Our ferry ride to the mainland was just how we like it - uneventful. Our buddy Pedro met us and we loaded into his car for the ride to our first destination - Masaya. First, we went into Rivas to The Digital Store, a place where we regularly buy toner cartridges and other teaching supplies. After all the purchases we've made there, they know us and keep well stocked on the ol' HP 662 black ink cartridge, let me tell ya.
After that stop, we drove north on the Pan-American toward Masaya, our first stop on this exploration of Nicaragua. On the way, we diverted off the road and visited Catarina, a small town way up on the edge of an extinct volcano looking down on Laguna de Apoyo. From this vantage point you can see the beautiful lake below as well as Granada off in the distance and Lago de Nicaragua behind that. It's spectacular.
We got to the rental house, a place my travel agent had found on AirBnB. It was a pretty great location, complete with a BBQ, TV, AC and an active volcano practically in the backyard. The caretaker, Manuel, met us and showed us around. While showing us the kitchen, Manuel sized up Anne and I, then issued a warning to us - don't hit your head on the concrete beam that runs across the kitchen ceiling. It's pretty low and we're both tall enough that it could be an issue. Happy to say that I had only one minor incident and I believe Anne avoided it completely!
This place was awesome! Bex! and I took the room off the main house - had a queen bed and a bathroom, plus a sitting area. Mike and Anne took the big room in the main house, mostly because the bedroom had an extra bed that would be used as an 'electronic tech gear staging area'. We wandered out to find dinner, no easy task considering we weren't in a town per se but more of a neighborhood along the main highway. Manuel told us there was a great steak restaurant 'just down the road'. We walked for a bit and didn't see any sign of it nor did we see any cows hiding or fleeing. So we doubled back and had Chinese food instead. It was pretty good.
Saturday we walked down to the highway and caught the bus toward the town of Masaya so we could hit the very excellent market there. If you recall from this post we had visited this market before to buy hammocks. That was a very quick trip, so we were excited for the opportunity to spend more time on this venture. We told the bus driver helper guy (remember, they work in pairs - one driver; one money taker) that we wanted to go to Masaya. Well, we missed the stop and ended up passing Masaya completely and were on the way to Granada. Oops.
The Money Man saw us on the bus - we were obviously trying to get his attention. (Wait - did he just roll his eyes?) He made a gesture for us to sit tight, then spoke to the driver and started looking ahead, down the road. Our bus suddenly pulled over, he waved for us to get off, then he jumped out to wave down another bus coming from the opposite direction, heading back toward Masaya. People here are so cool. He made sure it was clear to cross the four lane road, then waved us through. 'Gracias! Gracias!' We got on the other bus and soon enough we were being dropped where we should have gotten off to begin with. Sigh. The second bus didn't even charge us anything, though I tipped him for helping us out.
After a walk through this small town we found the market. It's called the Mercado Nuevo (New Market) and is a crazy wonderful chaotic fantastic place to visit, but only if you don't mind a little jostling and a lot of noise. We happen to love these markets and the buzz of the entire scene. (One of the downsides to living in tiny, rural Mérida is that there is not a public market, not even a small one.) This particular market is huge - on more than one occasion we got turned around and a little lost. When one gets deep inside this place, you literally lose sight of daylight so it can be difficult to tell which way to go. We spent quite a while in the market. And we got a fair amount of attention - not many gringos wander into this market. We saw a few others but mostly this is where Nica's go to shop, sell, trade.
It's set up so that all the same types of vendors are together, for the most part anyway. For example, outside on the road leading into the parking area is where all the produce vendors set up. Many have permanent structures they sell from, clearing out at night then returning in the morning with fresh fruits and veggies. Inside the labyrinthian market all of the carniceros (butchers) have an area, their stalls somewhat divided up by animal - beef, chicken, pork. The pescadors (fishermen) have their own area. Shoe cobblers, furniture makers, hammocks, clothing, shoes, shoes and more shoes. All manner of kitschy stuff for tourists. Pet food and supplies. Hardware and tools. There is even an area for beauty salons! Really. This well-lit stretch seemed completely out of place in the dark, dim aisle ways of the market. They even had tile floors, barber chairs, mirrors, etc. Exactly what you would expect to find in a salon, except it's located in a Latin American market just a few aisles away from guys butchering pigs.
