Oprah Winfrey
This is the continuing account of my 2005 trip to the Central American countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize (see other postings in this series).
On March 9, 2005, my brother, Wayne, and I cross the Costa Rican border (see Part 1 of this series) and entered the country of..........
Republic of Nicaragua
Political events of the past decades, have had a huge impact on many outsiders' perception of Nicaragua, and the country's natural, historical and cultural attractions remain largely undiscovered by tourists. First-time visitors to Nicaragua are often thrilled to find volcanoes, navigable rivers, colonial cities, Caribbean islands and deserted beaches - all without the floods of tourist seen elsewhere in Central America. While it has a way to go in terms of tourism infrastructure, Central America's largest country is by no means a difficult place to travel.
We take a ferry to.........
Isla de Ometepe
An ecological jewel, Ometepe is still sparsely developed for tourism, making the island all the more attractive for those who like unspoiled nature and don't mind expending extra effort to see it. Ometepe, meaning "between two hills" in Nahuatl, is formed by two large volcanoes: Volcan Madera (1349m) and Volcan Concepcion (1610m). Concepcion is still active.
***Please note the image quality is limited as these pictures were not digitally captured but rather are prints that have been scanned.***
We board a boat for Isla de Ometepe......
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| My home, the Casa Baltic, for the next couple of weeks. Originally we were renting it on a night-by-night basis, but Wayne was heading home soon and Easter was coming. During Easter everything in this predominantly Catholic country grinds to a halt and hotel space becomes a premium....so I figured I stay put for a couple of weeks and I negotiated a weekly rate of $150. |
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| Parque Colon. This plaza forms the centre of town and it is here where Wayne and I would gather to people watch. |
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| Granada is a quiet town that retains its colonial character. It's streets are lined with Spanish-style houses with stuccoed adobe walls and large wooden doors opening onto cool interior patios. |
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| The local market in Granada. |
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| The Covento de San Fransisco, said to be Central America's oldest convent/church. |
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| Laundry day at the MacPhee's residence! |
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| Granada is easily conquered by foot OR you can take the horse drawn taxi known as coche's. |
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| Why walk when you can have a beast of burden take you around....that's what I say!!! |
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| Horses still form a large part of the transportation system in Nicaragua (it is a very poor nation), such as this horse-drawn Hearst. |
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| The normal horse and buggy consist of one horse and a cart constructed from an old vehicle chassis. Notice the boy trying to slingshot the pigeon from the first buggy? |
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| Wayne walks along the Parque Colon while a Nicaraguan cowboy rides by. |
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| Cooling down over a frozen cappuccino. Wayne and I would sit here and suck down many of these each day as we people watch..... |
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| ....some of the people we watched were these school kids doing their daily warm-up exercises. |
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| Calle la Calzada, one of Granada's principal streets, runs eastward to the ferry dock where boats depart for Ometepe Island. These ancient trees line the street. |
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| The Mercado de Artesania, where artists sell everything from colourful basketry, woven mats, carved and painted gourds, wood carvings, paintings and ceramics. |
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| Souvenir shopper. |
We took a tour to Volcan Masaya......
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| Volcan Masaya is one of Nicaragua's most interesting features as it actually encompasses a pair of volcanoes: Masaya and Nindiri. Between these two volcanoes are five craters including "Santiago" which is still quite active, often smoking and steaming and belching the occasional rock (notice the volcanic steam in the picture)! |
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| Legends say that the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the area would throw young women into the boiling lava at the bottom of 'Santiago' to appease Chaciutigue, the Goddess of Fire. |
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| The obligatory picture of 'da bye's'! |
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| Our tour van had five passengers....all from Canada, needless to say, this trip was a blast. We climbed high up on one of the volcano ridges to get a better view of the surrounding valley (notice the two kites in the background?). |
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| Nearby Volcan Masaya is the serene Apoyo crater lake.....apparently the pristine waters are good for swimming and scuba diving?? Who knew?? |
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| The musician standing behind Wayne carries the xylophone on his back and plays it by bringing the sticks in his hands back and hitting the bars. He was very good! That's Laguna de Apoyo in the background. |
The next day we decided to chill out for a couple days in the seaside town of.....
