Visitors! (Part Three)

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.

Pedro, doing his impression of El Terminador:  "Hasta la vista, baby."

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.

Nicaragua at its prettiest.

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!

The professor settled in quickly.

Next time, we are bringing a pile of meat.

The aforementioned volcano.  Very active.  Those aren't regular clouds, kids.

Rich!  I found out where Sasquatch lives!!

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.

Hang on to your wallets.

The municipal market is also home to the bus station.

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.  

This market sells pounds and pounds of produce every day.

Six foot, seven foot, eight foot, BUNCH!

The hammock department.

Aisle 7: the ceramic pig and penguin section.

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.)

Artist rendering of the 'boring' market.

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.

One of these kids is bigger - and whiter - than the others.

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.

Booby wanted to drive the carriage but he couldn't see over the horses.

Our chariot awaits.

Signaling a turn.

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.   

There was a game in progress.  Like stadiums all over the world, there were kids outside hoping to catch an errant ball!

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.

View from the backyard of the house.  That innocent looking hill across the field is actually an active volcano, folks.

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.  

(sigh)

Waiting patiently...

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.

The ribbon of highway up the volcano.

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.

Three Alaskans - one volcano

Beauregard and Hérisson practiced safe volcano hiking.

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.

Up, up, up.

The view from higher up allowed us to differentiate the gas cloud that is constantly emitted from the crater from the regular clouds!

Even the dormant crater is beautiful in its own unique way, like this little splash of color in an otherwise green and brown landscape.

Mother Nature sure knows how to make man look small.

We had to take at least one selfie from high atop the windswept ridge of a volcano!

Look at that single track just waiting to be mountain biked.
Also, Laguna de Masaya and Volcán Mombacho behind.

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.   

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'.

All Bex! really needs to relax.

Many people come from Granada and Managua for day trips to Laguna de Apoyo.  Its proximity to both cities make it an ideal destination for a little tranquility, a break from the heat, hustle, and bustle of city life.  Billed as the 'cleanest and warmest lake in Central America', the water is indeed a beautiful azul (blue) and crystal clear.  This lagoon is deep, too.  It drops off quickly, which is both neat and a little spooky because, ya know, it's an old volcano.

Warm clear blue water!  Ahhh!

The water is so clear that the shadow on the lake bottom makes it appear that Bex! is hovering above the water!

After crazy busy days in Masaya, at the market and the volcano, this stay was about relaxing.  A little kayaking, some pingpong, plenty of swimming.  I enjoyed some lazy moments on the floating dock, just enjoying the sun and the scenery.  We read, we surfed the internet a little.  We ate well and enjoyed fresh fruit smoothies, beer, piña coladas.

A toast to Laguna de Apoyo remaining a relatively undeveloped haven.

And Mike and Anne repeatedly beat us at pétanque.  I'm pretty sure they were getting up in the middle of the night to practice.  Or maybe they have a pétanque court at home.  Or maybe our corn hole / horse shoes technique of playing while holding a beer in one hand doesn't work for this game.  Who knows.

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!  

The M.C. Escher-esque spiral staircase.

The view south/south-west toward Volcán Mombacho.

The view south/south-east toward Ometepe and Volcán Concepción.

The view east toward the cathedral and Lake Colcibolca.

The view down toward El Esposo Tan Guapo.

Only he had ear protection.  But at least he warned us so we didn't fall off the tower in surprise.

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.  

Mike is back there somewhere, I swear!

Fish...

…and rice.

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.

El Convento.

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.  

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.

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!

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…

(I'll let Bex! caption this one-D)  Bex!:  Good thing your facial hair grows fast!  
Love you, honey!

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!  

[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!

Nice legs, baby!  Aaaagh!  We're gonna die!

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.

New steed #1

New steed #2.

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!!

It's beautiful here!

Visitors! (Part Two)

[Note:  Bex!  and I both wrote this post, so if the perspective or style seems to change, that is the reason.  In the places where the English is more gooder, it's probably Bex! writing.]

Ah, Sunday!  Lazy Sunday.  The day after the fiesta with the mariachi band, we did what everyone does after a late night of partying.  We got up really early to go on a really long, hot hike.  Sigh, no lazy Sunday.   