After buying some dried hibiscus flowers for tea and a cool scale like the one described here, we navigated our way out and walked back toward town. We passed by the Mercado Viejo (Old Market) and even went in briefly. This market is located inside an old fort/prison and is very very… sterile. This market is definitely for tourists. Wide aisles, neat tidy kiosks for displaying wares, no pressure from anyone trying to get you to buy something. In a word, it seemed 'boring'. We spent just a few minutes in there and when we left, I felt like I had insulted Nicas by stepping foot in there. Seriosuly, I wanted to take a shower to rinse the 'tourist' off me. (As a side note, we were later appalled to find that the Moon guidebook for Nicaragua makes no mention of the municipal market in Masaya, only this clean and sterile tourist market. It also makes no mention of La Oriental, the Managua market where the majority of all violent crime in Nicaragua occurs. Stick to Lonely Planet guidebooks, folks.)
We decided food would be a great idea so after much discussion, we settled on a second-floor sports bar near the parque central. Unfortunately, it was only after finding our way upstairs, sitting down, being handed menus and ordering drinks that we were told they weren't serving food. Why he gave us menus…? Anyway, we enjoyed our drinks and the end of the historic futbol match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to decide the Champions League trophy winner. Real Madrid won in a thriller! Read a play by play on the Telegraph website to relive the historic match.
After the game was over, we found another restaurant for lunch. They were out of bottled water, so Bex! walked to the nearby MaxiPali to buy some. After lunch, we returned to the store to pick up some groceries for our stay at the house. We also walked to the park where they were having an artisan bread festival! Um, wow! We bought several treats, then flagged down a horse drawn carriage to take us to the malecón, a viewpoint overlooking Laguna de Masaya. This lake is another that is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano. Sad to say that this particular lagoon is severely polluted and not suitable for swimming. Still, the views were pretty good.
The malecón shares the parking lot of the Estadio Roberto Clemente, a baseball park named after the MLB hall-of-famer and humanitarian who died in a plane crash in December 1972. After the terrible earthquake that leveled much of Managua, killing over 5,000 people, Clemente took it upon himself to organize and send relief supplies. The first several shipments were misappropriated, so he hopped on the last flight to personally insure that the supplies got to those in need. The plane went down shortly after takeoff. Nicaragua has never forgotten him, however, and there are many ball fields, small and large, named after him all over the country.
We had the carriage take us back to the New Market and Mike recorded the clippity-clop of horse hooves along the way. From there, we retraced our steps back to the highway and caught a bus back to kilometer marker 20. That's one great thing about buses here - they'll drop you any ol' where. We cooked dinner for ourselves that night and enjoyed some down time after a busy day.
Sunday morning after breakfast, we again hopped the bus toward Masaya. This time we paid attention and actually got off in Masaya! We got dropped at a gas station and grabbed a cab to take us to Volcán Masaya National Park. Yep, we like active volcanos. We arrived at the park gate but the box office guy was late. Nica time? There were quite a few cars queued up to get in, plus a group of backpackers who were planning to hike the road all the way to the top.
Ticket Dude arrived, we paid the entry, drove up the road and stopped in at the Visitors Center to sign in. They track who goes in just in case there is an eruption. That way, they know who did and didn't make it out. Comforting. They also require vehicles to back into parking spots to speed up evacuation efforts. We'd heard a rumor they require you to take a hard hat, but while we saw them piled beside the road, no one compelled us to pick one up.
Volcán Masaya is made up of several different craters, calderas, gas and lava emitting fissures. Some are active, some dormant. It's difficult to describe what it's like to peer into the crater of a volcano, what with the fumes and thick white cloud that constantly swirls in the mouth of this thing. The wind was blowing and once in a while it would strip away, only briefly, the clouds and you could stare farther into the crater. We never saw the bottom - it's extremely deep, this one. The walls of the crater appear white, this coloration caused by whatever chemicals make up the steady emissions of the volcano. The fumes made us feel a little light headed at times.