San Juan del Sur
Located on the Pacific coast, San Juan del Sur at one time held some importance in the world of trade. Before the construction of the Panama Canal, it was the starting point for the overland route used by all major trading companies in the world. Now it has slipped into relative obscurity, except for one thing.....its beaches.
With little else to do, we head for the beach.....
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| The sleepy touristy port of San Juan del Sur with its score of small hotels and hostels, it attracts sport fishers, divers, surfers and the garden-variety beach potatoes. |
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| Looking out at the beach from a seaside restaurant/pub. |
The next day we head for the beach of Playa Majagual....
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| San Juan del Sur is the only developed beach among a baker's dozen of bun-shaped beaches strung along the coast like pearls from headland to headland, north and south. This is Playa Majagual located about 12 km from San Juan del Sur. |
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| The best way (if not the only way) to get to any of the many beaches is via water taxi, such as the one here.... |
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| We rented boogie boards and spent pretty much the entire time in San Juan (and area) body surfing the breakers. Some fun!!!! |
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| The sand is super fine here! |
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| A tied up water taxi with only birds as customers. |
We head back to Granada and Wayne heads home leaving me with my rented house and the remainder of the trip on my own. Given that Easter was fast approaching, I was advised that this is the one week that hotels are booked solid, buses seldom run and if you have a place to stay, your better off staying put.....so I did. To past the days I took Spanish lessons.....
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| My Spanish teacher, Angelina Monico. |
While in Granada I met Carl, a bicyclist who had just biked around the world (took him 6 years and 60 countries). Now he was paddling 'Pole-to-Pole' and he figure it was going to take him approximately 4 years (he was two years in already)....
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| When I met Carl he indicated he was about to be evicted from his hotel because it had been pre-booked for Holy Week and he couldn't find another hotel. Brother Wayne had just left and I had an extra bed in my house, so I offered him to crash for a couple of days at the Casa Baltic. He took me up on it! Here we are at Kathy's Waffle house, my daily breakfast eating establishment. |
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| Carl the Aussie was half-way between his second epic biking trip, this one was from the top of Alaska to the tip of Chile. Good luck mate! |
This is Holy Week in Nicaragua and the Nicaraguans are very fanatical about their Christianity. Everyday leading up to Holy Thursday they set off firecrackers which was becoming more constant, until it sounded as if the revolution had started all over again. They would start at 6:00AM and continue throughout the day, it got to the point where you didn't even pay any attention to them. And the progressions in the streets....it started out simple enough, but everyday they got larger and the 'Jesus scenes' became more and more elaborate. Thousands of devotees parading through the streets carrying a Jesus statute on the shoulders of shroud-covered men with a full horn band following and playing the "death march song from hell". By Thursday everything had gone completely bonkers, especially when I saw three men being tied to crosses and hoisted up as if being crucified....the heat alone would have killed me, but this was not a real crucifixion... at least without the nails and the death....
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| Semana Santa (Holy Week or Easter to us North Americans) is a very big event in Nicaragua. Everyday, leading up to Holy Thursday there are fireworks and these processions whereby the locals carry different statutes of Jesus around. They go from house to house and a priest blesses the house and the occupants and then they move on. |
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| These elaborate statutes are stored in the living rooms of the devoted for a full year before being brought out to be paraded about town. Each day the scene is different and the size becomes increasingly larger, until the thing is so big that it requires many men to carry it around. |
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| They start at dusk and a person carries a portable generator in a wheel barrow behind so that the statute can be lit for all to see!! |
Well folks that's my trip to Nicaragua. Follow me in my next posting as I head for Guatemala. Cheers!
DIARY ENTRY: Wednesday March 9, 2005 5:48PM: We got up early this morning and was very fortunate to find a guy going to the Nicaraguan border and he was only charging $5.00. Of course, we jumped at the opportunity! We were across the border within a hour. We grabbed a cab with an American girl (Lola) to San Jorge and was on Ometepe by 2:30PM. We're now at a hotel, part way down the first part of the island. It's a really nice area right on the lake. We went for a swim in Lake Nicaragua (very warm) and just finished watching the sunset and sucking on a cold beer!!
DIARY ENTRY: Friday March 11, 2005 5:45PM: Here I am in Granada, the old Spanish colonial city on the top of Lago Nicaragua.
