Nicaragua

I knew I would be very angry at myself, if I didn't set foot into another country in Central America... So I decided to travel to Nicaragua, since it was much closer... I tried to recruit people for about a week, yet no one was quite up for the journey, so I had to venture out alone... Talk about extreme! My lease had just ended with Dona Janette, and I was defenitly ready to get away ... So I left early Sunday morning on a 6 hour bus to Penas Blancas... Sure the trip took long, but at least I was comfortable, with my headphones, plenty space, and sitting right by the window looking out into the western countryside of Costa Rica... This would be my one and only comfortable ride on this experience... I got to Penas Blancas, the frontier of Costa Rica & Nicaragua, around 2ish, and as I figured it was a total headache going through customs... The first thing I noticed right away as I stepped out of the bus, was that the place was extremely dirty! Garbage everywhere! I kind of just went with the flow of people, and waited in line for a good 30 minutes to get my passport stamped... All during this time, there were people hassling me for help and money... I also realized that I didn't have any Cordobas, the Nicaraguan currency, yet wasn't too worried about it yet... After I was cleared to leave Costa Rica, I stepped into Nicaragua, and once again had to wait in a line for customs... Yet they didn't check my bag or anything which was rather peculiar...

So once I had my documents all taken care of, I had to decide which bus to take... To be honest, I had no plan whatsoever!! All I knew was that I wanted to see Granada and Managua, the two biggest cities in the country... Yet I had no clue how to get there, and what's even funnier is I had no clue about the map of Nicaragua... I won't lie, for that first hour in Nicaragua I felt very lost, trying to figure out which bus to take... And I got to say the Nicos were definetly not very helpful either, so of course my first impression was that they were just flat out unfriendly people... but thats an inaccurate assumption since I think any body around Customs is naturally grumpy and stressed out... So finally I found a bus to Rivas, which would connect me to Granada... This bus ride was my first taste of Nico travel, uncomfortable seats, packed to the brim, and extremely bumpy roads... Yet luckily it took less than an hour to get to Rivas...

In Rivas, I got my first real glimpse of a Nicaraguan city... Poor and extremely Dirty! I first walked to find a restaurant so i could use the bathroom... There I ordered my first Tona, the Nicaraguan beer of choice... Afterwards, I returned to the bus terminal and climbed (quite literally) onto a bus to Granada... There were no seats of course, so I had to stand in the isle way of the bus, observing the Nico people... "Dirty" is the only word that comes to mind... They liter as if the world was a giant dumpster... Drink a bottle of pop and through it out the window, eat a bag of chips and throw the bag out the window... It's quite annoying but whatever, I guess thats their way of life... So anyway, the bus ride was pretty much shoulder to shoulder for a good hour, and when I finally got to Granada in the evening, I was dead tired! So I quickly found a cheap hotel, had some Gallo Pinto for dinner, a Tona, and hit the hay early!

The next morning I awoke early, to take on the full day. I began by venturing through the streets of Granada... It's a pretty cool city! It's got an old school Spanish-style colonial vibe to it, with extremely colorful buildings, horses in the streets, a lack of electricity, and so forth... I hung out in the central park for a while, very close to the amazing yellow Cathedral of Granada, trying to figure out my barrings... Shortly after I had some Gallo Pinto for breakfast, and then walked out to the Lake of Nicaragua... This water was an extremely dirty, brownish-blue color... this came as no surprise after seeing how dirty these people live... yet my experience at the lake was good... There I meet some young Nica girls, named Winnie Pamela and Carina... Me & Winnie hung out together for several hours just talking on the beach, listening to music, and so forth... Her key word was "Tuanis"... Meaning everything was good! We also went swimming, yet only for a while.