We took a break from breathing in sulfur to try to locate our house back across the field. We're pretty sure we found it but then again, it was hard to tell for sure. From there, we hiked up to one of the other craters, an inactive one. Still glorious, though. Plus it afforded us views back toward the active hole in the ground.
Several hours had passed before we made our way back to the parking lot. Our taxi driver was still there but he was not too happy. We had settled on a price when we first hired him but he had assumed we would be much quicker with our visit. He obviously didn't know who he was messing with. We expected this to happen so we renegotiated a new rate, then had him stop by the grocery store so we could pick up some more supplies (e.g. - food). We ate very well, but did you expect anything less?
*****
At this point in the post, I'd like to add a special notation about the date we visited Volcán Masaya - May 18th.
On this date in 1980, I was a junior in high school when Mt. St. Helens erupted and dumped 4-5" of volcanic ash on Moses Lake, WA. I'll never forget how weird the clouds looked, how it turned pitch black around noon and the street lights came on as the ash rolled in and blotted out the sun. It was a Sunday morning and I was visiting my friend Sarah when the ash started coming down, the emergency announcements were airing and no one had a clue what to expect. People were told not to breathe it in, not to let it touch your skin - they had no idea what the chemical makeup was, so every precaution was to be taken. I helped them draw water, tape up windows to keep the ash out and prep the house. Then Sarah's mother thanked me by… asking me to leave. "Um… what?" "My husband isn't home and you can't stay here in the house with my daughter." "Yeah, but… midday blotting out of the sun, the ash, volcano?" "It's best if you get going now before it gets worse." Her daughter argued, to no avail. Yep, turned out to face the apocalypse alone. Perfect. She was kind enough to give me a handkerchief to tie over my face. Gee, thanks. Even better, I had a walking cast on my foot due to a recently broken ankle. I dared not drive - radio announcements were telling stories of cars sliding off the road because the ash was so fine, like flour - so I hobbled a few blocks to another friends house. They weren't home. Maybe I was destined to die in this. Meh. Instead, I broke a window and let myself in. I taped up their windows and filled sinks, tubs, pots, pans with water. Oh, and I got even with Sarah's mom - I never returned her handkerchief. Ha!
Thirty-two years later, on May 18th, 2012 I was in Antigua, Guatemala with a work group from Medical Teams International. We had spent the week in a small Mayan village near Coban and were decompressing after our experience, prior to heading home. I was fortunate enough to be on the trip with my big brother, Jim, and brother-in-law, Doug, as well as many new friends I'd met in the course of planning this adventure. Much to our surprise and joy, Volcán Fuego began erupting and we watched it from the balcony of the hotel. Amazing! We were safe but this volcano was not far from where we were. With the naked eye we could see the glow of lava; with binoculars or a good camera, you could see the lava spewing out, shooting into the air and flowing down the side of the volcano.
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| Pedro, doing his impression of El Terminador: "Hasta la vista, baby." |
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| Nicaragua at its prettiest. |
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| The professor settled in quickly. |
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| Next time, we are bringing a pile of meat. |
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| The aforementioned volcano. Very active. Those aren't regular clouds, kids. |
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| Rich! I found out where Sasquatch lives!! |
Saturday we walked down to the highway and caught the bus toward the town of Masaya so we could hit the very excellent market there. If you recall from this post we had visited this market before to buy hammocks. That was a very quick trip, so we were excited for the opportunity to spend more time on this venture. We told the bus driver helper guy (remember, they work in pairs - one driver; one money taker) that we wanted to go to Masaya. Well, we missed the stop and ended up passing Masaya completely and were on the way to Granada. Oops.
