 Welcome to Blue Ocean Studios  Around the World Jan 3, 2006
We tried to get a refund for our Taca airlines Tikal flight, but after much confusion, we discovered they are not refundable, so we're going to try to use our credit card's trip insurance for the 1st time - just hoping they dont ask for proof of sickness since we dont really have any. I'm sure Mario can take care of that if need be...
Mario negotiated his way into getting our taxi to Granada for $30 instead of the $45 that they wanted. He told them his "friends" got a taxi for only $25 :) We decided late he should have said $20. Either way, it seemed like a reasonable price for the ~45 min ride to Granada. Granada is an old colonial Spanish town on the shores of Lake Nicaragua, a huge fresh water lake spaning almost the entire width of the country. It houses a rare species of fresh water sharks (better not swim in the lake :)). It was almost considered for the site of the canal to connect the pacific and atlantic oceans, but obviously Panama was picked instead.
We decided to go walk the town a little bit and went to the Central Park where there is a beautiful orange Cathedral and other colonial looking buildings. One thing we noticed in Nicaragua compared to Guatemala, is that there's a lot more color in terms of the buildings - it really is a nice place to visit.
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Woke up this morning with no sickness, so fortunately we could continue on schedule. We grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs at the Westin and prepared to check out. One note to watch out for on some hotels (might just be the Westin Guatemala City :)), is that you really have to watch your bill. You'd think you would be able to trust a big hotel like the Westin, but there were several extra items on the bill and then there was the exchange rate scam. They priced everything in US$ but then converted to Guatemalan Quetzals with a very bad exchange rate in hopes you'd just pay in Quetzals or charge on your credit card and they would make an extra 3%. We saw through that and paid in US$, since we'll be able to get more when we're in Panama (they use US$ as currency there)! At least there was a free shuttle to the airport :) 
We got on our Copa Airlines flight and luckily we were there early because the plane left 20 minutes early! Not only was it ahead of schedule, but they also gave us a snack and drink (free) for the only 1 hr long flight to Managua. Can't see any airlines in the US doing that!
We checked into our hotel, El Club, for $45 per night, 2 nights. The Club's motto is that its "the place to see and be seen" so sounds like we're at a hip place. The restaurant/bar area is definitely really cool looking and the inside of the hotel has a nice garden area - also free internet in our room! Another important note is A/C - its extremely hot here compared to Guatemala (about 85 but verrrry humid) and more mosquitos to go along with it (Mario has already been bit 5-6 times and that's with 28% deet!!). 
We left the park and walked down to the lake front, which wasn't too exciting, although if it had been clearer we would have had a good view of the Isla de Omtepe volcano in the distance. Since we heard it wasn't good to be at the lake after dark, we didnt stay long. Although, in contrast to Guatemala, Nicaragua is claimed to be the safest country in Central America (despite it's bad rap due to the civil war in the early 90's). It's nice to feel safe again - although granted, there's still a bit of street crime - just not as severe or frequent as other Countries.
We reached our hotel just as the sun had set. Had a nice dinner at our hotel, - it's got an inviting bar and the food is pretty good - although now Mario is the one feeling sick :( I decided to play it "safe" with tomato soup but he had steak fajitas, which don't seem to be treating him too nicely right now. Another food casualty. We have booked a 4 1/2 hour kayak tour of the small islands on the lake for tomorrow morning and hopefully he will recover tonight and feel OK by the morning. Right now we're watching the Penn State Vs. Florida State bowl game on the TV and hoping for a good finish to the season, even though they're doing a pretty good job of keeping us on the edge of our seats!