It was Mother's Day (in the US) and to celebrate we tried to kill Anne with this hike.  Not literally, but it turned out to be quite a long day and extremely warm.  We spent our day on a hike to the petroglyphs in El Guineo, which is just past San Ramon, south of Merida about 5-6 kilometers.  But first - breakfast!  We walked as far as Pescadito's and had a wonderful meal - gallopinto y huevos y pan (the wonderful Nica beans/rice mixture served with eggs and bread) and torta de papas (potato and egg torte) plus fresh juices and coffee for me.  Then we hit the road with Maykel, our friend, adult intermediate English student and (today) our guide.  Just outside San Ramon, Alvaro and his family came cruising up in the snazzy new Hacienda Merida Toyota Landcruiser pickup and gave us a lift as far as the biological station office.  It saved a little time and we were very grateful!

Posing in front of the flowers!

We stopped into a pulperia to buy some more water - very hot, remember.  Maykel misunderstood what we wanted and ordered beer for us!  Haha!  This was funny on a couple points:  It was about 10 in the morning; and neither Mike nor Anne drink.  Unfortunately, before we figured out what was happening, the guy in the store had opened two liter-sized bottles of Toña, which he was nice enough to stash for us until we made the return trip.   

Along the way we discovered a field of onions.  Apparently it is possible to come here and buy directly from the dirt.

We saw howler monkeys but they stubbornly refused to make any noises for Mike's microphone - "Shhhhh, the gringo wants to record us!  Everyone - quiet!" 

Elegant egret on a fancy dock in San Ramon

Good thing we went with a guide because there is no sign to tell you whose front yard to walk into and ask to see the petroglyphs.  Seriously, Maykel stopped us in front of a house and we walked down to the front and paid a guy 120 cordobas (about $5).  Then he pointed to the field behind his house and - bam - petroglyphs!  

There are two groups of petroglyphs.  One set is a very short walk through a field.  There is a jumble of rocks at one edge of the field and many of them are covered in petroglyphs.  There are no interpretive signs or trails, but as you move around and the light angle changes, the designs jump out.  We saw crabs, crosses, spirals, and even one that looked like the Yellow Submarine.

X marks the spot!  "Under this rock, you shall find… another rock."

The Beatles version...

Use your imagination… or take LSD, like the Beatles!!  Then you'll see it for sure!

The popular spiral motif.  Archaeologists say it represents Ometepe.  I'm thinking fancy mustaches.

Taking a break to talk history.

The second set of 'glyphs (that's what us cool kids call them) is down on the rocks at the lake shore and are only visible when the water level is low, say for example at the end of the dry season in May when the rains are late.  These petroglyphs were particularly cool to get to see because they are not always accessible.  Plus, it was just plain cooler down by the lake where the wind was blowing.

Ooh, get a picture of that one right there!

The pre-Columbian inhabitants had TV and The Simpsons?!?  This is Sideshow Bob, right?

How did that shot turn out?

Quien es este guapo con barba?

Demonstrating how the ancient carver might have sat to do his work.

I know there are petroglyphs around here somewhere!

We had previously visited the petroglyphs at Finca Magdalena out of Blague.  You can read about those petroglyphs and see our pictures here.  These at El Guineo were better - less worn and more visible, more iconic and interesting figures.  Plus, they were cheaper, a whole five bucks for the whole group of us.  

We didn't get on the road as early as we hoped and we were frequently distracted by plant and wildlife along the way so it turned out to be a very long hot day, but great rock art made up for it.  We also stopped for a soda break in San Ramon (Maykel and Dave drank the pre-ordered beer) and treated ourselves to ice cream smoothies at Hacienda Merida on the way back.  Cold ice cream always helps.

On Monday, Anne came to first grade with us again.  And this was a very special day for OBS - the first day ever that we got to teach the first graders in their very own classroom.  It was awesome.  Maybe they were just particularly attentive and well-behaved because it was the first day of the week, but I didn't have to say "get out of the hammock" at all.  Bex! took her parents to the afternoon class and the high school class as guests for the students to practice with.  They were good sports, despite having to repeatedly answer the question "How old are you?".

Tuesday, Mom and Dad went to the swamp with Noldan, our friend, adult intermediate English student and a guide.  They kayaked over to the entrance and then walked into the swamp due to the low water.  When the water level is higher you can kayak right in - not so this time of year.  They had a great time!  Mom saw 9 new birds.  No caymans, though.  Noldan is very knowledgable and they fully enjoyed his company and expertise.  Bex! took her parents to the intermediate class as guests in the evening.  Only had one student (sigh), but had a good conversation about similarities and differences between Ometepe and Juneau, Alaska.  Here's a snap shot of what my student and the guests came up with.