The Money Man saw us on the bus - we were obviously trying to get his attention. (Wait - did he just roll his eyes?) He made a gesture for us to sit tight, then spoke to the driver and started looking ahead, down the road. Our bus suddenly pulled over, he waved for us to get off, then he jumped out to wave down another bus coming from the opposite direction, heading back toward Masaya. People here are so cool. He made sure it was clear to cross the four lane road, then waved us through. 'Gracias! Gracias!' We got on the other bus and soon enough we were being dropped where we should have gotten off to begin with. Sigh. The second bus didn't even charge us anything, though I tipped him for helping us out.
After a walk through this small town we found the market. It's called the Mercado Nuevo (New Market) and is a crazy wonderful chaotic fantastic place to visit, but only if you don't mind a little jostling and a lot of noise. We happen to love these markets and the buzz of the entire scene. (One of the downsides to living in tiny, rural Mérida is that there is not a public market, not even a small one.) This particular market is huge - on more than one occasion we got turned around and a little lost. When one gets deep inside this place, you literally lose sight of daylight so it can be difficult to tell which way to go. We spent quite a while in the market. And we got a fair amount of attention - not many gringos wander into this market. We saw a few others but mostly this is where Nica's go to shop, sell, trade.
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| Hang on to your wallets. |
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| The municipal market is also home to the bus station. |
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| This market sells pounds and pounds of produce every day. |
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| Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH! |
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| The hammock department. |
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| Aisle 7: the ceramic pig and penguin section. |
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| Artist rendering of the 'boring' market. |
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| One of these kids is bigger - and whiter - than the others. |
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| Booby wanted to drive the carriage but he couldn't see over the horses. |
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| Our chariot awaits. |
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| Signaling a turn. |
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| There was a game in progress. Like stadiums all over the world, there were kids outside hoping to catch an errant ball! |
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| View from the backyard of the house. That innocent looking hill across the field is actually an active volcano, folks. |
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| (sigh) |
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| Waiting patiently... |
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| The ribbon of highway up the volcano. |
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| Three Alaskans - one volcano |
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| Beauregard and Hérisson practiced safe volcano hiking. |
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| Up, up, up. |
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| The view from higher up allowed us to differentiate the gas cloud that is constantly emitted from the crater from the regular clouds! |
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Even the dormant crater is beautiful in its own unique way, like this little splash of color in an otherwise green and brown landscape.
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| We had to take at least one selfie from high atop the windswept ridge of a volcano! |
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| Look at that single track just waiting to be mountain biked. Also, Laguna de Masaya and Volcán Mombacho behind. |
*****
At this point in the post, I'd like to add a special notation about the date we visited Volcán Masaya - May 18th.
On this date in 1980, I was a junior in high school when Mt. St. Helens erupted and dumped 4-5" of volcanic ash on Moses Lake, WA. I'll never forget how weird the clouds looked, how it turned pitch black around noon and the street lights came on as the ash rolled in and blotted out the sun. It was a Sunday morning and I was visiting my friend Sarah when the ash started coming down, the emergency announcements were airing and no one had a clue what to expect. People were told not to breathe it in, not to let it touch your skin - they had no idea what the chemical makeup was, so every precaution was to be taken. I helped them draw water, tape up windows to keep the ash out and prep the house. Then Sarah's mother thanked me by… asking me to leave. "Um… what?" "My husband isn't home and you can't stay here in the house with my daughter." "Yeah, but… midday blotting out of the sun, the ash, volcano?" "It's best if you get going now before it gets worse." Her daughter argued, to no avail. Yep, turned out to face the apocalypse alone. Perfect. She was kind enough to give me a handkerchief to tie over my face. Gee, thanks. Even better, I had a walking cast on my foot due to a recently broken ankle. I dared not drive - radio announcements were telling stories of cars sliding off the road because the ash was so fine, like flour - so I hobbled a few blocks to another friends house. They weren't home. Maybe I was destined to die in this. Meh. Instead, I broke a window and let myself in. I taped up their windows and filled sinks, tubs, pots, pans with water. Oh, and I got even with Sarah's mom - I never returned her handkerchief. Ha!
