Inland by Bus

Nicaragua - December, 2005

Saturday, December 10, 2005

We left Marina Puesta del Sol on the 7:30AM local bus to Chinandega.  Even though the road was terrible, first half was dirt and the second half on a terrible pot-hole road, it was smoothed out somewhat by the weight of the over-filled well-used elementary school bus from the States in which we traveled.  In Chinandega we hailed a taxi, $0.50 each, for the ride across town to the bus terminal.  We were soon on another of those old school buses heading for León where we hailed another taxi for the ride to that town’s center.  We were traveling with Dick and Gail from the motor boat Kimtah.  Gail and I waited in the central plaza - people watching - while Dick and Bill went off the find an ATM for Córdobas (the local currency) and to hunt down a hotel.  They returned 1 ½ hours later having not succeeded at either.  Although they had checked out many hotels they wanted the girl’s opinion before they checked in.  We lunched at a café just off the corner of the plaza. 

The café had two recommended hotels that we planned to check out after eating.  As we were walking toward them, Bill’s shoes fell apart; another victim of the hot weather which seems to dry out the glue used in shoes.  Instead of continuing on, we found a nearer hotel that was ok.  We checked into it and leaving our bags we went on a shoe hunt.   Eventually we found the shoe area with plenty of shoe stores all located together.  Bill was lucky to find shoes in his large size, but he did and they turned out to be, thankfully, a comfortable pair.  With Bill wearing new shoes we wandered around the town, settling down in a small cafe for ice cream and a few beers before returning to the hotel for the night.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

After breakfast in the hotel we were off to check out the hotels recommended to us yesterday.  The first one we checked out was lovely; although the rooms were small, the showers had hot water and there was wi-fi to the internet so we checked in and returned to the other hotel to check out and retrieve our packs.  After getting settled in our new lodgings we did a walking tour of the churches north of the main plaza, ending up at the same corner restaurant, El Sesteo, as the day before.  As we were eating lunch, workers started tearing down a work shed across the street with much banging.  We were informed that it was being taken down for a horse parade that was to pass that way later in the afternoon.   We decided to wait for the parade at a table outside while sipping cervezas.  Dick and I walked over to the little plaza previously hidden by the shed.  An older gentleman came over to describe the wonderful mural that decorated the wall on two sides of the plaza.  It told of the history of the local Indians from before the arrival of the Spaniards to the present and was not only pretty but full of information.  Most interesting to me was a painting of the three “swords” under which the Indians had suffered; that of the Indian warriors, that of the Spaniards and the third was the bishop’s crook.  

While Dick and I were enjoying the mural, Gail and Bill were conversing with three street urchins.  Dick and I returned and the conversations with the children continued as we were waiting for the arrival of the horses.  Gail and I purchased apples for the three children - a real treat.  The horses finally arrived late in the afternoon and it was quite a disorganized parade as the wealthy showed off their mounts. 

We ate dinner in a roof-top restaurant with the electricity off more than it was on this evening.  The whole town loses electricity quite frequently in the early evenings.  We returned to the hotel to discover that there also was no water pressure.  Such is life in a third world country!!  

Monday December 12, 2005

We started out the day at the main cathedral, hoping to get a tour of the bell tower and the basement catacombs.  It was not to be, as the tour guide was out of town until the next day.  We walked across the street for a late breakfast at El Sesteo again.  The hotel provided a small continental breakfast that had kept us going until then.  It was then time for more exploring.  We walked south toward a church that we could see in the distance thinking that we were walking toward Subtiava but ended up at Iglesia de Guadalupe on her special day, so the church was highly decorated.  Since we were trying to get to the nearby fort with its supposedly great view, Bill asked directions from some folks in the plaza in front of the church.  We followed the directions confirming the directions with folks that we met along the way.   The road soon turned to dirt and we picked up two young boys that wanted to guide and protect us on the walk up the hill.  The road passed right through the city dump and a few families were there separating out the recyclables.  All wanted their photos taken!!  The view from the fort was good but not as great as the guide book indicated.  The fort itself was not too spectacular; it reminded us of other WWI forts that we had visited in Washington state, only this was much smaller.  We did get some photos of the city before we headed down the other side of the hill toward Subtiava.  Somehow as we passed thru Subtiava we missed the church and ended up walking all the way back at León’s main plaza. 

We fell into a pizza restaurant - very tired and ready for the cervezas that we consumed and the very large pizza that we shared.  We hobbled back to the hotel for a shower and rest before heading out again for dinner after dark.  Not being too hungry after our late lunch we settled for just banana splits. 

