Can I have my money back?

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Having discovered that the weekend buses to Somoto were far less busy than the student laden buses to Ocotal (our two nearby city options for entertainment) we decided Somoto would be the better spot to enjoy our Sunday. Being catered for fantastically by the family we stay with and our weekday lunches rotated between the Mujeres Solares (solar women) we had not yet needed to navigate the local market for eateries. However, so we could take a more leisurely approach to our Sunday trip to Somoto and give our family some space from their two guests we elected to seek alternative lunch arrangements.

Somoto, especially on a Sunday, is every bit the tranquilo capital of Madriz this region of Nicaragua. It’s fair to say there’s not really much in the way of things to see and do in Somoto but between moseying around the streets, wandering in the little botanic garden, munching some of the local ice-cream (well it would be rude not to) and a bit of internet we were having our very own tranquilo Sunday. Our guide book directed us to a little local restaurant for lunch, El Almendro, named after the almond tree that grew in its court yard. As our daily expenses had been very minimal only internet access, bus journeys and snacks we found ourselves to be slightly uninitiated on the price of a decent lunch. We ordered a couple of the local Tona beers and enjoyed a hearty feed of excellent local meat and vegetables. Upon being told the bill, it did not come in writing, we found ourselves in an embarrassing predicament. Although the menu did have some prices it seemed our state of tranquillo had rather overtaken us. The bill was the equivalent of a not immodest $17. After some rather frenetic pocket delving we discovered that we had thankfully brought enough of the local Cordobas to pay the bill. The issue being that upon payment we would leave ourselves with only four Cordobas (10p). Which was rather unfortunate as the bus home was 14 Cordobas and we were not carrying any bank cards. We hesitantly explained our folly to our hosts who it has to be said did not find the situation overly amusing. Eventually 10 Cordobas (15p) was graciously handed back to us. Deeply relieved we left, very quickly, to catch our bus.

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