Thirty-two years later, on May 18th, 2012 I was in Antigua, Guatemala with a work group from Medical Teams International. We had spent the week in a small Mayan village near Coban and were decompressing after our experience, prior to heading home. I was fortunate enough to be on the trip with my big brother, Jim, and brother-in-law, Doug, as well as many new friends I'd met in the course of planning this adventure. Much to our surprise and joy, Volcán Fuego began erupting and we watched it from the balcony of the hotel. Amazing! We were safe but this volcano was not far from where we were. With the naked eye we could see the glow of lava; with binoculars or a good camera, you could see the lava spewing out, shooting into the air and flowing down the side of the volcano.
And now on this trip, here it was May 18th again and here I was enjoying yet another volcano. Priceless! Hmmm… which volcano location will be next?
*****
Monday, we packed up and hitched a ride with Manuel to Laguna de Apoyo. After driving around a bit, we finally found the hotel we'd be at for the next few days. Ah, this place was pretty amazing. A few days before, we had seen the lagoon from Catarina - now we were right down on the waters edge, at a great little resort. Booyah! The Hostel Paradiso is pretty spectacular. Built on the hillside, there are several terraced levels from which to enjoy views of the lake. There is a bar right on the beach (of course) and a restaurant that turned out great food. The chef is French, so the menu included crepes, both savory and sweet! They also have a pingpong table and a pétanque court. Think 'French horseshoes'.
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| All Bex! really needs to relax. |
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| Warm clear blue water! Ahhh! |
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| The water is so clear that the shadow on the lake bottom makes it appear that Bex! is hovering above the water! |
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| A toast to Laguna de Apoyo remaining a relatively undeveloped haven. |
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| Our technique is perfect for lounging in beach chairs, however. |
Wednesday morning, we lazed about, had breakfast, enjoyed one last swim, then packed up. This is definitely a place we would return to, if it ever fits into our travel plans. The hotel arranged for a taxi to pick us up after lunch and we headed to Granada. After checking in at the Hotel Terrasol, we walked a few blocks to the Iglesia de la Merced so the Alaskans could climb to the bell tower for great views as well as the sunset. Plus, they were up top when they rang the bell for mass!
We walked to the parque central and down 'restaurant row', a pedestrian only street that is lined with restaurants and bars. All have outdoor seating, so pedestrians funnel onto a wide path to make their way down the street. It was like running a gauntlet, with meseros (waiters) from most of the businesses standing along the walkway, flashing menus, offering drink specials, trying to get us to choose their restaurant over all the others. It's a neat way to generate business but it's also a little distracting when trying to decide on a place that everyone likes.
We settled on a restaurant that did mostly tipica food as well as some other styles, ordered up and enjoyed some street performers who were break dancing. These young men make their way down restaurant row, run an extension cord into the nearest business to power their boom box, dance their butts off for 10-15 minutes or so, then pass the hat, pack up and move on. It was a lovely evening, not too hot. This area of Granada has a vibrant night life, people of all ages and nationalities meander about, perusing the goods being offered by souvenir stands, jewelry makers, the ever-popular hand-carved, brightly painted wood flutes. It was a very nice evening indeed, even though Bex! and I were both fighting head colds.
After enjoying breakfast at the hotel Thursday morning, we hit the market in Granada. Yes, another market but this time with a purpose other than gawking. I was in need of a new pair of flip-flops! And if it's one thing they sell at all Latin American markets, it's footwear. It is everywhere. I think they sell so much because people here walk more than ride to get around.
Okay, I lied - there was some gawking. Unfortunately, finding a size 47 (US 13) wasn't in the cards, even here in a city. I was, however, able to achieve Objective #2: I got my watch battery replaced, by a kindly old man at a little street-side table stand.
And at the corner of Penny Lane and Abbey Road, we found the Imagine Café - closed, unfortunately:
We hit the El Gonper, a large chain-store liberia and bought them out of HP 662 ink cartridges. It's always fun to answer their question with our own question: "How many would you like?" "How many do you have?" They even gave us a discount for buying so many!
