Apoyo Lagoon or Laguna de Apoyo, not far from Granada Nicaragua, was formed 23,000 years ago when a strong volcanic explosion left an enormous hole measuring 6 km in diameter. Apoyo is conical, like an inverted volcano, 200 metres deep at its centre. Over time subterranean waters and rain filled the crater, which is surrounded by lush vegetation. I was able to dive with a local biologist named Lorenzo who showed me four types of fish that exist nowhere else on ...

 Here's a shocker for all of the God-fearing white Christians up yonder. The oldest Catholic image in the Americas was brought here by the Spaniards in 1528. It's a beautifully crafted 2.5 metre or so carving of the crucifixion. But it looks quite different hanging in the Cathedral of Leon in northern Nicaragua. It's called "El Cristo Negro" - the Black Christ.  Legend has it that the plans for the cathedral in this not so large town, in a not so l...

The man with the machete approached from the opposite direction. I looked left, right. We were on a narrow forested path with nowhere to run. Little Corn Island, long known as a port of call for Colombian drug smugglers, sits 85 km off the coast of Nicaragua in the Caribbean Sea. The guide books say Little Corn is a tropical paradise, a diving jewel. But those same guide books say that tourists should guard against armed robbery, cabin break-ins and the occasiona...

 "Eighty Cordobas is your change, sir." "Danke," I replied in German. "Bitte," The kid's eyes went wide as he looked up at me. "Sprechen sie Deutsches?" "No, solimente Ingles," I answered in Spanish. "Hablas Espanol?" he asked. "No, ich nur Englisch," I replied in German. The kid, open-mouthed, ran off to his German father, the owner of Hotel Don Alfredo, in old town Granada, and spoke in a language that sounded neither German, Spanish nor English. I felt go...

 Over the past seven days, Ellen and I have spent more time on buses than most Canadians do in their entire lives. Ellen wanted to fly from the city of David, Panama to Managua, Nicaragua. The cost was $273.00. "But we won't see the people, experience the flair," I said. She relented and is now resting irritably in our room in the beautiful old Spanish colonial town of Granada. I hope she feels better when she wakes up.  The kooky thing about flying down ...