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| Granada, Nicaragua. |
So Wednesday night is Ladies Night here in San Pedro and knowing that we had to catch a 7:30 am bus to Nicaragua in the morning, we thought it would be a good idea to go out the night before anyway even though our Tica mamá advised us not to. Needless to say we woke up to our mamá frantically running into our room at 6:30 when the cab was already outside waiting for us. Still a bit tipsy at this point we piled into the cab and headed to the bus station. Once on the bus we all put our headphones on and drifted back into our comas. We were awoken about 5 hours later to a man asking for our passports and $16 which he continued to put into a plastic bag with everyone else's. We looked around at each-other a bit confused but thought nothing of it because we were far too tired. We then stoped at the Costa Rican side of the border and got off with our luggage, walked up to a ticket counter with our passports, received a stamp and were hurried back onto the bus. A few minutes later, we stoped again, this time at the Nicaraguan side of the border and were immediately bombarded by people trying to rip us off by changing our money. Here we put our luggage onto a bench and someone came around to "check" all the bags, and by check I mean stared at for less than 1 second and made a hand gesture to move on. We were then called back on the bus by our passports, gringos last.
We arrived in Managua around 4 pm and hopped into a shitty cab where the doors barely even closed. The first thing the cab driver tells us is to leave Managua asap and go to Granada because Managua is dangerous and ugly. We decided to stay and headed over to our hostel where they are also confused why we want to stay there. The hostel itself was very nice and we met some cool people and had a nice dinner. The next day we awoke early and heard back from a friend who lives in Managua and was more than willing to pick us up in his car and drive us wherever we wanted to go (We had met Alejandro in a bar in San Jose, CR and he told us if we were even in Nicaragua to call him). He picked us up from our hostel and brought us to a huge market in Managua that sold everything from useless touristy trinkets, shampoo, stereos, hammocks, anything made out of leather... Then realizing we had no idea what we were doing in Managua, Alejandro drove us to some of the best look out points through the beautiful roads of Nicaragua. In the afternoon he drove us all the way to Granada which took almost 2 hours and dropped us off at our hostel and walked in with us to make sure it seemed O.K. Nicas are so nice!
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| View from Managua, Nicaragua. |
We settled into the hostel and waited for it to stop raining (it was pouring!) and began to venture the city looking for some cheap food. We ended up at a pizza place which was good and not terribly expensive and here we met our friend Ken. Ken (an American) spotted us from afar and somehow ended up at our table telling us all about Granada. He insisted on taking us to another bar and buying us far too many rum and cokes and we sat on the main strip drinking, people watching and learning all about Granada. He told us about the kids, as young as 4 years old, who roam the streets asking for money while huffing glue used to fix shoes from soda bottles and fall asleep in the doorways of the colorful buildings of the European looking city. Also, we learned about the 70 year old white men who come down there and buy property, meaning land, but also take advantage of the fact that prostitution is legal and anything you want won't cost you more than $20. Besides these minor details, which honestly most people probably don't even notice on their own, Granada is surprisingly safe (Nicaragua being the third safest country in the world). After a few bottles of Flor de Caña we walked around the city feeling its liveliness every step of the way. We ended the night singing and dancing in the gazebo in the middle of the central park.
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| Granada, Nicaragua. |
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| Granada, Nicaragua. |
The next day we ignored our hangovers and woke up at 7:30 to get a head start on exploring the city in daylight. We walked to the port and found a man who would take us on a one and a half hour boat ride through The Isletas, which is an archipelago of 365 little volcanic islands situated inside Cocibolca Lake. They were formed when Volcan Mombacho blew its cone into the lake. Many of the isletas are already built upon or up for sale, some of them go for as cheap as $65,000!The boat was small and private, the sun was shining, and the views were amazing. It was a very tranquil boat ride and we even got to see some monkeys who reside on one of the small islands.
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| Doesn't this look like the cover of Big Fish??? |
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| Locals hanging laundry on one of the isletas. |
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| One of the many beautiful homes on the isletas. |
We then walked back through the city and decided to check out the central market. We were expecting something similar to the market in Granada, or the ones here in San Jose, CR, but this market was completely different. As we encroached, the hustle and bustle of the streets got louder and busier. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but once inside you could feel the life of the market bursting through. There were men and women from ages 0 to 100 hurrying around buying and selling pretty much everything. Men pushing wood wheeled carts down the street, and women with baskets the size of bus tires balancing atop their heads. The market was in no way a tourist attraction in the sense that it sold wooden boxes engraved with "Yo <3 Nicaragua," because it didn't. It was a place where the residents of Granada would go every morning to pick up spices and meat for the day, or underwear and clothing for their children. It is just as much a part of the city as the people who live in it.
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| Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua. |
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| Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua. |
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| Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua. |
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| Mercado Central, Granada, Nicaragua. |
After the market, feeling alive and eager, we decided to walk to the the cemetery. The architecture of many of the tomb stones and buildings was beautiful and even more so were the inscriptions on them. The further we walked into the cemetery, the simpler the burials appeared to be and everyone we encountered on our way through greeted us with a kind smile. There was a burial occurring while we were there and a band playing music. Between the sweet music and the setting sun, the cemetery was transformed into a beautiful and tranquil place set aside from the bustling city.
The next morning we awoke early again and headed out to the old train station which was honestly nothing special. Madeleine and I then continued on our journey to San Juan del Sur, while Cate and Laura stayed in Granada devoting their time to helping a select few children from the street by bringing them to the lagoon and offering them a place to bath and buying them lunch!
San Juan del Sur is only about an hour from the Costa Rican border and is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We arrived in the afternoon and immediately headed to the beach, which was right across the street from our hostel, and lied in the sand until sun set. We headed to Iguana for dinner and some free drinks right on the beach, because every night is Ladies Night apparently. The next morning we woke up at 6:30 am, made some pancakes at the hostel and lied on the beach until it was time to head back to the Ticabus stop to embark on our 10 hour trip back into San Jose, CR. And here we are back in San Jose where the weather is almost 20 degrees cooler and the beach is much further away.. Needless to say, I love Nicaragua.
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| Sunset at San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. |
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| 8:00 am, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. |
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| San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. |