We visited the museum at El Convento de San Francisco, where we saw a huge mockup of the entire city of Granada, built in color-coded fashion so we could see how the city has expanded over the years, since it's establishment in the 1500's. They also have many large stone carvings from around 800-1200 AD, that are believed to have been made by the early inhabitants of Isla de Zapatera in Lago de Nicaragua.
After the museum, it was time for lunch. The proprietors of our hotel, Viktor and Katya, had recommended a place called El Garaje and it was all they made it out to be. Fantastic food, great atmosphere, interesting menu. They run the restaurant out of a normal house-hold style kitchen, plus a BBQ grill in the central courtyard. They're only open from 11am to 6pm, so they seem to have it made.
After a great lunch, we walked about a bit more. We bought nylon guitar strings for Jehu, back on the island. We also visited the Choco Museo or Chocolate Museum. Check out the website to see about getting a chocolate massage! Hmmm. The exhibit takes you 'bean to bar', showing how chocolate is grown, harvested, processed and packaged. With a tilt toward sustainability, this museum offers tours and even a class where you can make your own chocolate bar! Until looking at their website, I didn't know that they are actually a chain, with numerous locations in Central and South America. Plus, the guy we talked with mentioned he knew lots of people in Granada, including at the Coco Museum, who would pay to study English. Hmmm, we'd accept payment in chocolate.
We tucked back into our rooms to avoid the hot part of the afternoon, then ventured out later for an early dinner at the Garden Café that was tasty and wonderful. Afterward, we wandered back to restaurant row for gelato. We sat in the courtyard behind the building where it was a little quieter than the bustling evening street scene. After dessert, we went back to the hotel so we could get packed. This trip was coming to an end.
After breakfast Friday morning, we saw Mike and Anne off. They were starting their exodus back home - Granada to the airport in Managua; Managua to Houston, TX, USA; an overnight stay so they could visit the Aerospace Museum there; Houston to Seattle, WA; Seattle to Juneau, AK.
We can't begin to thank them for making the trip to see us! It was so nice to have family here and to share our new (albeit temporary) lives with them. And thanks also go out to them for lugging our new toys - standup paddleboards!! - all the way to Nicaragua.
We watched the taxi head down the road from the hotel, then gathered our things and checked out a short time later. We had our own bit of travel ahead of us, so we had 'second breakfast' at Kathy's Waffle House to fuel up, since one never knows how travel will progress in this part of the world. After food, we cut through the market to find the southbound bus depot - a big, muddy lot where the buses stage. We took our seats and were soon heading toward Rivas. The trip was okay, although we had some delays due to road construction.
Bex! had an awesome taxi fare negotiating experience once we got to Rivas! Like anywhere down here, you barely get off the bus and taxi drivers are yelling at you in an effort to get your business. We were headed to San Juan del Sur for the night. Bex! told one guy where we were going; he quoted $6; she countered with $5; he decided to play hardball and said no; another guy said he'd do it for $5; Driver #1 gave Driver #2 a dirty look; then Driver #1 countered with $4!!! Haha! He talked his way out of a better price! But we're not mean - we more than made up for it with the tip, so he was quite pleased in the end. It's the thrill of the hunt and my wife is awesome at this.
We checked in at Casa Ariki, a neat little place we've stayed at before. We relaxed with some AC, some TV then hit the beach to wade in the ocean. A couple of piña coladas and micheladas later, we hit one of the stores to buy decent wine to take back with us and look for flip-flops for yours truly. Finally found a pair!! The hunt was much harder than I thought it would be! Oy. After some more down time, we walked the two blocks to our favorite little pizza place in all of Nicaragua for dinner. Mmmmm mmmmm!