Similarities:

• Lots of rain
• Lots of tourists
• Both live on an island
• Both have a waterfall
• People kayak

Differences:

• Alaska is colder/Ometepe is hotter
• Alaska has less light in the winter and more light in the summer; Ometepe has the same all year round
• Most people on Ometepe speak Spanish; most people in Alaska speak English

Wednesday evening Bex! took her parents to Noldan's class as guests.  The students did a great job of practicing their questions before the guests arrived and the parents were again really good sports.  It was nice to finally introduce Mike and Anne to Luis and Rosabella Lorio, our dear friends who are so generous and giving.  Meanwhile, as Dave left his classes at the hacienda that evening, Grandma Ruth gave Dave/us atole de mango.  Dave told us that Grandma Ruth said it was just for him, of course.  Hmmmm.  Luckily, we talked him in to sharing.  It was still warm so we ate it for dinner and had pasta for dessert.

The next day, Mom came to kindergarten with us.  Dad came too.  We all thanked Grandma Ruth for the scrumptious atole de mango.  She gave us more!  Plus, she gave us a new treat - chichi de maize, a popular corn-based drink.  Kids - this is why you should always write thank you notes.

Later, we were just hanging out on the porch in the afternoon when, lo and behold, monkeys in the yard!  The family (Cornelius, Zira and baby Milo) came walking down the trail, passed briefly through the yard, and climbed up into the mango trees.  It was the first time we'd seen them on the ground, too, which was pretty neat.  

And we finally got one of the new paddle boards inflated.  Teaching + house guests = busy, busy, busy.  Bex! took a short inaugural float, but it was too windy to stand up and try it out much.  Shucks.

This will only take a minute to inflate...

Hmm, still pumping.  Anyone want a try?  It's 'white-washing a fence' fun!

Okay if I just round up to 15 lbs?  I'm tired of pumping.

Finally!  Ready to hit the water, except my arms are too tired to hold the paddle.

How exactly does one break a bottle of champagne over the bow of an inflatable vessel?

Friday came and it was time to leave the island to see more of this beautiful country.  It was so nice to have family come visit and we were thankful for all the things they brought for us.  In addition to lugging our new paddle boards down, they brought books for the school kids, supplies, realia for teaching and - salmon jerky!!  We packed up for our short stint off island and made sure the Alaskans had everything they needed to bring back with them, namely tech gear and chargers.  Miguel came and picked us up at the house in his taxi and we were off!

Wonderful family, wonderful visit

Miguel!!

On the way to Moyogalpa, we made a brief stop at Playa Domingo to jump out of the car and look at the big side of the lake.  

After Semana Santa, the beach is for the cows.

Later, we stopped and visited Punta Jesus Maria.  We walked and walked out the long sandy spit, collecting copious amounts of sand and broken shells in our sandals.  This narrow strip of sand extends quite a ways out into the lake and when the winds are just right, waves lap up on shore from both sides!  We admired the views back toward the island and the large flock of terns and other shore birds hanging out at the very end of the spit.  

Spit?  I can't spit that far.

Alaskans in the tropics.

Ouch, ouch, ouch.  This stuff is not Dr. Scholl's approved.

Birds of a feather...

Three Alaskans

A boy and his volcano

In Moyogalpa, we again ate lunch at our favorite place - sandwiches at the Corner House are always a treat.  We boarded the ferry and headed across the lake for the next phase in our adventures with visitors.  Masaya, Laguna de Apoyo, and Granada here we come!

'Adios, Ometepe!' say the visitors.  'Hasta pronto!' say us locals.

Visitors! (Part One)

Yes, real live honest-to-goodness family came to visit!  Bex's folks were due in Merida on May 7th, traveling from Juneau, Alaska… via Seattle… via Houston… via Managua… via Granada… to Ometepe..  Our first visitors, fer cryin' out loud.  We were excited and nervous.  "We've accepted living here and learned to deal with it.  What if they hate it?!"  "Gah, scorpions and huge spiders and weird things!"  "Crap, no water again today!"  Meh, turned out it was all okay in the end.  [Okay, the water was an issue during their visit but we managed just fine.]

After some consideration on where to have them stay, we decided to borrow a bed from Hacienda Merida so the folks could stay at our house, this to maximize visiting time.  Alvaro was very gracious and refused any payment from us for using a queen bed, linens and the requisite fan.  Obtaining the bed required calling Hamilton so he could arrange a truck and any help he may require and notifying the hacienda that someone would be coming to steal one of their beds.  We had some disagreement about when exactly to get the bed.  I wanted to do it over the weekend prior to their arrival, to give us time for a Plan B if something should go wrong.  Silly boy.  Bex! hates making phone calls in Spanish so put it off as long as possible.  That is to say, she never had to make the call because the day we were leaving to meet Anne and Mike in Moyogalpa Hamilton came by so she just talked to him face to face.  He said he'd take care of it.  He did.

