Welcome to the hottest part of Central America, a country where the sand even sweats! Despite being firmly established as a tourist hotspot (that bloody Gringo Trail again) we loved our time here. Whether it's adrenaline fuelled volcano boarding, colonial city exploring or taking in great waves Nicaragua will not disappoint. 

Small and easy to travel through you'll want more days than you think, and you're bound to meet endless legends to share in the extremes of drinking, moving at 100% and stopping everything to chill the f**k out.

Here's our Nic-ar-ag-uah hotspots:

• Nothing but Nicaragua
• Volcano boarding #likeaboss
• Sherpa walks on water

Currency: Nicaraguan Cordoba - AUD$100 - NIO$2,285

Tally:

• Beds - 6
• Chicken buses - 9
• Chickens on said buses - 4-12 (difficult to know where they're in a  canvas bag under a bus seat!)
• Waves caught - 31
• Tsunami warnings endured - 1
• Hurricanes slept through - 1
• Average price of dinner in San Juan del Sur - $3.25
• Highest temperature - 42C (Leon)

What we missed:

The Corn Islands. Dangling off the Caribbean coast are The Corn Islands, a diver's paradise. A day of bus rides and a ferry that only departs unreliable once a week put this little gem out of reach for us.

Instagram: @thelisaphillips #somedaysherpa