Nestled among the mountainous hillsides of the central highlands near the Honduran border, Estelí feels like an honest blue-collar city, a sports town with devoted fans, a place where locals worship and shop the huge Saturday produce market, where students learn and where expats can buy sunscreen and lattes alike. Dotted with language schools, tobacco … Continue reading
Located on the Pan-American Highway about 90 miles north of capital city Managua, Estelí is Nicaragua’s third largest city, and one of four cities in Nicaragua where Habitat focuses it’s mission. Surrounded by forested mountains, Estelí has a pleasant climate most of the year, and we were grateful for it. A slight breeze and cooler … Continue reading
Habitat for Humanity began working in Nicaragua in 1984. Since then, Habitat Nicaragua has served more than 5,000 families. Astonishingly about 75% of Nicaragua’s population is under age 40. This presents some challenges for the country, but also ground level opportunities to have a positive impact on future generations. With the help of a local NGO … Continue reading
Over the course of nearly 24 hours everyone on the team, all 16 volunteers, arrived in Managua – safe and sound, even if some were short on sleep. On Sunday morning, after a thoughtful, and very thorough hour long orientation by Habitat Nicaragua staff, it was time for the three hour drive to Estelí (pronounced … Continue reading
Midweek my kids had a day off school. Rather than sit around the house and ‘relax’ (aka ‘do nothing’ in kid speak) I wanted to take a road trip. Initially my plan was to visit both the Maryland State House and the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, less than an hour drive from … Continue reading
At the invitation of a friend, “Want to go to the rodeo?” I was booking my flight and searching for a hotel for a long weekend in Houston. I mean, let’s be honest. Texas is pretty much a country unto itself nearly qualifying as international. Plus, this was a golden opportunity to visit the world’s … Continue reading
To immerse oneself in history is to cultivate an appreciation for the past while broadening our perspective of the present. Travel allows us to explore the world in this unique way, and most of us don’t need to venture too far afield to do it. Always up for a road trip, I planned this 3-day … Continue reading
[BACK TO ATHENS] [BACK TO SANTORINI] [BACK TO AMORGOS] 2 NIGHTS IN MYKONOS On the glitzy party island, I really wanted to stay in town to be sure we could walk to most of the things we wanted to see because we were there only a short time and cabs are in short supply. There … Continue reading
[BACK TO ATHENS] [BACK TO SANTORINI] 90 MINUTES IN NAXOS After an incredible breakfast with a view to match, we bid Santorini farewell to catch the ferry to Amorgos. We pre-booked first-class tickets on the Sea Jet. When you get to the port you’ll need to check in at the Sea Jet desk and use … Continue reading
[BACK TO ATHENS] 1 NIGHT IN SANTORINI Because we were only spending one night, I knew I wanted a room on the caldera in Oia since that’s where you want to be for the sunset. This really helped to focus the hotel search. We splurged on a luxurious room with a caldera view, fabulous breakfast … Continue reading
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