Day 1: Granada, Lake Nicaragua and Pan-Land

Our first full day of our expedition started with a morning church service in Granada.

The view from my seat.  The best view I have ever had in a church.

The first minister, the grandson.  The woman on the right is translating for us.
The second minister, the father, did not speak.  But the third, the grandfather, did. 

At the end of the service, we were invited to the front and the congregation prayed for us and then came to the front to personally wish us luck.

After the service, the children were very excited to get their pictures taken, especially with a guy with such a big heart.

The children left in the church truck. 

After church, we stopped at the Granada town square to have a quick lunch.  We were immediately surrounded by crowds wanting to sell us all sorts of stuff, but the group did well to say "no, gracias."

The inside of a very large Catholic church.

One of the vendors.  Notice the child sleeping under the cart.

Once we finished lunch, we had 20 minutes or so to look around, and then we were off to Lake Nicaragua for our boat tour.

The man we rented the boats from made me think of the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island".

Our boat crew.  The man in the white pants at the back was a great guide despite his limited English.  More on that later.

We visited a monkey island where 3 different Nicaraguan monkey species live, including one they call Michael Jackson.  We tried to coax him down for a closer photo by singing "Billie Jean", but no luck.

Some of the girls decided to sit up front for the ride back.

Our guide (I can't remember his name right now, but I am sure the girls can tell me) made a special effort to get the girls some local flowers.  He called this one a banana flower as it looked like a banana before he peeled it.  Needless to say, the young ladies were very impressed.

More flowers.

On our way back, I was lucky enough to capture this man casting his net.  For what?  I'm not sure.

We then made a quick stop at what appeared to be Nicaragua's version of Wasaga Beach - a lookout overlooking a massive lagoon in a dormant volcano.  

Mr. MacKay doing his best Sears catalogue pose.

The girls on our bus with their favourite driver, Pedro. 

Our final stop was at "Pan-Land", Pan Missions future home.  Before we had a chance to relax and eat, we had to pack some bags for our future visits to some barrios.

The Assembly Line.

The line through the stacks of clothes and other goodies.

Finally, a chance to relax.  Mr. MacKay in his cocoon. 

Sharing a hammock.

Some beach volleyball.

And a beautiful sunset to end the day.

It was a long, but enjoyable day.  Tomorrow we spend the day in Managua visiting a women's hospital in the morning and a children's hospital in the afternoon.  Better get some rest.  Good Night.