Nicaragua
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2008
1
17
21
Trip End
May 05, 2008
Granada,
Nicaragua
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Itīs cheaper to live here. A meal with drinks can be less than $5. I have stayed in two huge hotel rooms with bathrooms for $10 a night.
Itīs noisier, there are trucks with giant rock band speakers on the back blaring out advertisements as they slowly drive through the streets. Taxis go down the streets honking loudly to signal they want passengers, or at other cars at street corners.
They have a national love/hate relationship with roosters whereas I just hate them - the damn things start crowing at 3 a.m. and donīt stop. I say love/hate because they are raising lots of roosters, even in the middle of the city so they must love them. On the other hand there are cock fights openly advertised at a hostel I stayed in, the fights occurring on Sunday (not in the hostel) - so they donīt mind killing them!
There is more trash and garbage on the street. Perhaps this is an unfair comparison because I donīt remember how much trash there was in other cities. But it is really striking me that they donīt have any thought for keeping their environment clean. When people finish drinking a soda on the bus, they toss the plastic bottle out the window.
San Juan Del Sur
The self promoted number one beach town in Nicaragua, located in the southwest corner 30 miles above Costa Rica. It is a nice town, numerous restaurants and hotels. Lively action from the 20 something European and American travelers.
Beach at San Juan Del Sur
More expensive than the rest of Nicaragua, but I was able to find a breezy room for $10 without bathroom. It is big enough to be interesting but you can still walk around the town.The beach is wonderful. Lots of Americans to talk to, and there is an active night life on the weekends. I checked out property and an undeveloped lot with a view of the ocean can be bought for $50 to 100K.
Grenada
A lovely town on the end of the lake. A good hopping off spot for other places. My first nice large room, the floor completely tiled. It was a great hotel except for those damned roosters. The other odd thing was that when I went for a shower in the morning, there was no water. Turns out that the city water only works at night after 6 pm. The hotel stores some water in a reservoir on their roof, so if you ask they will turn the pump on and you can shower at other times.
They have a nice central park, lovely church on one side. There is a row of sidewalk restaurants just past the church. I had a nice Mexican dinner there with a couple strawberry daiquiris and a lemonade for $12. It is hot here and I find myself sucking down the liquids.
I met a Chinese man who claims to run the only Chinese restaurant in Grenada. He also said he worked as a doctor in Anchorage, Alaska for 40 years, and had 12 children by a single wife. She died a few years ago (no not from having 12 children) and he is retired now.
Leon
Leon, heavily touted in my guidebook, but I didnīt find much of interest there.
My hotel in San Juan Del Sur
I stayed at the Bigfoot Hostel, which is an interesting hostel, full of 20 somethings who are wandering through Latin America. If only they needed an older man to guide them, alas they prefer to drift along with others their own age. The small pool was fine for a dip during a hot afternoon and it also served as our water supply for the showers and bathroom.Esteli
How did I get trapped in Esteli? It is supposed to be colder in the mountains, but it is still dry and hot here. They seriously need to develop their tourism better. They are surrounded by two ecological parks, and 2-3 other cities within 2 hours drive, but the only transportation is by bus at 6 a.m. in the morning. How about a tourist van at a decent hour and some guides?
Long Bus Trips and other things to Avoid
I escaped Esteli on a 7 a.m. bus that originated in Managua and ended in San Salvador at 6 p.m. that night. I decided to go out to eat and ended up paying more in taxi fare than the meal cost. Cabs arenīt cheap in San Salvador. They use dollars in El Salvador.
A German lady had a problem with a money changer at the border to Guatemala. She changed 15 dollars to quitzels, and when she went to buy a soda the lady told her the money was fake! Of course by that time the money changer had disappeared.
After a night sleeping on a lumpy bed in the bus terminal, I caught the 6 a.m. bus to Guatemala City and arrived around 11 p.m. I shared a half hour taxi ride to the next bus terminal, and was able to catch a chicken bus to Antigua. I finally arriving at my destination at 2 p.m. the day after my start.
