The color comes from the different types of minerals found at these sites. I brought home several yellow rocks for my dad. I will tell you about my rock stories later...But the colors... cool right? or Hot rather... sorry that was lame:)

Los Hervideros de San Jacinto, are a nest of boiling fumaroles fueled by the underground geothermal activity.
"Fumaroles are openings in the Earth’s crust, often in the neighborhood of volcanoes like Telica, which emit steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrochloric acid and hydrogen sulfide. The name solfatara is given to fumaroles that emit sulfurous gases, like at San Jacinto. Use extreme caution, as these escaping gases may make breathing difficult. From the perspective of groundwater, fumaroles could be described as a hot spring that boils off all its water before the water reaches the surface. They may occur along tiny cracks or long fissures, in chaotic clusters or fields (as at San Jacinto), and on the surfaces of lava flows and thick deposits of pyroclastic flows."

 

There were beautiful murals all over Leon. Some were art for the sake of art and most had political agendas.

 

The group...minus a few I think...We look happy right?
Leon, Nicaragua

 

 

Like a big group of friggin' tourist...Leon, Nicaragua
This 18th century cathedral is the oldest one in Central America.

After an early morning hike to look at some pretty awesome pieces of petrified wood we traveled on to the city of Leon. Beautiful! This is a picture of the cathedral. We only go to hang around inside for about 20 mins because it was closing for siesta time.

 

A typical breakfast in Nicaragua: gallopinto, eggs, and avocados(which I usually stole off everyone's plates) and yummy strong caffe con leche

 

5:30 am early morning swim near the place we stayed the first night. It was pretty once you swam out to the middle but more or less was a retention lake... Surprise visits from a local cow was entertaining. What was not entertaining? The fact that the place we were staying ran out of water.... so no washing off the scum. oh well.

 
My first serious bug bite of the trip, this really hurt (btw: I photoshoped it to make it look gross) I wake up from our outside mattress adventure, "ouch.....Oh my...ouch....OH MY GOD....SON OF A BITCH WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT....MY LEG IS ON FIRE...OUCH!" This was my reaction the the leaf cutting ant the crawled into my be and bit me....

 
This was the first little primitive place we stayed. It really wasn't that bad. I was just excited to be in another country. Excited about experiencing something new and different. The bugs dive bombing into my food was not cool, but everything else was fine. After many rounds of Truth or Dare, Never have I ever, and Spin the bottle... we were out of rum and decided to call it a night. First me and Stacy tried to sleep in Hammocks outside, that didn't work.... so we tried sleeping inside like everyone else... nope too hot... so we pulled a mattress outside and finally got some shut eye. This is a shot of us waking up drunk from the activities from the night before.

 
We left the airport packed into a tiny van al la Sardines. We were transported to the car rental place to be introduced to the trucks and vans that would be taking us on rocky roads and steep mountains. Something that aggravated me the first minute our group arrived is how they expected for the guides to do everything for them. I bet there were are few who never lifted their suit case once except to put it on the scale to check in at the airport.
This is Stacy Poulk, our driver for the trip. This girl can talk. I am sure if you placed her in front of a brick wall she would end up talking to it. I love her. She has a high tolerance for annoying people. That's a good quality.

 

Outside the airport in Managua. The heat was dehydrating the minute the air hits your face. The city smelled like burnt ground beef. Buses riding by filled with too many people, it looked as if they would spill out. This city had a lot of character, something raw and special that cities in the states are lacking.

 

My first breathtaking view of Lake Nicaragua

Am back from Nicaragua, I should try to sum up my trip, but if I tried to do this without being negative that would be impossible. And I hate being negative about anything….I enjoyed the two weeks explore this country’s natural resources that really pull a lot of people for eco-tourism.
Ecotourism in Nicaragua continues to grow as tourists become more comfortable with visiting the country - especially after its turbulent history. It will also improve along with the country's tourist infrastructure. The up-side is that Nicaragua's natural areas remain fairly untouched and are thus ideal for ecotourism in Nicaragua. Interestingly, new species are still being discovered in pristine areas. We had a tour guide to help point out the important species of the locations we ventured to. His name was Erik Van der Something…. A German botanist, living in Nicaragua, working at the Ave Maria College and married to a very young very pretty Nicaraguan woman, Yvette, who also is a botanist. She was very outgoing and energetic, and I thought Erik was very intelligent but creepy. An interest love story I would like to know more about. But I try to dig up the dirt but no one really seemed to know how they had met, whether she had been a student at the college. But one clue of why they seemed to be a match is that they co-wrote a book on the orchids of Nicaragua together. They are both botanist who specialize in orchids. Okay, sorry for the tangent. Moreover, traveling to the areas where you can spot the specialized fauna were always out of the way and the locations where always quite primitive, but I believe in the upcoming years being able to travel to the areas without guides will become a realization. Nicaragua is starting to realize that tourists do want to come to their country, so they are trying to make it easier to enjoy their natural resources.
Nicaragua is a country of great biodiversity - mostly due to its excellent geographic position. Within the boundaries of the country, you will find Central America's biggest rain forests, the dry Pacific Coast and the wet Atlantic areas as well as mountains and volcanoes. This great range of geological features provides an abundance of different habitats in a relatively compact area. From rain forest and dry tropical forests to savanna-type plains and aquatic habitats, Nicaragua attracts a variety of wildlife. Without a doubt, Nicaragua's biome diversity is perfect for Ecotourism.