Tuesday December 13, 2005

Bill took advantage of the wi-fi network in the hotel to surf the web last night and I wrote Gretchen an e-mail that got sent. 

This morning we got to explore the cathedral both below and above.  We had an informative guide who lead us thru the four lit rooms in the catacombs pointing out the ventilation ducts, entrances to passageways that connected the other churches in León, (now sealed off due to sewer smells) and interesting artifacts displayed there.  We then climbed the many steps to the north bell tower.  Many old bells hang there but they are seldom rung.  Instead a rack of bells that were once rung with motors, long dead, are now used.  We then climbed out on the roof and even higher onto the roof over the main sanctuary for a look around the city.  The other churches that been on the tunnel network were pointed out to us and there are many!!!  After the tour we lunched at El Sesteo again, then returned to the hotel and checked out and were off to the bus terminal.  We caught a bus heading to San Isidro but got off just short of that city, leaving the bus where the pot hole mountain road that we had just traveled met the Pan American highway.  We waited on the corner for short time eventually boarding a bus to take us the rest of the way to Matagalpa.  Arriving in Matagalpa after 4 PM Bill and Dick had difficulty finding us an acceptable hotel but they sniffed one out and we were soon settled into a room for the night.  After cleaning up a bit we headed out to find dinner.  We stopped at the first nice looking restaurant and it was a good choice as the food was great and they made fruit liquados like we had enjoyed in Mazatlán.

Wednesday December 14, 2005

After breakfast and a tour through the central church we were off to Selva Negra (a working coffee plantation plus hotel, high in the mountains) in a taxi.  We first went to the central bus station where we hoped to find a bus heading our way.  Instead a taxi driver offered to take us the entire way into the ranch for only 150 Córdobas, about $9 US, saving us the walk up the long driveway.  In Selva Negra the four of us checked into a two bedroom cottage.  Lunch at the resort was big and wonderful.  The ranch is run by third generation Nicaraguan-Germans so we enjoyed sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes.  Much of the food is grown on the ranch but their main activity is coffee growing and they were in the midst of harvest.   We took the van tour of the ranch in the late afternoon discovering that they grow much more than just coffee now;  flowers for selling, most of their own food including cows, pigs and chickens.  They have housing for their workers complete with a play yard and school for the children. 

Thursday December 15, 2005

We enjoyed a big breakfast then we tackled one of the many mountain trails on the ranch.  We hiked thru the forest and over many small streams and wet places; it rained each night while we were there.  Our hike took us about two hours and we ended up back at the restaurant.  We all rested on the front porch for awhile before Dick and I decided to walk down the road and see what we could photograph from our van tour of the day before.  We walked thru the employee housing with the pretty little gardens in front of each unit, thru the coffee cherry processing plant, and down the road to where the pickers were just finishing up their lunch of gallo pinto (a bean and rice dish) and returning to work.  Dick and I struggled back up the hill to join Bill and Gail for a much deserved late lunch.

Friday December 16, 2005

This was another day of bus travel.  After breakfast we packed up, checked out of our rooms and called “our” taxi for the ride back to the Matagalpa bus terminal.  There we caught a bus heading to Managua but only stayed on it as far as Tipitapa, about 2 ½ hours down the road.  In Tipitapa we again waited on the corner for a bus, this time heading to Masaya.  Masaya was a short bus hop away and as it passed one of the hotels we exited the bus.  The town seemed rather shabby and we finally found a restaurant for a beer which Gail and I enjoyed while Dick and Bill checked out the hotel situation.  They only found dingy dirty places so we opted to move on to Granada.  We flagged down a taxi to the terminal and were soon on a bus headed to Granada. 

In Granada, not knowing where we had landed at the bus terminal, we hailed a taxi to take us to the hotel recommended by other cruisers as “lovely”.  In Bill’s and my opinion the hotel was very nice - clean rooms, TV, AC and bathrooms with only cold water.  After checking in the first chore was to find food.  We headed for a pizza place recommended by the hotel but not finding it we found another one where the pasta was great.  After eating we walked the four blocks to the central plaza - which was all lit up for Christmas - and we enjoyed the Christmas scene with the locals.

