Our first excursion to the taboo lands of sandinistas and epicenter of the Iran–Contra affair. With the Cold War long fizzled, we found welcoming people, untouristed cities and empty beaches. And all with an ease and sense of security not often felt in Central America.
Paul and I completed a week-long circuit from colonial Granada, to the volcanoes on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua and finally to the chill Pacific coast town of San Juan del Sur, surfing capital of the world. Sad to leave the sultry tropics, we arrived home to a blizzard in wintry Maine — vowing to return again to explore more of Nicaragua.