Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the Sun
Trip Start
Dec 03, 2007
1
9
29
Trip End
Mar 29, 2008
Leon,
Nicaragua
Monday, December 24, 2007
We left Utila by catamaran ferry and spent the first day travelling to Comayagua, the capital of Honduras for 350 years. We were happy that we did not stay there for very long, only one night, as the city was extremely dirty (I repeat dirty) and we did not feel very safe, even in the daylight. The Americans have an army base closeby so there are a lot of signs in English and well stocked grocery stores. Our room did not have hot water so it was a cold shower for us or nothing. In fact, while I was washing my hair in the shower, the water stopped coming out of the faucet all together! An interesting problem that needed solving.
We all agreed that we wanted to leave as early as possible for Leon, so we left, carting our backpacks to the bus station at 4:30 in the morning
beautiful colonial structures
. Another GAP group heading in another direction had left at 2 in the morning! Today was a day of incredible travelling - one chicken bus after another and a hectic wild border crossing into Nicaragua. If you think that airports are bad, you haven´t experienced anything. We got off the bus and we suddenly surrounded by a dozen money exchanger who were all flashing their money and calculators in our faces. At the same time, the 'taxi' drivers were trying to take our bags to their vehicles and our guide was telling us to hold on. Crazy and wild. After a crazy 'auction-like' negotiation, Susie, our guide was able to get a good exchange rate for our whole group and we traded Honduran limperas for Nicaraguan cordobas. Then we faced the 'taxi' drivers. The reason why I have put 'taxis' in quotation marks is because the 'taxis' were bicycles with a little double seats in the front and an umbrelaa over the top. Our bags went under our feet. Our driver drove us about a kilometer to the immigration station and I have to admit it was fun. Immigration was not a problem and then we were in a chicken bus again.
Chicken buses, or the buses of the local people are fun. Sixteen gringos coming on one of these buses does cause a bit of entertainment to the locals.
busy capital city honduras
We are so not used to seats meant for 2 people having 4 or 5 people in them, especially in the heat. The aisles are filled with packages and yes, there are boxes of live chickens and half dead ones under the seats. One woman had a parrot on her shoulder and as it was Christmas, the shelves were full of fruit and pastries. After about an hour, everyone warms up, in more ways that one, and the people´s curiousity about us starts wonderful, animated conversations. It made the time on the bus seem a lot shorter.Leon was Nicaragua´s capital from the colonial period until 1857 and is still the cultural centre. There are many well preserved Spanish colonial buildings and churches. The cathedral in the centro is the largest in Central America. Our photos do it no justice. It was too hard to get the beauty of the building in tiny photos. The famus Nicaraguan Ruben Dario is buried there, under a monument of a crying leon, lion.
It was Christmas eve and the square was full of people socializing, and buying gifts in the Christmas market and taking photos of famly in front of backdrops of Christmas trees and mountains with snow. Pretty funny considering that the temperature was in the 30's. At midnight, we went on the roof the hotel and watched the fireworks that were booming all around the city
Cathedral de Leon
. Christmas day was spent in a novel way. Chris climbed up a nearby volcano, went into the smaking, sulphusous crater and then ran straight down the steep side of powdery sediment in 5 minutes. The photos are wonderful.
I decided to head to the beach in the morning so took a taxi with a few others and enjoyed a cooler daytrip. We have learned to sit not too close to taxi doors as they have a tendancy to fly open after a road bump. One of the taxis that our group took had not one but two flat tires on route to the beach. We wondered what was taking them so long... Most of the locals did not use taxis (too expensive - about $5 for a 40 minute drive) but rode their bicycles or crowded into trucks or horse pulled wagons with all of their beach paraphanelia (sp) - a long, hot and dusty drive.
We were back at the hotel at 3 in time for a city tour. Even though it was not very good, it did motivate us to want to read more about Nicaragua´s history when we get home. Especially to check out names like Samosa, Sandino, William Walker and the U.S. involvement with Nicaragua.
Christmas dinner was pre-booked all of us had a lot of fun. We shared adventures and enjoyed mojitos (sp), a rum, lime and mint drink and champagne. It was a very late night for all of us as we knew that we could sleep in a bit before heading out to the oldest city in the nation, Granada.
Comments
be there soon!
I am coming with a group from our local museum to work at an archeology site/sites around the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. I was wondering if you have been to El Ostional since we are staying there and I can't find out much about it except for the turtles. Hope you're having fun.