Click on the links below for details of our trip and a photo gallery

Huge storm clouds swirled below us in the sunset as we flew around Cuba on our way from Miami to Managua. After a long flight from London we were now on a packed plane on our way to Nicaragua. The weather below us was a warning that our holiday in Central America was unlikely to be all blue skies and sunshine - in the mountains the region can expect around 2000mm of rain per year and we are travelling in the rainy season. In fact it is warm and dry as our driver for the next nine days, Bayado, ferries us to the hotel. The first thing you see in Managua, even before you land, are long lines of colourful, illuminated, fake trees - "Arbres de la Vida" - apparently a gift from Hugo Chavez.

We have no time to explore Managua as we are heading north first thing the next morning. After a breakfast that includes rice and beans (Gallo Pinto) - the National favourite - we drive out along the South side of Lake Managua towards the Northern Hills. We are on the Transamerican Highway and the road is busy with huge trucks, cars, motorbikes and horses. The buses - mostly recycled US school buses by the look of it - are particularly colourful. As we turn the end of the lake the road starts to climb. In a while we are over 1100m above sea level and the scenery is stunning - forests, hills and villages.

In Jinotega where we stop for a break we get our first feel of Nicaraguan towns - mostly one storey buildings, a church and main square/park - usually painted in bright colours with children playing and people selling snacks or just chatting. This area was in the thick of the conflict, first with the FSLN using the mountains to attack the Samoza regime and then by the US backed Contras fighting the Sandinista government. Now all is peaceful and only murals of guerillas and the odd bullet hole in the brickwork provide reminders of the war.

We chose Jaguar Lodge as a friend had stayed there and knew the Swiss owners. It turns out to be more suited to hardened ecologists or wildlife fanatics than first timers like ourselves. Very remote - 5km along dirt roads past ridge-top villages - and pretty basic with simple wooden cabins (below) and an eating area open to the elements. The rainy season doesn't help either - the rain drums noisily on the tin roofs and the mud in the forest makes walking tougher despite the wellies that we gratefully borrow.

The Flor de Cana rum after dinner and a good breakfast loosen us up and we spend an hour by the reception watching hummingbirds, tanagers, chats and warblers coming to the bird feeders. We become familiar with these beautiful birds as we continue our trip. Wilmer, the local guide, takes us walking in the forest - the path winds through the trees and lianas. Steep climbs and descents with a few open stretches through coffee fields. On the way back we find a sloth clinging to the top of a Secropia tree among the coffee bushes. A good introduction to the Central American forest if a bit basic.

Once we are back on the main road the going is pretty smooth. Long stretches of road are bricked - apparently Samoza had a brick factory - the Nicaraguan roads are considered some of the best in Central America. More estates, horses and forest until we reach Esteli for petrol and a visit to a cigar factory. Nicaraguan cigars are highly rated. A smooth, cigar smoking manager shows us round the sweatshop. Teams work in pairs to roll the leaves and wrap them before they are finished in another room a packaged in a third. At the back of the deep warehouse other women devein the leaves - some light and others darker and stronger.

On down long straight roads towards the coast. We stop in San Jacinto, between a line of volcanoes, to visit a bubbly mud field. This is tourist central today with coaches from a visiting cruise ship.

On to Leon for lunch. First impressions are of a grid of streets with run-down, single storey buildings, some brightly coloured, with tile or tin rooves. We then realise that, like a Southern Spanish town, the exteriors conceal courtyards and inner gardens even in the hippyish place that we found for lunch. Here the salads were good but they had no beer - an obliging waiter goes out on his bike to find some for us! We soon discover that it is hard to have a 'quick lunch' in Nicaragua. Perhaps this is a good sign and the food is freshly made.

Leon is famous for its churches - from the Cathedral in the main square to 12 or more fine colonial churches spread across town. Our hotel, a converted convent, is next to one of the oldest - San Francisco. La Recolección is also spectacular - built in 1786 with a Mexican facade and neo-classical, mahogany interior. Like Granada, Leon was sacked a few times by pirates but seems to have rebuilt successfully.

A surprise was the Museo Ortiz Guardia - two fabulous houses on either sides of a street with a great collection of Latin American art hung around the many courtyards and rooms. Huge modern tryptychs and abstracts hang alongside magical realism, nudes, brightly coloured naive art and even some early European church pieces from the 15C. Some good modern sculpture too plus installations and multi-media. A stunning collection.

The Museo Ruben Dario (1867-1916) is located in the house of Nicaragua's most famous poet. It includes furniture, books and photographs and also provides some insights into how one of these fine houses would have looked in the early 20th century.

We drive to the coast on long straight roads, trying to escape the rain. School children are getting off the bus in Poneloya as we drive through, stopping by a beach restaurant in Las Penitas. Frigate birds, dogs and vultures, dark sand, fishermen with their catch, boys diving for crabs and big Pacific waves. At the local restaurant we watch beach life and enjoy a fine lunch of grilled fish and Jalopena sauce.

Leon has some good bars and restaurants too. The highlight was a Mexican bar next to our hotel where the jolly host mixed us some mean Caiparinyas in their upstairs room. Next we are on to Grenada and the south of Nicaragua.