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| The M.C. Escher-esque spiral staircase. |
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| The view south/south-west toward Volcán Mombacho. |
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| The view south/south-east toward Ometepe and Volcán Concepción. |
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| The view east toward the cathedral and Lake Colcibolca. |
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| The view down toward El Esposo Tan Guapo. |
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| Only he had ear protection. But at least he warned us so we didn't fall off the tower in surprise. |
We settled on a restaurant that did mostly tipica food as well as some other styles, ordered up and enjoyed some street performers who were break dancing. These young men make their way down restaurant row, run an extension cord into the nearest business to power their boom box, dance their butts off for 10-15 minutes or so, then pass the hat, pack up and move on. It was a lovely evening, not too hot. This area of Granada has a vibrant night life, people of all ages and nationalities meander about, perusing the goods being offered by souvenir stands, jewelry makers, the ever-popular hand-carved, brightly painted wood flutes. It was a very nice evening indeed, even though Bex! and I were both fighting head colds.
After enjoying breakfast at the hotel Thursday morning, we hit the market in Granada. Yes, another market but this time with a purpose other than gawking. I was in need of a new pair of flip-flops! And if it's one thing they sell at all Latin American markets, it's footwear. It is everywhere. I think they sell so much because people here walk more than ride to get around.
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| Mike is back there somewhere, I swear! |
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| Fish... |
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| …and rice. |
And at the corner of Penny Lane and Abbey Road, we found the Imagine Café - closed, unfortunately:
We hit the El Gonper, a large chain-store liberia and bought them out of HP 662 ink cartridges. It's always fun to answer their question with our own question: "How many would you like?" "How many do you have?" They even gave us a discount for buying so many!
We visited the museum at El Convento de San Francisco, where we saw a huge mockup of the entire city of Granada, built in color-coded fashion so we could see how the city has expanded over the years, since it's establishment in the 1500's. They also have many large stone carvings from around 800-1200 AD, that are believed to have been made by the early inhabitants of Isla de Zapatera in Lago de Nicaragua.
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| El Convento. |
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| I drool just thinking about the food we had here. Having been a chef in Portland, Viktor's recommendations are perfect for our PDX palates. |
We tucked back into our rooms to avoid the hot part of the afternoon, then ventured out later for an early dinner at the Garden Café that was tasty and wonderful. Afterward, we wandered back to restaurant row for gelato. We sat in the courtyard behind the building where it was a little quieter than the bustling evening street scene. After dessert, we went back to the hotel so we could get packed. This trip was coming to an end.
After breakfast Friday morning, we saw Mike and Anne off. They were starting their exodus back home - Granada to the airport in Managua; Managua to Houston, TX, USA; an overnight stay so they could visit the Aerospace Museum there; Houston to Seattle, WA; Seattle to Juneau, AK.
We can't begin to thank them for making the trip to see us! It was so nice to have family here and to share our new (albeit temporary) lives with them. And thanks also go out to them for lugging our new toys - standup paddleboards!! - all the way to Nicaragua.
We watched the taxi head down the road from the hotel, then gathered our things and checked out a short time later. We had our own bit of travel ahead of us, so we had 'second breakfast' at Kathy's Waffle House to fuel up, since one never knows how travel will progress in this part of the world. After food, we cut through the market to find the southbound bus depot - a big, muddy lot where the buses stage. We took our seats and were soon heading toward Rivas. The trip was okay, although we had some delays due to road construction.
Bex! had an awesome taxi fare negotiating experience once we got to Rivas! Like anywhere down here, you barely get off the bus and taxi drivers are yelling at you in an effort to get your business. We were headed to San Juan del Sur for the night. Bex! told one guy where we were going; he quoted $6; she countered with $5; he decided to play hardball and said no; another guy said he'd do it for $5; Driver #1 gave Driver #2 a dirty look; then Driver #1 countered with $4!!! Haha! He talked his way out of a better price! But we're not mean - we more than made up for it with the tip, so he was quite pleased in the end. It's the thrill of the hunt and my wife is awesome at this.
We checked in at Casa Ariki, a neat little place we've stayed at before. We relaxed with some AC, some TV then hit the beach to wade in the ocean. A couple of piña coladas and micheladas later, we hit one of the stores to buy decent wine to take back with us and look for flip-flops for yours truly. Finally found a pair!! The hunt was much harder than I thought it would be! Oy. After some more down time, we walked the two blocks to our favorite little pizza place in all of Nicaragua for dinner. Mmmmm mmmmm!
