Our first taste of the rainy season
Trip Start
Jan 23, 2007
1
59
120
Trip End
Dec 24, 2007
Esteli,
Nicaragua
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Spent the day getting to Nicaragua on Wednesday, first catching a nice bus to a town near the border and taxi-ing the final stretch, then taking another couple of buses to reach Esteli, on the other side. We were accompanied by a friendly English girl on the Nicuraguan side, and chatted away about our experiences over the next couple of hours.
Just as we were approaching Esteli, we could see dark clouds rolling in and smell the rain in the air, and as we arrived there, the heavens opened and it poured with rain. We took a taxi to our hostel, and got absolutely drenched, despite only being out in the rain for about 5 seconds.
Had a relaxing evening, and enjoyed our comfortable lodgings, even if the water didn't come on either morning we stayed there
01. Waterfall near Estali
!On Thursday we decided to take ourselves off to a nearby waterfall - thankfully we hitched a lift, as it would have been miles to walk, and it was pretty hot.
The falls themselves weren't all that spectacular - much like a mini Hunua falls - and the water was an uninviting chocolate milk colour. Thankfully, there were other travellers there to stop us wussing out, and so we enjoyed a pleasant swim in the cool water, luckily not seeing the huge dead frog floating in the water until we were getting out!!
The walk back to town wasn't as bad as we thought it would be, and luckily for us we were picked up again as we neared the outskirts, just as the first big drops of rain were starting to fall. Nearing Esteli we saw a scene straight out of medival europe, with a ancient bullock cart (with solid wheels - like in the cartoon Asterix) being driven along the road.
Spent the rest off the afternoon, after another lunch of hamburgers, looking at a museum on the civil war. While we couldn't understand everything written, it was very sobering as it was essentially a war memorial, with photos of all those killed from Esteli lining the walls.
The bitterness of the initial uprising and struggle came through in some of the stories here - tales of people fighting the army tanks with molotov cocktails and spades in their anger, desperation and determination. We are here for a while, so won't start with our thoughts on the matter just yet, but needless to say, the 1980's for miserable for Nicaragua - and ongoing civil war where conscripted Nica's fought against forces funded by the US, a crippled economy thanks to US sanctions and widespread poverty and unemployment.
Had a simple tea, and an early night (as usual!!)
Comments
Heaven on earth if you've the mind to know it
Struck by your last sentence and its juxtaposition with the previous para. What blessings an early /peaceful night and a simple meal eh?