Yesterday (Thursday 03/10/05) we awoke fairly early and decided to rent horses and do some exploring of the island. Once again Brian is given the wild crazy horse! This time I had a little more control, albeit not much. After the exhausting 2 hour ride we made for the lake for a dip. The lake's temperature is similar to the air temperature.....very hot. That night we lazed around until 9:00AM and then went to bed and did some reading. Wayne appears to have come down with Montezuma's Revenge, so there was precious little energy.
Today we were up again at a decent hour hoping to catch the bus to Moyogalpa (the largest town on Ometepe), but the hotel shagged up our bill, so by the time we got to getting that straighten out, we missed any hope of catching the bus. Fortunately, we were able to hitch a ride with three Swedish girls straight to the ferry......well maybe not a real ferry but a boat.!!
Arrived in San Jorge and grabbed a taxi to Rivas and was able to get the chicken bus to Granada just as it was leaving the terminal. During the ride I sat next to a guy from Kingston and he indicated that they were staying at the San Francisco Hotel, so we decided to splurge and do the same, but unfortunately they had no rooms, so we asked the hotel owner if she could recommend a place and she said she had a house for rent at $15pp.....perfect!!!
So here I am sitting in the kitchenette/courtyard writing my journal. Wayne's in his air conditioned bedroom reading (he still got the shit-ens) and maybe later I'll watch a little television or go down to the bar for a beer....aaaah what the heck, I'll open another cold beer here!
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday March 12, 2005 11:06AM: Last night (Friday 03/11/05) Wayne wasn't feeling very well so I went out by myself. Had baby pork ribs at this restaurant....awesome feed!! Came home and watched some TV.
Today we went to the Internet and made a call home to wish Father a Happy Birthday and now we're getting ready to go explore the city and do some grocery shopping.
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday March 13, 2005 5:08PM: Last night (Saturday 03/12/05) we headed out to do some bar hopping. An activity that we've not partaken in very much since we've been here. It was alright but one club was a disco....not for us. The second was a speakeasy.....not for us. The third was a little better......some live music and lots of eye-candy.
Today we took a tour to the Masaya volcano. This is still an active volcano with steam and obnoxious sulphuric gases spewing out of its crater. This was my first experience at seeing an active volcano from the lip. We were able to look right down into the crater. The tour also included a view of four other dormant craters. From there we went to the town of Masaya and did some shopping in the artisans market. I ended up buying a handmade woven hammock for $22 (this was a price I couldn't pass over - but now I have to lug it around). The tour was fun because there were five of us from Canada. We joked and carried on for the entire trip.
Tomorrow it will be a travel day as we head for San Juan del Sur....again by chicken bus.
DIARY ENTRY: Monday March 14, 2005 3:07PM: Today was a no-brainer day. We were supposed to get up and head for San Juan del Sur, however it just didn't materialise. I went to the Hotel San Francisco to see if I could get a weekly rate for the house and book it for two weeks. I was able to get it for $150 per week! I also asked the owner if there was any transportation to the coast and she indicated that another one of her guest was heading there and we were able to arrange private transportation for $15pp. Wayne was also able to book a Tica bus to San Jose (Costa Rica) and I booked Spanish lessons for $60 for 20 hours.
DIARY ENTRY: Thursday March 17, 2005 1:57PM: We arrived (Tuesday 03/15/05) in San Juan del Sur after making arrangements to get here with a driver from Hotel San Francisco. We went straight to the International Joxi Hotel. They had a room with air con and at $13pp, it wasn't the Hilton but it was close to the beach, so we took it.
After getting straighten away, Wayne and I head for the beach to have a swim. The surf was pretty high and we were enjoying poor attempts at body surfing. This young fella from California came along and told us we should rent boogie boards, as they are real cheap, and they're a great bit of fun.....so we did....and he was right, they are a blast!
That night we went to an expensive restaurant and for $40 we had a $4 meal. What a rip off - oh well live and learn.
The next day (Wednesday 03/16/05) we were up early to catch the local water taxi to Playa Majagual. This pristine beach is perfect.....cold beer at the only lodge, cool babes and a great surf. Wayne and I spent most of our day surfing on the rented boogie boards....I love these things!!!
