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Published: August 24th 2010
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mud
Bus is getting ready to try climbing the hill using chains. I´ll try and put the few photos that we took tomorrow. Also, Mom, before you read this and freak out, Lenin and I are fiiiiiiine and we are safe and sound here in Somoto-Moropoto.
Suffice it to say that our long weekend trip to visit Lenin´s parents outside of Wiwilí, Jinotega, was a harrowing adventure.
The trip started out normal. We got up at 3am and I took the world´s fastest bucket shower just to wake me the hell up and get the sleep out of my eyes and the birds nest out of my hair. Dressed in the dark (no lights in Moropoto at the time) and got to Mamita´s for coffee and bread at 3.40ish.
Left with Hugo in his truck at 4.10 to catch the 4.30 bus so we could get off and catch the 5.00am bus to Wiwilí. Got the 5.00 bus and treked along for the SEVEN HOURS until we arrived at noon in Wiwili.
Oh, right, there is a helluva lot more rain out there. There was one hill that the bus tried and tried to climb, but couldn´t get enough speed to get through the mud that was literally feet
deep. So we all got out of the bus and they hooked up a rope and all the guys tried to pull it out of the mud.... which is when I wanted my camera, which was in the bus. After the hauling by rope didn´t work, and Lenin ran inside to get the camera, the bus backed down the hill and they put on chains on the back wheels. Which gave it enough traction to get up the hill. I was laughing and telling the people that we use chains to climb hills of ICE and they use them here in Nicaragua to climb hills of MUD.
We arrived at the bus station and, since we NEVER go to my suegro´s without a ton of luggage, we hired a guy with a cart to haul our stuff to the river, on the boat, and up the hill to the next bus station.
The Rio Coco, (coconut river) was super full, but passable. As seen before in photos, we cross in dugout canoes. In the summer during low water they pole them across, though now in the rainy season they put outboard motors on them.
After we got
on the other bus and off at the stop where we go to his parents, his brother Carlos was there with two horses to help carry the luggage and to carry us. It wasn´t raining that afternoon (which is why the bus chains and the river were more fun and just part of the adventure) so we had a long ride up to the house. The stirrups on my horse were way to short for me and my knees were taking a lot of the weight, so was just hanging there in my boots most of the time.
We had a great couple of days, but good god THE RAIN! Last year we went in September and there was no rain, everything was dry, but this year the mud was over top of my boots to enter their yard. They put down cement blocks to get to the latrine, but I still put on my boots to go to the latrine since the blocks tended to slide along in the slick red mud.
So Thursday night it rained, all day Friday, and all day Saturday. We left at 5.30 am on Sunday, in the rain, to walk the
hour (turned into an hour and a half) down the mountain to catch the 7.15 bus back to Wiwilí.
As we walked to the river, we saw no one else on the way. For a good reason. The river was literally a rolling, mad, torrent. And the Rio Coco is a long river, and it was way too swollen. We decided to watch a few boats go back and forth before we would decide to cross or to go back the long way around to the city of Jinotega.
We watched full boats, low in the water, crossing. Still not convinced. Even with a motor they were swept waaaay downstream before landing on the opposite side. One guy convinced us to go with him, only the two of us as passengers, so the boat would not ride so low in the boiling current. Lenin and I got in the boat, sat down, held on for dear life, and started to cross. Lenin asked if he should get out the camera, but I yelled NO because I didn´t want him to rock the boat trying to get it out of his bag, and besides, it was raining and the
camera would get wet.
We got to the other side, thanking the boatman profusely, and watched another boat full of people from the Carribbean coast get ready to go down river. And all I could think was, well, I guess they are used to this river, but hot damn I would NEVER get in a canoe, even with a motor, to travel for hours down that river.
All in all, the bus trip back was harrowing. The busses going through San Juan de Rio Coco weren´t running because the river was over the bridges and no bus was going to take that risk. So we got on the bus to Ocotal instead. It had to put chains on twice during the trip, and even with those it barely made it up. The bridges, which never bothered me before, are tiny one way bridges (without guardrails) and with all that water pulsating below, when you cannot even see the bridge outside the bus windows because it is so little, all you can see is the raging river of death (emperor´s new groove reference anyone?)....
Harrowing, I tell you! I literally had a death grip on Lenin, eyes just
open enough to see the trees above, to make sure we were still moving up the hills....
After 6 hours on the bus, a piece of the road was gone, so we all had to get out and hike way to the other side and up a damn mountain to get to the bus waiting on the other side of hole to take us most of the rest of the way toward Somoto.
Of course, it was raining the whole time. We finally got to San Lucas and Winder (LB´s wedding cabellero who is headed to Venezuela in January) came and got us and took us upo the mountain to Moropoto. In the rain.
But! Now I am here and all is good. It poured last night, like buckets and buckets, but today looks like it might be clear. The Peace Corps called to check and see how the roads are and if any bridges are washed out. I didn´t say anything about our trip, just that all was well on my mountain and I didn´t think there was any problem getting to Somoto (there isn´t).
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Mom
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Oh, how we love you!
What adventures you've had over your short years!! You are definitely a "survivor"! You and Lenin always look so full of smiles as you trek through everything together! Love the blog, the pictures, and, just hearing from you!!