[Bex!'s Sidebar:  Now that's not fair.  I made many phone calls.  Most of them to Hamilton's wife to say "Could you please have him climb down from what ever house he is building and come reassure me that there really will be a bed here for my parents to sleep in".]

We had left a note with Nora at the hotel.  It was a list of the items we would need, and told her that a guy named Hamilton would be coming to pick it all up.  As it turns out, she and Hamilton are related.  Learn something new every day.  Having cancelled classes for the day, we caught the chicken bus to Moyogalpa and the timing couldn't have been better.  After a short wait, we saw the ferry they were supposed to be on coming across the lake.  Sure enough, as the ferry got closer we could pick out a pasty** white guy on the upper deck taking pictures and knew the Alaskans had made it to Ometepe.
[**Mike pointed out later that in Alaska the term is not 'pasty' but 'fish belly'.]

Our buddy Miguel was there right on time and we loaded all the luggage into his rig, then walked up the road to The Cornerhouse Cafe, our favorite little place to eat in this island port town.  Mostly because they serve sandwiches made with real bread.  After a tasty lunch and a stop at the Mini-Super for some groceries, we lit out for Merida.  Volcán Concepción was particularly lovely this day, so Mike stopped a couple of times to snap some pics as we made our way around that end of the island.  

Soon enough we were over the isthmus, past Santa Cruz and bumpity-bumping down the crappy road back home.  Miguel was even able to navigate the narrow little path from the road down to our house, which allowed us to unload right onto the porch.  Home sweet home!  Opening up the house, we were happy to see one queen bed and a nice fan, all set up and ready to go.  The bed was made and the towels were folded in a nice little design.  Why I fretted, I do not know.  We walked up to Margarita's for dinner that evening and they met a few of our local friends there.  

While walking back home, passing under one of the many mango trees in town, Mike got hit in the head with a falling mango!  Now, knock on wood, but that has yet to happen to either of us.  We've had many near misses with a variety of fruit (and a dead iguana).  The most dangerous are the falling coconuts.  But we've never been on the receiving end.  Poor Mike is in Merida about 3 hours and gets hit.  Like I said, knock on wood!

Thursday morning, I taught our morning beginners class on the porch and braved the kindergarten class solo so that Bex! could help her folks get settled in and show them around a little.  I did call on Mike, Anne and Bex! to make a cameo in the morning class, so we could practice introductions.  Bex! also introduced the 'rents to Hamilton the Handyman and his daughter, Yosslyn.  Yosslyn does laundry for us and a few other chores  In fact, she was sweet enough to have made sure the house was clean and ready when we had returned the previous day.

We were a little concerned about the heat and how Mike and Anne would hold up, since there was still SNOW on the ground back home when they had departed a few days prior.  I've written about how dry it's been and how little rain we've had.  Both of those held steady during their stay, unfortunately.  I think it rained a little bit a couple of times, with one thunderous downpour (loud because of our corrugated metal roof).  But mostly the dry season was still in full swing.  They got to experience our 'bathe in the lake' routine.  Oh, joy.

Friday morning, the four of us walked down to Hacienda Merida for our first grade class at OBS.  Anne observed while Bex! and I taught.  Mike wandered about taking pictures and capturing audio.  We paid our regular Friday afternoon visit to Maragrita's for our weekly beer purchase, at which time Tia told us she was making nacatamales Saturday!!  Hell yeah!  So we placed our order before leaving, then stopped by Fruitlandia, Doña Clara's produce stand on the way home.  We introduced Mike and Anne to Jehu, Clara's husband and Edar's dad.  (Edar is one of our high school students.)  We confirmed with Jehu that he and his band mates would be coming over Saturday evening for a fiesta!

Because, yeah, we were throwing a 'Welcome to the Island' fiesta in honor of our visitors!  But first, Friday night French class!  Except no one showed up, so after watching a Muzzy cartoon, we talked through the party plans for the next evening.  This basically consisted of making sure we had enough beer, rum and ice along with a few snacks.  

This being Nicaragua, we hadn't really invited people too early in the week, except for the band.  In fact, most of the guests were invited the day before the fiesta, Friday.  It just doesn't do any good to tell people too far in advance, so we quit fighting that a while back!  If you recall from a recent post, Bex! had heard Jehu and Chema jamming one evening, so we hired them to play for the party.  When we stopped into Pescadito's to remind Chema about his gig the next night, Maykel told us his Dad knew about the invitation but didn't believe that we really wanted him to come to our house.  Very humbling to think that this fine man - and our friend - thought we wouldn't want him to come over.  Maykel brought his dad out and we told Chema that, yes, we would be honored to have him play and we were excited to hear their music.  That settled, we were ready to par-tay! 