Saturday December 17, 2005

Bill and I ate breakfast solo this morning and then walked off exploring.  We tried to find the tour office recommended in the guide book but it had moved, but Bill managed to track it down anyway.  They had several interesting tours, three of which were of interest to us.  The tour of Mombacho Volcano, a canopy tour and a kayak tour of the many little Islets in Lake Nicaragua.  We inspected several other hotels as we walked back to ours and decided that where we already were was good enough.  Bill and I were visiting in the patio rocking chairs when Dick and Gail returned.  Dick had been to the barber for a hair trim and he had little hair left!!!  The four of us walked down to the lake hoping to find a lunch spot overlooking the water.   We only found one restaurant on the waterfront street and it was across the street from the lake.  We checked out the old ferry terminal and returned to the lone restaurant for beers and several hors d’oeuvre plates.  On the return walk we checked out the Iglesia de Guadalupe where a wedding was just about to start. 

Sunday December 18, 2005

Bill woke up with a cold this morning but in spite of it we had a nice breakfast at Kathy’s Waffles.  The coffee and food was so good that we ate all the rest of our breakfasts while in Granada there.  Bill returned to the room to rest while Dick, Gail and I walked over to check out the museum in Ex-Convento San Francisco.  The museum contained - among other items - indigenous stone statues uncovered in Isla Ometepe (the big double volcano island in Lake Nicaragua).  After the museum we toured the city’s churches.  Most of them were open for Sunday services and between the services we did not mind entering to photograph their interiors.  An interesting note was that the altars of the churches did not contain a cross as we are used to, but only statues of saints or the Virgin.  We continued walking up one of the main streets to the fort.  Then across on one of the major around town streets and finally back down into town on another of the major streets.  The three of us stopped for lunch at Zoom’s Bar, the local ex-pat hang out (near our hotel) and I continued on to the hotel to rescue Bill for the late lunch.  After a rest in the hotel we ate a very late dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Monday December 19, 2005

With Bill feeling better today, we headed back to Masaya on the bus just to spend a few hours exploring the city.  The express bus that we caught conveniently near the plaza in Granada left us off at the edge of town near Masaya.  We walked a ways toward town and visited the old train station where fireworks vendors had set up numerous small stands to sell fireworks for the upcoming holidays. 

From there we hailed a taxi to the hammock factory area.  The local residents of this section of town have small hammock factories in their homes.  The hammocks were spectacular and we watched the knotting for a while before continuing the short distance to the lake overlook.  We continued around back to the main plaza where we stopped to enjoy a coke while watching the locals.  One local couple was eating lunch and when they finished they passed the plates to two boys from the park so that the boys could finish the food.  Nicaragua is a poor country, but we have not seen the overwhelming poverty that was so obvious in Mexico as the Nicaraguans seem to take care of each other.  We continued our walk to the old market that is now a tourist shopping mecca with arts and crafts items from all over the country being sold and also the usual tourist items such as tee-shirts.  Bill and I bought two tee-shirts and (since we are traveling light) nothing else.  Gail could not restrain herself and came out with a bag full of goodies.  We enjoyed a beer at one of the three restaurants in the market but were not ready yet for food.  We walked the rest of the distance to the bus terminal and were soon back in Granada.  We walked back to the hotel to clean up and rest.  Dinner was a very nice affair at the Hotel San Francisco, one of the nicer hotels in town.  We enjoyed nice steaks with all the trimmings including desert and drinks for less than $45 US per couple.

Tuesday December 20, 2005

After a leisurely breakfast today, we scheduled two tours with Tierra Tours whose office we passed every morning on our way to breakfast.  We scheduled kayaking in the Granada Islets for tomorrow and then for the next day the combined tour of volcano Mombacho and the canopy tour.  Then it was off to the market for shopping.  Dick and Gail needed another backpack to carry all of their purchases home in and Bill picked up a smallish pack to carry on our mountain tour.  For the kayaking, I picked up a pair of disposable sandals for less than a dollar and after much hunting, we finally found Bill a nice pair of sandals to wear in the kayak and then to have as a spare pair on the boat.  We spent some more time just exploring the market and Bill even found a nice pair of very light weight slacks.  While Dick and Gail visited the internet, Bill and I did some more shopping ending up at Zoom’s Bar with beer and popcorn while we waited for Dick and Gail to return.  After they arrived we moved on to a pizza place since Zoom’s does not have food on Tuesday.  There we shared several pizzas, washing it down with some more beers.

Wednesday December 21, 2005

Bill took his computer to breakfast this morning to take advantage of the wi-fi network there.  We sent and received e-mail with our morning coffee!!!  My tummy was rumbley today, so we spent the rest of the morning relaxing in our rooms, only going out for a light lunch.  We wanted to be rested and ready for the kayak tour at 3PM. 

