon we had a small pinata party, where her Spider-Man pinata (which she and Posy loved a lot) was smashed to bits with a stick - fun for the whole family. 

We arrived at Finca Madinina, near Diriomo, on Sunday afternoon. Our Casares neighbour Rosalia and her friend took us to Pali so we could do a food shop, found an ATM that worked for us and even bought us lunch, which was a lovely surprise, on the way to bringing us here.

This place is really lovely and luxurious, especially compared to our last casa. It is a small fruit farm run by Marc, who is great. It is really safe and peaceful here. We have a month to relax and explore the surrounding area. 

We have an amazing view of Mombacha volcano in the distance. 

Not only was Thursday Star Wars day, but it was also Posy's second birthday. We started the day by popping over the road to our neighbour's house for breakfast and ended it with a pinata party with the caretaker family here at the casa.   

It has been a very sedate week here, mostly due to the climate as it is very humid currently. The rains started on Sunday night with the most spectacular storm; the rain was literally lashing the house sideways as the wind was so powerful, the lightening lit up the sky and the thunder was ear shattering. Amazingly the kids slept through the whole thing. 

Magdalena decided that she wanted to take us to the river at Rio La Flor on Thursday. We set off with her, Marlito and Michelle in the morning along the cobbled road to this small village on the edge of the river. This is where Marlon's family live and we got to meet some of them. It was very interesting to see another part of Nicaragua and to see how people there live. Again, like Casares and La Boquita, Rio La Flor was completely different from anything we have seen so far in this country; we got a better insight into the poverty here, but also the benefits of taking pleasure from a more simplistic life.         

As Grandma wanted to celebrate the girls' birthdays while she was here, we held a small birthday party for them on Wednesday. There were balloons and a cake. Grandma bought each of the girls a bag, which they have been using as school bags.

Monday was a bit of a busy day for us. We decided to jump on a local chicken bus and head down the road to La Boquita, which translates to Little Mouth. We also took Michelle with us and she made sure that we got on the correct buses.

La Boquita was an interesting and, for us, slightly strange place as it seems to have been solely developed for tourists. The whole beach area was just restaurants and bars with a single hotel. The 'town' also had a gate at the top of the road and this made the whole place feel a bit like a theme park. A little further from the gate and up a small hill was a town that we assume was the proper La Boquita. 

It has been another week of playing on the beach and in the pool. Patricia has spent her time trying to identify the local birds and attempting to work out the high and low tides. However, the latter has been massively hindered by her ability to forget when the high tide was the previous day; well it keeps her occupied and out of trouble and us entertained. 

Marlon and Magdalena have been looking after us and their kids have been playing with ours. Isabella and Posy love their new friends.

On Wednesday Harold took us for an explore of Diriamba, which is the city up the road from Casares where we are staying. We also needed to buy some 'essential' items for the house to make our lives a bit easier. 

Diriamba is the main hub for this area and sports a very impressive clock tower and cathedral. It was interesting to explore the streets and the market as it is not a touristy place at all and so offered an authentic look at local life.

Personally I was loving all the tuk tuks buzzing around.