Honduras -Nicaragua Sunday July 18
Another early start to beat the traffic
-we left the hotel in Comayagua at 0620 and walked just across the
road to the bus. Although it was a public bus we were the first pick
up so we got the best of the seats. I had taken a travel sickness
tablet as it was going to be a long day so that put me to sleep-as a
result I didn't see much of the scenery. The little I did see was
very green and lush and mountainous. No stock but some fields of
plants that looked like small agave plants-blue and spiky. It is a
plant used for making fibre for weaving. We changed buses in the
capital??and spent the next few hours on a first class bus with air
conditioning and a DVD player. We crossed the border into Nicaragua
without any hassles-the bus drivers co-pilot collected everyones
passport and departure tax of $US11 and dealt with the formalities.
We had to get off the bus and wait for about 40 minutes but it was an
opportunity to change money from Limpira into Cordobas. The money
changers were swarming around us as we got off the bus-each one with
a huge wad of notes in their hands and all offering their rate-open
to negotiation! There were the usual collection of stalls selling
food and trinkets and an ice cream man pushing his little chillybin
of goodies and ringing his bell. It was very hot and we sought out
the shade under the trees while we waited. One young Western tourist
was sitting on a rock meditating and totally oblivious to what was
going on-he got a few looks from some of the locals who must have
wondered what on earth he was doing.
Three movies later we arrived in
Managua-the capitol of Nicuragua. The bus stations are usually in the
dodgiest part of town and this was no exception. It was in an area
well known for crackheads and cocaine addicts. There was good
security here with high gates and only passengers allowed in the
terminal-bags can only be collected with a matching ticket. We were
supposed to be catching another bus to Granada but it wasn't big
enough for our group plus luggage so Ronnie had to negotiate another
bus. The taxi driver who took her to sort it out demanded his
'commission' and got quite loud and aggressive until she paid up-this
is usual throughout Central and South America-everyone expects money
for any little service. Another hour travelling had us arriving in
Granada. It was dark and wet by this time and everyone was hungry
after a long uncomfortable travel day so it was a case of dumping the
bags and out for tea. We settled for a toasted sandwich and coleslaw
and chips at the Zoom Bar-sounded good -but we had a surprise when it
arrived. The chips were a bag of potato crisps! Still it was good and
much appreciated by all.
Granada-pop 84,773- is a Spanish
colonial town founded in 1524 by the Spanish conquerer Francisco
Hernandez Cordoba at the foot of Volcan Mombacho-one of the oldest
colonial settlements of Central America and the oldest in Nicuragua.
Hotel Cocibolco is situated in what remains of the historical centre
of Granada. It was described as having “character” by Ronnie but
we thought it was fine. Sure there was a hole in our ceiling, a
window with no curtain and gaudy orange bed covers but it also had
Wifi, a kitchen for guest use, free coffee and two gorgeous little
ginger kittens who were very playful and mischievous!
Our one full day in Granada was spent
on doing a day tour. Firstly a leisurely boat ride around some of the
islets(Las Isletas) of Lago de Nicuragua or Lake Cocibolco, the 10th
largest freshwater lake in the world and the 2nd largest
in Latin America. It also has the distinction of being the only
freshwater lake in the world with sharks-bull sharks to be precise.
This is because the lake is connected to the Caribbean Sea via the
San Juan river which made it of great strategic value to pirates and
conquerers in the early days and enabled Granada to become a rich and
important trade centre until the 19th century. There are
365 islets of volcanic origin in the lake-10,000 years ago-some
privately owned and some inhabited by the indigenous population.
Others have restaurants-one islet is still used as a cemetery for
the local indigenous people and on Isla San Pablo there is a small
fort -El Costillo-built in 1784 to guard against British
incursions. We saw monkeys on Monkey Island-only four monkeys are
allowed to live there. There is one female and if she has any babies
they are taken away in order to keep the population down . The
monkeys are privately owned and cared for with the owner feeding
them regularly. There are power lines running from the islet and
monkeys have been electrocuted in the past by climbing along the
wires. We saw some kayakers paddle up to the islet and the monkeys
came to them and took some food offered to them. When they tried to
leave one monkey in paticular grabbed the front of the kayak and held
on tight-he obviously didn't want to lose his food source-he was very
strong and it took a bit of effort for the kayaker to get away! Some
of the privately owned islets have very nice residences with pools,
gardens and even a cell phone tower. A couple of very wealthy
families have made their fortunes over the years through coffee,
banks and car dealerships.
