Nicaragua in a nutshell - April 2016

The streets of Granada

It was to be nearly three weeks until we started our next house sit in Panama so we took the opportunity to see some of Central America on the way.  We flew from San Francisco via Miami to Managua, Nicaragua.  All of our research advised us against stopping in Managua (research can, of course, be totally subjective and not always to be relied upon, but none-the-less we are not big city fans) so we ordered a shuttle straight from the airport to a Hostel in Granada.  This is one thing we have learnt on our travels - if we have flown to a new country/timezone/language, pay a bit extra for a reliable mode of transport to your accommodation.  It is when you are at your most tired and all your senses are overloaded that you are most likely to be "taken for a ride" so to speak! 

 Our first impressions of Nicaragua were of a third world, hot, easygoing, friendly country showing the ravages of a civil war finishing only 25 years ago.  Our hostel, El Momento, was comfortable but basic.  No hot running water and in fact the cold water barely ran most of the time, but the staff were friendly and it was very well appointed, just a short walk to the main square - Parque Central.  Granada is something of a touristy town but you wouldn't know it.  We decided to stay a few days, get our bearings, rest up (cos we are so busy!) and try to stay out of the heat.  Did we mention the heat!!!!

We spent a blissful day poolside at the flash hotel around the corner where you can pay $6.00 for the use of their piscina. Bet the ducks didn't pay!!!!

We walked to Lago Nicaragua.  Fairly unimpressive.

And thoroughly enjoyed the local cuisine.

Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) with fried plantain chips,
chicken, coleslaw and plantains

Our favourite! Vigoron with Chia and Tamarind Jugo
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigor%C3%B3n

Before leaving Granada we had decided we were carrying too much - even though we only had a pack and a day pack each - so we gave our tent and two sleeping bags to a charity that takes kids camping and a pair of shoes and a bottle of after shave to the very happy staff at El Momento.

As we never really have a plan on where to go next, we rely on information from other travellers we talk to along the way.  So when it came time to leave Granada we had decided on a ferry trip to Ometepe, an island in the middle of Lago Nicaragua, best known for the two resident volcanoes that tourists like to climb.  Thank goodness we don't consider ourselves tourists!

The local bus to Rivas was just what we expected and we were bemused to discover that the "gringos" pay 50 cordobas (US$1.75) as they get on the bus, then the helper guy comes round after we have left and collects 30 cords from the locals.  Maybe we were paying extra to have our packs thrown up on the roof ... whatever this surcharge is for, you can't begrudge it in the least :-)  From Rivas we needed to get a taxi to the ferry at San Jorge.  Having struck up a conversation with the Irish guy behind us on the bus and the French guy in front of us, we happily negotiated a fare for all, arriving in time for a cold beer before the boat left port.  The guy from the bar even cut the queue for us to buy our ferry tickets! (The internet regurgitates all sorts of information on taxi drivers and bus drivers in co-hoots, ripping the tourists off.  We are pleased to say this never happened to us, and we wonder how much just gets lost in translation because of the language barrier). 

We stayed at The Landing in Ometepe, just a wee walk from the ferry - as the name suggests.

The Landing

Relaxing on the roof

Sunset at Ometepe

These little shelters in the middle of the lake are for washing
clothes (and fish maybe!)

 By this time we had discovered that getting anything like an accurate bus schedule in Central America was next to impossible.  Even the locals would tell you a different story each time you asked.  We decided to take a bus ride to the natural springs of Ojo de Aqua.  We arrived early morning in the dirt carpark at the bottom of the road and when the bus pulled up, had a most interesting conversation about where we wanted to get off.  But it seemed we couldn't get off wherre we wanted for some reason we couldn't understand.  As far as we had seen, all the buses stopped anywhere to let people on and off,. No matter, we are always up for an adventure so on the bus we hopped.   We were the only Europeans on the bus (as usual) as the other tourists on the island preffered to hire a scooter (more on that later).  It wasn't long after setting off that we realised that the bus was going the other way round the volcano and would not pass where we had asked to get off anyway.  That is what the bus driver was trying to tell us!  Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed the dirt road trip to Altagracia and when we arrived at the square in the middle of town, there was a bus waiting to take us past the springs anyway ... that is what else the driver was trying to convey.

Local abode

To get home we were facing about a 3km walk in the blazing sun to the main road to catch a bus.  Armed with plenty of water and not averse to a bit of exercise (climbing volcanoes in the heat of the day notwithstanding) we set off.  We had barely walked half a km when a kind local stopped and offered us a ride on the back of his cattle truck.  It was as he was letting us off at the main road the we saw a couple of aforementioned scooter hirers come a cropper on their bike.  Ouch!  Looked like it hurt too.  Anyway, a short bus ride back to base and an enjoyable day was had by all.

 Each day we ate at the street carts of some of the local ladies around the corner from our hostel who served very local fare.  Either empanadas with coleslaw or chicken, rice and salad ... always with a delicious drink ... cocoa de frio, chia, ginger ... whatever was on offer that day was absolutely fine by us.  We never did work out the price structure, but it was never more than a couple of dollars each.

The taxi ride from the ferry terminal to Rivas turned into a stroke of luck.  Once again a couple of young German guys asked if they could share a taxi as we were negotiating with a driver.  We all piled in, and through conversation discovered we were all headed for the Costa Rican boarder - Penas Blancas.  We asked the driver how much to take us all and it turned out only $5.00 each.  Bargain for an hours drive.  Also was going to save on waiting around Rivas for the next bus and those bus rides can take forever!

"Chicken" (local) bus

We had read on-line that at the border people would try to sell us the exit cards which you can get for free inside the building.  Sure enough they were everywhere.  When we got into the building, having dodged them all, we were approached by a woman who told us we had to pay a dollar to buy some official kind of paper.  So we did.  Turned out we didn't need to but the official guy behind the counter wasn't going to tell us.  Trouble is that each boarder has a different process and payment structure in and out of the country and it is hard to get any confirmed information, even online.  Oh well, what's a buck ..... more important to her than us.