Back at the room, I told Bex! I was going to hit the shower to wash the long day off. What I didn't tell her was that I was going to shave my face! My goatee was getting a bit… unmanageable and I had been talking about hacking it off for a while. She didn't take me too seriously, but was hopeful I would trim it down. Oh, I trimmed it alright. I did this as fast as I could, with a tiny pair of scissors and a semi-sharp razor. She was wondering what took me so long. When I walked back in the room, I got a quadruple take! I wonder why…
Keep in mind that my wife had never - NEVER - seen me without facial hair. I've had the goatee since long before we met, so this was a bit of a shock to her. Hell, I hadn't seen my own chin in probably 13-14 years!
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| (I'll let Bex! caption this one-D) Bex!: Good thing your facial hair grows fast! Love you, honey! |
[Note: Neither of us is used to this look yet, even after 5 weeks. I am currently growing/grooming awesome sideburns and a stellar mustache, so we'll see how that goes. Stay tuned!!]
Saturday morning we hit El Gato Negro for breakfast, then walked back to the hotel to hit the road. Heading home. We walked back toward town and grabbed a taxi. He took us first to the MaxiPali for some 'can't get this stuff on the island' groceries, then drove us to San Jorge to catch the noon ferry. 'Cept there wasn't a noon ferry today - boat repairs or some such thing. So we waited for the 12:30 lancha. While we were waiting, we saw Pedro and visited with him for a bit, discussing politics and current events. The bishops of Nicaragua had called a meeting with Prez Daniel Ortega and, in so many words, demanded that he not be an asshole.
Recall that lanchas are smaller and ride lower in the water. The vessel was packed with people and island-bound supplies, so with the wind and waves it was an 'interesting' trip! We were seated inside, below deck. Bex! got a seat and I ended up sitting on the boards covering the motor, almost on the floor but not quite. We had a few good waves that came in the windows and there was water sloshing around on the floor. Not a lot but still!
We had arranged for Miguel to pick us up. After all the travel this past week plus the head colds, a chicken bus ride home did not appeal to either of us. He was there right on time, of course. We had our minds set on buying bikes this trip, so he took us to a couple of places and we found two that would work. One is definitely better quality than the other - we'll make them work. They only have to last until December.
The new bikes went on Miguel's roof rack and we quietly took in the island as we drove around Concepción, across the isthmus and home to our Maderas end of Ometepe. It was nice to be back. True to form, Hamilton had returned the bed to Hacienda Merida and everything at the house was ship shape.
We're confident Mike and Anne enjoyed Ometepe, so if you need any encouragement or a testimonial to convince you to come visit, please let us know! We await more guests with open arms!!
Saturday morning we hit El Gato Negro for breakfast, then walked back to the hotel to hit the road. Heading home. We walked back toward town and grabbed a taxi. He took us first to the MaxiPali for some 'can't get this stuff on the island' groceries, then drove us to San Jorge to catch the noon ferry. 'Cept there wasn't a noon ferry today - boat repairs or some such thing. So we waited for the 12:30 lancha. While we were waiting, we saw Pedro and visited with him for a bit, discussing politics and current events. The bishops of Nicaragua had called a meeting with Prez Daniel Ortega and, in so many words, demanded that he not be an asshole.
Recall that lanchas are smaller and ride lower in the water. The vessel was packed with people and island-bound supplies, so with the wind and waves it was an 'interesting' trip! We were seated inside, below deck. Bex! got a seat and I ended up sitting on the boards covering the motor, almost on the floor but not quite. We had a few good waves that came in the windows and there was water sloshing around on the floor. Not a lot but still!
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| Nice legs, baby! Aaaagh! We're gonna die! |
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| New steed #1 |
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| New steed #2. |
We're confident Mike and Anne enjoyed Ometepe, so if you need any encouragement or a testimonial to convince you to come visit, please let us know! We await more guests with open arms!!
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| It's beautiful here! |
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