We arrived back in San Juan del Sur and had an excellent seafood casserole at Ricardo's. We were back in bed by 9:30 and watched (yes our room had a TV) the 'Titantic'.
We had a taxi lined up to take us back to Granada this morning at 8:00AM and we there by 10:00. Wayne left at 12:00 to head back to San Jose. I'm going to miss him big time, as we had a good time and I appreciated his company.
Now I'm here writing in my journal and alone for the next 5 weeks (today is actually hump-day). I got laundry and a shower to take care of and I expect that the next few days will be very quiet.
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday March 20, 2005 6:24PM: Here it is Sunday and there has been little happening over the last few days. Basically, I've been sleeping-in when I can and taking siestas from 12 to 3.
Last night I went to the El Club and met an Aussie (Carl) who is bicycling from Alaska to Chile and has been on the road for 6 years. Amazing how these people can do that. I would get so lonely.
DIARY ENTRY: Monday March 21, 2005 5:57PM: Last night (Sunday 03/20/05) Carl and I went for pizza and ended up talking to these two women from Norway. We went for a couple of drinks after. They're volunteering in Guatemala City, so they were telling me all about that country.
This morning I was up bright and early and started my Espanol lessons. Learning mainly the pronouns and common verbs. So far it's going well, we will see how things are after all week.
DIARY ENTRY: Tuesday March 22, 2005 6:26PM: How do I describe the events leading up to Holy Week? When Wayne and I first arrived in Granada and we were walking around we caught glimpse of a group of people carrying a statute around town with a small horn band playing behind them. With the onset of Holy Week these processions are getting bigger and so are the Jesus statutes.
As I was sitting here throngs of people, probably numbering 2000 came marching up my street with the Jesus in tow along with the Virgin Mary and some biblical scene. The first two statutes were carried by several men on their shoulders with them completely covered in purple garments from head to toe. The band following them is getting bigger each night as well and they play the same song....some kinda funeral marching song. This is definitely worth seeing!!
Meanwhile my Spanish lessons seem to be going fairly well but they are requiring a fair amount of work on my part. Definitely four hours of class time and 2 to 3 hours of after class work.
DIARY ENTRY: Wednesday March 23, 2005 6:46AM: Getting ready for Spanish lessons. Well this is the beginning of week #7, only 4 weeks left.
The first thing you hear is the whistle of the police redirecting traffic, then you see the vendors rushing to set up their wares: ice cream, cotton candy, sweets of all sorts, etc etc....it's only at this time do you see the throngs of people coming towards you, like a tide coming in. Thousands of people...and each day the Jesus scene changes. Today it was Jesus and the Romans....and the band is getting bigger (today there were 4 tuba players). The scene is lit up by some guy wheeling a generator around. And the thing you notice is the incense that fills the street. I'm actually looking forward to Good Friday!!
DIARY ENTRY: Thursday March 24, 2005 9:19PM: I'm always amazed at the fervour religion invokes into mankind. It's probably the second strongest emotion next to love!! Today, while walking to my Spanish lessons, I saw three guys being tied to crosses and then hung up in the sweltering heat as if they were being crucified. Amazing devotion.
Tonight I wandered down to central park and was amazed at the throngs of people......literally thousands. Of course I wandered over to check it out...in fact as I walked up the Xalterva Calle, the crowd just got bigger and bigger. Xalterva Calle has three or four churches on it and the crowds were walking from one church to the other. Apparently I must have missed the reason for this, but the crowds in the street reminded me of the Carnival in Athens, Greece, that I experienced three years ago during Easter.
Today I made all my travel arrangements for Guatemala. Booked a flight, arranged a taxi, booked return hotel and bus back to San Jose.....very productive day.
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday March 26, 2005 8:42AM: Just finished breakfast. I bought frosted flakes, yogurt and milk at the market three days ago and that's been my breakfast every morning since.
Well as religious ceremonies go, yesterday was somewhat disappointing, it being Good Friday, I expected more, but it appears Holy Thursday is the big day for celebrations.
Yesterday (Friday 03/25/15) I did precious little, watched a couple of movies, checked email, went to Mona Lisa's for Italian pizza, in bed by 11:00PM....what a party guy!!
Today is my last day of Spanish lessons and then I only have one more day before I head for Guatemala.
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