Next up was a trip to Parque Nacional
Volcan Masaya and the most easily accessible active volcanoes in
Nicuragua. There are two volcanoes-Masaya and Nindiri which together
comprise five craters.Crater Santiago is still active and we saw
clouds of volcanic fumes rising from the crater. We drove to the top
of the volcanoes -632m-and then climbed 177 steps right to the edge
to get an amazing view down into the crater itself. We could feel
the toxic gases going into into our lungs as we climbed and its
recommended you only stay for 20 minutes maximum which we did. There
is a cross at the top overlooking Crater Santiago-originally placed
there in the 16th century by a priest attempting to
“exorcise the demons from the gates of hell”. Human sacrifices
were made there in pre-Hispanic times and until as recently as the
1980s political prisoners were dropped from helicopters ,by the
military regime in power, into the crater. The surrounding landscape
is made up of volcanic rock and old lava flow making it quite eerie
in places despite some vegetation managing to survive. We had a
wander through the interesting park museum which detailed volcanic
activity and facts and models. There is a certain species of parrot
which lives inside the wall of the crater having adapted to the
poisonous gas and there are plenty of bugs which survive as well.
We headed off to the town of Masaya and
had lunch at the local artisans market-it was a slow day as many of
the locals were out celebrating Liberation day-celebrated every 19th
July commemorating the ousting of the cruel dictator Anastasio Somoza
Garcia who ruled from 1937 until he was forced to resign by the
Sandanista uprising and overtaking of Managua on July 19, 1979. We
had seen hundreds of supporters along the highway-on top of chicken
buses, trucks, cars, motorbikes and push bikes-all wearing the
Sandinista colours of red and black and carrying the FSLN ( Frente
Sandanista de Liberacion Nacional) The Sandanista Liberation Front
flag. It was a huge celebration in Managua the stronghold of the
party and it was broadcast on TV live throughout the day.
I ordered papas fritas y queso (chips
and cheese) and that is what I got- just not quite the version I was
expecting. Instead of lovely freshly fried potatoes with melted
cheese on top I got a small plate of soft, warmish french fries with
little cubes of deep fried cheese! Went down OK with the minute
little puddle of ketchup on the side of the plate! Luckily I had a
decent coffee to wash it down with and a nice crisp apple in my bag
for pudding.
Our next treat was a pottery studio
where pottery is made in the old traditional manner. Clay is worked
by kneading it by feet and then a pot is thrown on a foot operated
wheel. The pot is allowed to dry then the surface is polished by hand
with a large seed pod from a particular tree. Natural colours made
from minerals and rocks are applied in layers and polished between
each application-the polish intensifies the colours. Then the pot is
engraved by hand with a sharp stick and final colour is applied
before the work is fired in the woodfired kiln. After it has cooled
it is polished again-but this time with some wax instaed of the
traditional seed. Naturally there was a shop with a huge selection of
goodies-it was so hard to choose! But it had to be small and
lightweight so I bought a little red engraved pot just the right size
to carry home in my travel mug.
The last call of the day was to see a
witch-there is a strong tradition and belief in witchcraft and there
is a chain of villages in Masaya called the “Pueblos Brogos”
(Bewitched Villages). Our witch was very short on smiles and English.
Our tour guide for the day-Ramone_ had to interpret. We had a choice
of cards or palms-I opted for cards. She had the oldest, tattiest ,
dirtiest set of cards I have ever seen. She got me to cut the pack
three times then she laid them out before asking me to upturn each
card. Then she sorted them and picked some up according to her own
secret code. Her advice to me was to watch my health and to bathe
myself three times for three days with juice of lemon and water to
“clean myself”. Good advice from her!-her house was a mess! The
lounge area we waited in was like a waiting room but with sawdust on
the cracked and broken floor tiles. She was obviously doing OK as
there were two tuk tuks in the garage and it was a big house. There
were photos of kids graduating on the wall and certificates of a
court justice-she is very well known with newspaper articles about
her and is regarded as being very good by the locals. Nicaraguans are
very superstitious by nature and witchcraft is regarded as part and
parcel of life by some.
On the way back to Granada in the van
we had a trivia quiz where ramone asked lots of questions about all
the facts and figures he had been firing at us all day. It was
fiercely contested with lots of laughs and I won a close contest- my
prize- a CD of Nicuraguan music.
When we got back to town we walked to
the Cathedral in the main plaza. I faced my fears yet again and
climbed up the bell tower- but it doesn't get any easier! We had a
great view of the sunset and the town centre. We then went and had a
local cocktail specialty- a Macqua-made with white rum, orange and
guava juice, ice topped with a cherry and a slice of orange-very
strong and very good! Tea was nachos at the Zoom Bar and then it was
back to the Dario Hotel for a coffee before heading home.
