Cowboy Country
Trip Start
Nov 08, 2008
1
14
31
Trip End
Ongoing
Esteli,
Nicaragua
Sunday, December 21, 2008
So instead of following the Gringo Trail from Honduras directly to Leon, Nicaragua, I thought I'd spend my first couple of days in Nicaragua in Esteli, a small, agricultural town that my guidebook had listed as a highlight of the country. After 1 taxi ride, 5 rides on ex-school buses, and about 2 kms walking with my pack on (the whole time being the only Gringo in sight), I arrived, and just in time for the last night of the town's annual X-Mas celebration. The party basically took the form of a parade of cowboy hat-wearing men, women, and children, accompanied by blaring pop music, Hummers (yeah, the cars), and gangs of motorcycles (hence the terrified horses). Also, great street food. Layered beef, plantains, yucca, and other goodies, all steamed together under big green leaves. Yummy!
The next day the Christmas festivities continued, and when I got up the street adjacent to my hotel was covered in Christmas pinatas. I've learned that no celebration in Central America is complete without lots of smashing and burning things, and a mob of people were carting off these puppies by the 4 x 4 truckload.
Other than the Christmas festivities and a few nice town murals, I found the town of Esteli a little dull, so I headed out early the next day.
Comments
i think
james put that picture of jesus over your bed so to make sure you were not hooking up with some new latino lover...