Epilogue: Reflections

Notes from the long journey home

Our month travelling around Nicaragua had come to an end. We packed our bags in the Managua airport hotel and embarked on the long journey home.

There were two three hour flights followed by a six hour night flight. With plenty of time between connections we had no stressful mad dashes through airports this time. Quite the opposite this time. We sat for up to 4 hours at a time playing cards, eating thick caramel popcorn and trying to doze. The girls were great and remained in good spirits giddy at the thought of watching movies on the plane into the wee hours.

Sitting at Newark airport gate 34, with the various adventures fresh in our heads, I asked everyone to pick their top highlight of the trip.

• Iona: No brainer, first to answer and immediately went for the horse drawn carriage tour around Granada City.

• Me: Easily the day on Hermosa Beach surfing in decent Pacific waves, eating fresh ceviche and playing silly games in the sand.

• Jo: Really deliberated but when pushed chose diving off the platform in Laguna De Apoyo

• Rowdy: Ziplining through the cloud forest on Mumbacho Volcano

When we finally boarded the final flight bound for Edinburgh, everyone was burst. After take off Jo fashioned a couple of beds for the girls and they got a few hours sleep. Spot Iona's bunk for the trip:

A Beautiful Country

Nicaragua has left a very positive impression on me. First and foremost the scenery is spectacular. The volcanoes, cloud forest, pristine beaches, tranquil lakes and secluded islands all offer an incredible variety of nature to be explored.

There's a lot packed into a relatively small country. In fact most of our adventure was within a vibrant 100km strip down the west coast of the country.

It is a very safe country. We did not feel uncomfortable even once in our whole month and did not hear any stories from locals about dangerous areas. I found myself wandering down any small road or lane that looked appealing. This combination of scenery, size and safety makes Nicaragua an ideal location to travel with young kids.

In terms of the culture, Nicaragua struck me as a modest but proud country. Houses are basic and agriculture is the backbone of the economy. The people seem happy and friendly, if only my Spanish was stronger so I could have engaged on a deeper level and learned more from the folk we met.

They confidently demonstrate pride in their country and their political affiliations with flags and murals draped through all the towns and lining the motorways. A big part of this may be down to the history of revolution dating back to 1519 when the Spanish first invaded. For centuries, the Nicaraguan people have taken to arms when needed to rise up against the Spanish, then British, then American and finally the Nicaraguan Somoza dictatorship.

That's a Wrap

Now all that remains is to wrap up these posts. I'd like to finish right back where I started and direct it at our two little legends, Rowdy and Io.

I'm writing this travel blog for you two. I know you are both young, but I hope you read this and it brings back fond memories of the country, the people and our adventures.

Before you were born, your mum and I were lucky enough to explore some exotic locations. Jo cycled for two years through the Americas from Canada right down to Patagonia and hopefully she'll talk about that one day, while I lived and worked in India, Hong Kong and Denmark before settling back home in Scotland like our native salmon. Seeing the world and experiencing other cultures is fascinating, humbling and helps you develop as an individual. Maybe our travels together will give you a taste for getting outside your comfort zone and learning about the world.

The excitement of travelling always comes with a few bumps along the way given the unfamiliar circumstances and pressure cooker of spending every waking moment with the same wee crew. On this trip you guys were so resilient. Whether it was 26 hours travel with almost no sleep and a couple of manic sprints through airports, an ear infection with an emergency doctor appointment or trailing round a humid city in 30 degrees heat, you guys just kept on going. Yes there were moans and groans, but in general you two were a lot of fun to travel with and it looked like you had a blast.

If I can give one single piece of advice, it is to learn a language. Jo managed to really connect and engage with Nicaraguans everywhere we went. Speaking the native language opens doors and transforms the experience.

I know I’m missing out on this front. I have achieved a very basic level of Spanish, but Jo continues to inspire me to keep on learning. Here she is bantering with a tour guide in Spanish about how to get our dog friend Shaunty out of the jeep before we head up the Mombacho volcano.

Traveling is important, but it can be expensive and challenging to make the time, so we never take it for granted. Hopefully you guys will get plenty of opportunities to see the world as you grow up, but not too soon, there's plenty more we have to do together before you fly the coop.

Nicaragua was our first attempt as a family at exotic long distance travel and you guys can clearly handle it, so hopefully things keep going well for us and we can start planning our next adventure soon. The land of lakes and volcanoes will be very hard to beat.