Managua

And we're off... We've got another 3 months on our hands (our at least we keep telling ourselves this).  We're going to split 3 months between Nicaragua and Ecuador, with a brief stop in Costa Rica to see the folks ~ and likely do some laundry!  Still haven't figured out how we're going to make our way to Ecuador, but it will certainly happen as our flight home is from there on April 4th!  

This is the picture of the crazy place we stayed in Managua on our first night.  We're told it's really not a safe place after dark, and sometimes even during the day.  So when we arrived at 11pm, we decided we'd better not go walking around the streets for a hotel as is normally our style.  We typically avoid places 'highly recommended' by the guide books, but we didn't have much choice on this evening and took our chances.  This was the 'great hotel' we found ourselves in.  We've certainly been in worse, but this was certainly gave us a good laugh.  I particularily liked the odd shaped drape that didn't cover the windows.  Not sure what was going on there!  :)

 Great pool as well!

 We spent on day in Managua walking around seeing the odd sight... there wasn't a whole lot to see though, so in retrospect we could/should have given it a miss.  Especially considering we were stopped numerous times all day and warned 'this is not a safe place', 'you shouldn't be here' and 'you shouldn't walk so close to the road....'  This lake is apparently the most poluted lake in Nicaragua and its right in the middle of Managua...

 This is a crazy church... Apparently the domes (I think there are 67 of them) represent the same number of churches throughout the country; on top of apparently giving the roof strength safeguarding it from future earthquakes.  Either way it's still kinda wierd...

 Ah... everything in this city (and country for that matter) is a fotress.  Fences, walls, and the every so appealing razor wire!

 Living conditions of the poor...

 More churches...

 Presidential Palace...

And my feet in comparison to Jillenes at the end of the day after walking around Managua in flip flops, how the hell does that happen!