At 3 we met at the tour office with Manuel our guide and another tourist, making 6 in our group.  We taxied to the waterfront where we each climbed into a kayak and paddled the short distance to a group of very small almost adjoining islands.  In the islands we paddled thru twisty narrow shallow channels viewing the verdant plant life and the birds that were returning to the islands for the night, just as we were finishing our tour of the islands.  The wind, and therefore the waves, had built in Lake Nicaragua while we were in the protection of the islands.  The paddle back to the beach was interesting as the waves were sometimes more in control of the kayak’s heading than were the paddles.  We returned to shore wet, somewhat muddy and quite tired.  After a shower in the hotel we met at a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  My tummy finally decided to really act up and I was up much of the night so Thursday morning Bill rescheduled our mountain trip for Friday.

Friday December 23, 2005

By 9:30 we were in a van heading toward Volcán Mombacho.  There were the four of us and another couple from the recently formed country of Slovenia.  The van took us as far as the base of the mountain.  We then climbed into the back of an old army truck for the ride up the mountain.  It made a stop at the headquarters of a coffee plantation, one of many farms located on the lower slopes of the mountain.  After a short wait and a taste of coffee, we boarded another similar vehicle that ferried us up the steep part of the mountain to the crater.  We hiked around one of the three calderas on the mountain, side-tripping only slightly to view some steam vents in the still active volcano.  From this area there was a great view over the city of Granada and the islands where we had kayaked two days before. 

We returned to the trail head where we again boarded the truck for the trip down the mountain.  About 2/3 of the way down we got off for the canopy tour.  We were first loaded up with safety gear then walked out to a lower wire to try out the new sport.  Soon we were up in the trees gliding along wires strung high in the trees between platforms.  It was loads of fun and we even saw a monkey above us in one of the trees. 

Returning to Granada we stopped off in Zoom’s to enjoy some beers with our new friends.  While there, one of the ditch digging boys who Bill had earlier given water to – Ezekiel - came by and invited us to spend Christmas Eve with his family.  Of course we planned to go.  (Bill had purchased bottles of water and sometimes soda pop that he distributed on several days to the ditch diggers in the heat of the afternoon.  A new sewer line was being installed along the main street.)

Saturday December 24, 2005            Christmas Eve

Planning to attend Ezekiel’s family’s Christmas Eve activities which would run until after midnight, we spent much of the day resting only going out for breakfast and lunch.   Bill and I made a trip to the market to purchase some apples, candies and a bag to hold it all to take as a gift that evening.  Ezekiel came by for us about 6:30 PM as promised and Bill and I walked with him the 7 blocks to his home.  Gail and Dick opted not to attend as it was Gail’s turn for the cold. 

We spent the evening with Ezekiel’s parents mostly, as other relatives and friends came and went.  For Christmas Eve many of the residential streets were decorated, piñatas hanging over them and family groups walking or playing in them or shooting off fireworks.  The tradition is for the younger family members to go out visiting while, usually, the older ones stay home to accept the many visitors, providing food to those who desire it.  Bill and I were fed a nice dinner of chicken, vegetables and rice and were continuously asked if we wanted any more to eat.  Ezekiel’s family seemed to be middle class with a nice home holding a dress shop in its front room and a real nice patio/front porch.  Ezekiel is only 14, and is always working at something to earn extra school money. 

The electricity was off to the entire street when we arrived and the work crews got it back on several times but it would not stay on for much over 30 minutes due to a bad transformer.  The evening was spent in candle light which I felt was quite appropriate for Christmas Eve and also made viewing the “waterfalls” and other fireworks easier.  At midnight there were lots of firework booms and many more brilliant ones set off.  There were even some high flyers set off from the churches.  Ezekiel and a brother and a friend walked us back to our hotel shortly after midnight.  Many homes were open and the results of Christmas were visible.  New toys, brightly lit trees inside, and of course, the paper shards of the many firecrackers covered the streets. 