At around 1-ish, I had to bid the girls farewell to journey onward... My next sight to see was the Volcano of Masaya, in a city about an hour north of Granada. I easily caught a bus and got to the park without much of a problem... And instead of paying to take a ride to the top of the volcano, I decided to hike up that volcano... It was an hour walk uphill along a road... The weather was humid, and after a good 5 minutes I was drenched in sweat... A girl at the visitors center, tried to convince me to pay for the ride, yet I said nonsense, and became more determined to make it to the top... I had my headphones with me, some good Classic Rock and pressed onward and upward... As I got higher, the sight only got better, especially when I turned back to look how high I had climbed... Soon I was walking through clouds, and could see the glorious crater of Masaya, with erupting smoke... Yet I wanted a better view, so I journeyed up the stairway to heaven, to see the world from the highest peak! And that might have been one of the most incredible sights I had ever seen! It was as if I could see all of Nicaragua right then and there... It was especially more gratifying knowing that I had climbed it! I spent a good hour up in that peak taking pictures, and trying to get as many different views as I could... Along with the amazing downward view into the Crater, and the infinite land range of Nicaragua, there were also winding trails, a great green gorge, several snakes, and an incredible view of a lake. Yet before I knew it, it was 5pm, and the park ranger was flagging me down. So I had to go, yet was able to hitch a free ride back with the rangers... That hike was definetely the "peak" of my Nicaraguan experience...

Journeying back to Masaya was another experience, consisting of ALOT of walking along a highway... When I finally got on the bus back to Granada I was pretty tired, yet of course no surprise I had to stand the whole time, in a very awkward position! Typical Nicaragua! That night I was happy to find a cheap Hostel... I took a quick shower, and then stepped back out to take in some late night Granada... Nothing more scarier than Granada at night... there are no street lights whatsoever, with Nicos all hanging outside their doors, watching and staring at you! I know by experience, because sure enough I took several bad turns that night... Yet I walk fast and always try to look confident as if I know where I'm going, and never pull a U-turn... so I pressed forward through dark streets, full of young hoodlum Nicos, kids playing futbol in the streets, and late night parties... and I was able to achieve my goal of finding a cheap Nico restauraunt, some souvenirs, and some Tona and Victoria beers... and yes Pablo, Victorias are definetly better than Tonas! anyway I was extremely happy when I was finally safe back in my room...

Although I really wanted to see Managua, and had come so close, I had simply run out of time... I knew the trip back to Costa Rica would take all day, so I awoke around 7 to get an early start... and things worked out beautifully that day... caught a bus to Rivas and had some good breakfast there... then caught a bus to Penas Blancas, prepared for the headache to come! and sure enough it was a typical chaotic mess, much harder to get into Costa Rica than Nicaragua, obviously, yet it wasn't too big of a deal to me, because I had already expected all of this... yet my biggest concern was catching a bus to San Carlos, where all my stuff was... I knew that only 2 buses a day went from Penas Blancas to San Carlos, yet no idea whatsoever of the schedule... After about an hour of waiting in line , I figured I had no other choice but to catch a bus to San Jose, and drop in late on Queta & Humberto. Once my passport was cleared, I went to buy my ticket for San Jose, and at that moment, came a miracle! The bus for San Carlos pulled up right behind me, and the chauffeur literally came up to me, and asked if I was looking for a ride to San Carlos. I asked with great disbelief, "San Carlos, Costa Rica?"... and he said, "Si! Si!... a Ciudad Quesada!" and I said with a big smile on my face "Que Bueno!!"... man was I happy! It was definetly an act of God!

So the bus ride back took a good 6 hours, but I didn't care... I was so grateful to be on that bus, and out of Nicaragua... I gotta say that I am very happy and proud of myself for going on this excursion... I learned quite alot, and got a better understanding of some things... One is that the majority of Nicaragua, are an indigenous people overrun by poverty... for that reason things are very cheap here! The Nicos are good people for the most part, as long as you can get over the garbage and the constant haggling for money... There is lots of culture here, which I did enjoy... and the countryside really is beautiful, if only they could clean it up... yet I think for the most part I was happy enough with 3 days and 3 cities in Nicaragua, and don't intend to return again...

I got back to Ciudad Quesada around 8ish, and walked into Dona Janette's house like the conquering Francisco Cordoba himself... They had not heard from me in the past three days, and were having a farewell dinner in my name... I was welcomed back with embraces and kisses, two Imperials, and a good spaghetti dinner... It was nice to finally have something other than Gallo Pinto... It was a fitting farewell to Dona Janette, the Barrio of Cocique, the neighbors, Miguel, and just San Carlos in general... So now I'm back here with Queta and Humberto in San Jose... Phase 3 of my Costa Rican Experience has begun, and I really have no idea whats next...