The nacatamales we had ordered the day before arrived in time for us to enjoy them before guests arrived.  And they were delivered by Dilan, one of our first graders (with a little help from his mom).  Mmmmm… nacatamales.  After dinner, we set chairs out on the porch, got wood stacked in my snazzy fire pit to light up later in the evening, made sure all of our beverage containers were washed and ready for use (all four glasses, all four coffee mugs, and our collection of little tupperware containers), then waited for the party to show up.

The band - Los Tigres de Ometepe - showed up right on time.  Jehu, Chema and their friend Jose - all guitar players - got comfortable and started tuning and warming up.  Mike set up his recording gear while other guests started to arrive.  In fact, the turn out was amazing.  Almost everyone we invited came!  People brought beer, rum, Coke, and wine.  Jen and Jamey brought tostones Jamey had made for the party.  Tostones are platano verde (green plantains) that are sliced into rounds, fried once, smashed down flat and fried again, then these are usually topped with queso blanco, a white salty crumbly cheese popular here.

Los Tigres de Ometepe - Jose (bottom), Jehu and Chema (cowboy hat)

Chema (l) and Jehu playing on our porch for the fiesta; Jose is in the background

The band sounded good from all angles.

The band was thrilled that they were being recorded!  Once we explained what was happening, they stepped it up and got better and stronger throughout the evening.  Los Tigres de Ometepe played for a solid three hours and probably would have kept playing had we not cut them off!  ('We're going to play one more song' immediately changed into two more.  And was three more by the time they actually stopped.)

One cool moment in the evening:  I asked the band if they wanted a beer or some rum - they said no.  They felt they were hired to play and they were obligated to stay sober for the evening.  They were truly professional in their approach to the gig.  It was great. 

Lakeside, fireside

After playing on the porch for a while, we lit the fire and everyone moved out to the yard.  Yet another surreal moment:  the sound of the waves rolling up on the playa, the wood crackling in the fire pit, the beautiful traditional music being played by these artists, surrounded by new friends - and family.  Magical. 

It was a fantastic fiesta and we were able to introduce Mike and Anne to most of our friends in the village.  We also introduced them to the beauty and generosity of the Nica people here.  The party was a big success, in every way.  Hell, just like back home, we even had to make a beer run to restock!  Now, that's a party!

Tired and grinning, still buzzing from the wondrous evening, we cleaned up and went to bed.  We had a big day coming up - a hike down the road to El Guineo to see petroglyphs! 

Monkey Update

If you read the post about our day of monkey drama, you'll recall that we were pretty sure the family of howler monkeys that lives in the trees near our house was reunited, mostly because Cornelius and Zira started making lots of noise right after the locals said they'd let Milo go.  The parents had been quiet up to that point, remember.  We took the grunting and howling as a good sign that they had the baby back with them.

We were also a little concerned whether Mom and Dad would take him back after being handled by us distant relatives - humans.  When I was a kid I was always told not to handle baby birds because the parents wouldn't take it back into the nest.   Not even if a cute tow-headed 8 year old tree climber who found a baby robin on the ground had the best of intentions.

We continued to hear the monkeys but it wasn't until just a few days ago, about a week after the monkeynapping incident, that we finally made visual contact.  So excited!!  We were on the porch, working on lessons and listening to Cornelius carry on, when we saw some Nicas down the lake path looking up in the trees.  Thinking it was possibly another howler incident developing, I decided to let them know we were watching by walking over to see what they were doing.  You know, act like an innocent gringo "Hey, what's y'all looking at?"

Suspicions unwarranted.  It was a family gathering wood and the dad was holding his young son, pointing out Zira and Milo in one tree, and Cornelius in another.  I greeted him with  'buenos dias' and said 'La familia de monos es muy bonita' which was close enough to 'the monkey family is very beautiful'.  Notice I made sure to refer to them as a 'family'.  I saw Cornelius up in a big mango tree on the south end of our 'yard'.  And across the path along the lake in a smaller tree we saw Zira and Milo.  

Of course, Cornelius and I were thinking the same thing:  Zira, get your monkey butt into a bigger, taller tree!  And bring Milo with you!  

I said goodbye to the father and his son, then walked back over to the porch to report to Bex! that I had seen our monkeys all together.  I think my smile gave it away before I actually said a word.  She hurried over to check it out for herself.

So, for now our little monkey family is all together and doing well.  As much as we like having them near our house, we wouldn't mind if they moved up the mountain a little ways!  

At least until Milo is a little bigger and learns more evasive maneuvers!