Sunday December 25, 2005              Christmas Day

When Bill and I walked off to breakfast, Dick and Gail were still fast asleep and Gail was still asleep when we returned at 9.  Ezekiel showed up just before 10 when Dick and Gail were just heading out to find breakfast.  Instead of their going out to breakfast, all four of us followed Ezekiel home.  Dick and Gail did not miss breakfast entirely, as soon after our arrival at Ezekiel’s, his mother set four plates of chicken stew on the table for us.  I ate what I could after the big breakfast only a few hours before but the other three almost emptied their plates.  We spent the morning visiting with Ezekiel’s dad (a captain of one of the large transport boats on Lake Nicaragua), but left before 1PM so that we could enjoy the turkey dinner that Zoom’s Bar was fixing up for their gringo crowd.  Ezekiel went with us and stopped by Zoom’s to enjoy a few cokes before heading out to enjoy the afternoon with his friends.  After he left we stuffed ourselves with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and the rest of the trimmings including cranberry sauce and ice cream.  A nap followed the filling meal.  Then after dark we walked back to the plaza to take a buggy ride to see the sites and lights of Granada.  This was followed by a few night caps at Hotel Alhambra on the central plaza while we watched the crowds slowly disappear.

Monday December 26, 2005

Today was a lazy morning followed by a busy afternoon.  Bill and I again were off to breakfast before Dick and Gail.  They arrived just as we finished eating so we lingered over more cups of coffee before returning to the hotel.  Ezekiel showed up at the hotel again just before 11AM to lead us to the small artsy town of Santa Catarina with a Mirador overlooking Lago Apoyo - a collapsed volcano crater now with a lake in the bottom.  We caught a local bus that dropped us off on the main road at the edge of the little town.  There we climbed into a small three-wheeled taxi for the ride up to the Mirador.  The view was spectacular but it was real windy, and after getting some photos we found a restaurant with a table near a window overlooking the lake.  Taking our time we ate an enjoyable lunch and then started the walk down the hill to the bus stop.  The street we walked along is lined with tourist shops selling ceramic vases, wind chimes, wooden boxes and other artsy items.  These shops are interspersed with nurseries containing lots of green plants and flowers.  It was a fun downhill walk and soon we reached the main road where a short wait brought us a bus to carry us back to Granada.  These buses are jokingly called “chicken buses” but this one really had a live chicken in a gunny sack being carried home for the stew pot.  With no refrigeration in many of the homes, many chickens are sold alive in the market and not slaughtered until time to cook it.

Tuesday December 27, 2005

It was Dick’s turn for the cold, so after breakfast he returned to the hotel to rest while the rest of us went off to the market shopping.  We have a ride scheduled for the morning to return us all the way back to Marina Puesta de Sol, so Gail and I went on a fresh veggie and fruit hunt.  For very little money we each ended up with a large bag of produce.  We took our bags to the plaza to rest with a drink while Bill did his shopping at the hardware stores.  It took several stores but he ended up with 5 new drill bits.  These will hopefully help him drill out the bolt part that is stuck in the prop shaft.  Late in the afternoon, forgetting that it was Tuesday, we went over to Zoom’s for some beers hoping for hamburgers, but “no food on Tuesday”.  We walked one more block closer to the park where we stopped at another restaurant that served hamburgers.  They were quite good burgers but not quite as nice as Zoom’s; but they made up for the lack by having ice cream. 

Wednesday December 28, 2005

We ate a continental breakfast in the hotel, as our ride was scheduled to pick us up at 8AM.  Jaime our driver showed up in his SUV just after 8.  He had been born and raised in Granada and knew how to get out of town without passing thru its busy center.  The new road to Chinandega was a nice highway except where it passed Masaya.  It skirted just west of Managua, giving us a great view of the capitol city and Lake Managua with the chain of volcanoes in the background.  Jaime stopped several places to allow for picture taking and then suggested that we had time to visit San Jacinto Hot Springs.  After we passed León we headed off on the same bad road we had taken to Matagalpa.  The springs were about 20 minutes up the pot-hole road and were a quite interesting assortment of bubbling mud pots of assorted colors and steam vents in the bottom of a caldera.  Upon pulling up to the gate of the area we were greeted by lots of children all wanting to be our guides for a few Córdobas.  We picked guides for each of us but the rest came along anyway.  Our “special” guides picked up some of the clay and as we walked made small clay pots for us.  They were careful to caution us about where not to step and were quite animated as children will be.  We had a great time visiting with them and left behind many more that the few Córdobas asked for.  The families live in the caldera area, eking an existence from the few tourists that get there.  A new thermo-electric generating plant is to be built using the hot rocks below the surface to make steam.  This should bring much needed jobs. 

We returned to the main road and continued on to Chinandega where we lost the good road and had to travel the “more pot hole than not” road to the turn-off onto the dirt road that returned us back to Puesta and home.  Jaime was interested in our boats so he came down to visit each and then Dick invited him for lunch at the hotel.  It was after 3PM before he got started on the 5 hour drive back to Granada.