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Hi again everyone. I, as always, hope that all is well in your own respective countries. I'm currently residing in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. But the reason of this email is to bore you all senseless about the great country of Nicaragua. So here goes....
Having left Honduras by bus we, hours later, found ourselves in Nicaragua's capital Managua. For the record, WE are myself, Lorelli and Heidi (who we have traveled with since San Pedro in Guatemala). Managua is a strange city. In its not to distant past its had to put up with civil war, a huge - and devastating - earthquake and the ravages of hurricane Mitch. This, and what I think is a strange rebuilding effort, has left the city fairly spread out. There is a 'cultural' area as well as a more defined business area. In the 'cultural' part of the city there are some pretty cool things to look at. The old cathedral was pretty much destroyed by the earthquake. It hasn't been open to the public since the earthquake. The only time its been open was for a previous presidents daughters wedding. The joys of power. On the subject of the cathedral - the new, and earthquake proof, one looks like it should be a settlement on the moon. Its absolutely hideous but, as always in this part of the world, usually full. In this part of town there are the usual government buildings, as well as the theatre and the magnificent Parque National. This museum was really good and we all learned a lot about Nicaragua’s history and the countries rebuilding efforts. We managed to blag a tour in English which was a big help. Our guide even snuck us into to the 'private' room where the president makes speeches to the nation - always a good photo opp! To end a busy day of sightseeing we checked out the peace park. Without going into too much history, this 'park' is basically a huge bowl of concrete with machine guns sticking out - and even a concreted up tank! During the earlier periods of civil war, a president offered all the fighters land and money - which is exactly what they were fighting for. They agreed to her plan to trade guns for a livelihood. Its not a really spectacular monument to look at but is powerful in what it signifies.
Before leaving the capital behind we spent a day lounging around in a volcanically heated crate lake. The place is called Xiloa (pronounced eel-wa) and is about half an hour outside the city. We went with a Swedish lad called Marcus, who reveled in telling us all about the bugs that could kill, maim, itch and paralyze us. I don't want to make him sound bad, he was just of those people who was fascinated by anything that moves. It was a good chilled out day, apart from the 800,000 mosquitoes.
Next stop were the Corn Islands. We flew directly there from Managua. It was a cool flight with some awesome views on the way. The problem though was that Lorelli and I had been utterly spoiled by the other Caribbean delights of both Roatan and Caye Caulker. This place wasn’t quite the same – or maybe we expected more. Who knows? Either way we were there a few days, managed an interesting fishing trip with a drunk guide and got stung a bit by miniature jellyfish. The lobster fishing season had been delayed for some reason and there were many discontented locals hanging around looking sullen, giving the island a very strange vibe. All fun. The flight back was as eventful. Contrary to any ‘western’ ideas of aircraft security, the pilot was more than happy to invite another passenger into to cockpit for the trip home. When we finally arrived in Managua the young American had eyes the size of saucers and an almost manic grin on his face. I quote –
“Do you remember the bit during the flight when the plane went like this (he waved his hand a bit to signify the wings wobbling)?” We told him we did. “ That was when I took over!”. Can you image ever taking over a plane during a commercial flight? I was a little (lot!) jealous.
So, back in Managua we said our goodbyes to Heidi who had to fly back to Belize and then home. We on the other hand were heading to Leon, a city I was really looking forward to visiting. It didn’t disappoint.
Upon arrival it, to me, was amazing. It has a real colonial look and feel. I was reminded a lot of Guadalajara, Mexico, while in Leon. The magnificent Cathedral de la Asuncion is the largest in Central America. We also took in some museums while there. They ranged from messy but fascinating to being outright strange. In one it looked like all the exhibits had been made by the local primary school kids. The city also offers a large, well presented, gallery as well as the Museo Archivo Ruben Dario. Mr. Dario is the country's most loved poet and his face can be found everywhere, including banknotes. The museum is in the building he used to live in. Despite my still atrocious Spanish I was able to get most of what was being said. Despite all this good stuff to see and do, the highlight of Leon was, once again, running into our friend Zach. As it seemed like fate wanted us to travel together we became a 3 and would travel together for the next 5 weeks or so.
So with my pet Canadians, it was time to travel northwards to the city of Matagalpa. The journey there may have been the sweatiest journey of my life. It was by far the fullest chicken bus I had ever been in. This is actually one of the biggest cities in the country but doesn't seem to get many backpackers visiting. While there we only saw 3 other gringos, who we ended up getting drunk with! The highlight of our stay here was a visit to Selva Negra (Black Forest) which is a coffee plantation just out of town. There was some great hiking to be down and it was a great day. NOTE - Central Americans love fireworks. E.g. - Their soccer team scores a goal, let off fireworks; There is a power cut, let off fireworks; the dog gets run over by a pickup truck, let off fireworks! Two mornings running we were woken up at approx 5am by mini-festivals and fireworks. What is wrong with them!?
Our next stop on the road was the picturesque town of Boaco. The only reason we went there was a small piece in our travel book about there being a town festival on the 7th of July to celebrate their cowboy culture. We asked a few locals who seemed to know nothing about it. It never happened - more question marks on how much you can trust these travel books. It turned out to be a good place to stay though. The town is set in the middle of a set of hills which gives beautiful views all around. We went on a hike to the top of the hills opposite the town and, despite a ferocious wind, gave great views of the town and the surrounding areas. One added bonus of our hotel was the fact that there was an ice-cream parlor incorporated in the building. Sweet.
Our next stop on the travels - not including one night in Managua to a, break up the journey and b, show Zach the sights - was Granada.
I'll finish off Nicaragua and start on Costa Rica in my next mail. Again I've written loads and you are all probably bored. Until soon my friends and family,
Rob.
xxxx
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