New day, new country

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Arriving in Nicaragua

Landing on a black sand beach, hitching up your shorts to wade through the sea carrying your bags into a country feels a bit like sneaking in the back door, especially when the immigration office is a small hut in a tiny village staffed by a very relaxed man in a basketball vest. We had taken the option of the ferry from La Union in El Salvador to Potosi in Nicaragua across the Golfo de Fonseca, cutting out a 12 hour bus journey and two border crossings through Honduras. We had not heard many good things about Honduras and a few people had said that they didn’t feel safe there so we gave it a miss.

The boat journey was sold to us by the Tortuga Verde hostel, which promised much but did not deliver. There is a very complex arrangement in La Union where you have to get your documents copied by immigration and they get permission for you to cross by ferry whilst you wait around for a couple of hours, then the boat might go or it might not. Our expensive ticket with Tortuga Verde promised a representative from the hostel to stay with us until the ferry left (there is always the chance the boat will not leave so they are supposed to wait with you and take you back to the hostel if this happens), to take us to breakfast whilst our documents were being processed and generally make the whole process easier.

None of this happened, we were dropped off at immigration, unsure of what was happening and the driver left. When we asked him about breakfast he shrugged and pointed to a pupuseria. As the Tortuga Verde is run by someone from the US I would expect better customer service. Funnily enough the email we sent them to complain has not been responded to.

The journey itself was beautiful, passing small islands on the way and a really nice breeze as we bounced across the waves. After we floated around the harbour for two hours waiting for the permission to be given for us to leave we set off and in another two hours were pulling up on the shores of Nicaragua. The ‘captain’ had decided to wait at sea for the permission documents as he wanted to leave at high tide, but we ended up having to go back to shore anyway as none of us had eaten and as there was no toilet on the boat so the girls had to go back to land. As the water was waist height we had to pay ‘taxis’ a dollar per person each way to carry us across. All part of the fun. The boat itself was pretty small with wooden planks as seats and a tarpaulin hitched up to cover us from the sun. Still preferable to a 12 hour bus journey.

We had hoped to get to the city of Leon that night but as it involved two bus journeys we didn’t want to arrive after dark so pulled up in the town of Chinandega and got a room for the night. We found a guesthouse run by a grumpy old man with a great sense of humour and a house covered in his paintings. He gave us directions to a local comedor for some traditional Nicaraguan food. We were ravenous after not being able to eat properly all day and the food they served was delicious. Compared to Guatemala and El Salvador, the food in Nicaragua was a nice surprise. They use less oil and there is more variety. We had our first taste of gallo pinto which is rice and beans and is a staple of every meal here, a stew with burgers in a tomato sauce, a boiled egg, plaintain and a fresh melon juice, all for about $2.

Nicaragua feels very different to Guatemala and El Salvador, people are more open and friendly and there is a different ‘vibe’. There is less US influence here and a stronger sense of an independent culture. It is also hot. Really, really hot. The journey from Potosi to Chinandega was dusty, with more volcanoes and brown, parched earth. On our first night I had to pay extra to get air-con as it didn’t get below 30 degrees at night. This, combined with extreme sunburn from not wearing a hat on the boat led me to have a delirious nights sleep (poor Steve, he had to convince me that no one was in our room).

The next day we packed a lunch and headed off on the chicken bus to Leon. We needn’t have bothered taking food as you can buy almost anything on the bus. Whenever it stops people get on selling drinks, cakes, empanadas, fruit, coconut milk. The drinks come in plastic bags with a straw and a huge chunk of ice.



Leon

Our first stop in Leon was a hostel which is non-profit and runs several volunteer schemes. Unfortunately as the hostel is run by volunteers they have let it go somewhat and there are more volunteers than customers which makes it feel a bit cliquey. We moved and found a much nicer hostel where we met some other travellers and had quite a fun night out. We ended up in a club that is advertised as ‘the afterparty spot in Leon’. Leon is a student town so the club had a good mix of local students and gringos, or ‘chele’ as we are called here. This comes from the Spanish ‘leche’ for milk so is just another word for white. I am told that this is a friendly term and is not meant to be derogatory.

Learning the lingo (part 2)

As we can only speak in the present tense in Spanish at the moment we decided that Leon would be a good place to take another week of Spanish lessons. This time we stayed with a family which was a very good decision as we ate dinner with the family and would speak only in Spanish. I feel that this has helped us immensely as we can now manage to have a conversation in Spanish, as long as the people we are speaking with are very patient. A testament to our progress was when we met up with Andrea, our friend from Italy who we had spent Christmas with in Mexico. When we first met we only conversed in English despite Andrea’s difficulty with the language. This time we spoke only in Spanish which was very satisfying, knowing that our lessons and practice were paying off.

The family we stayed with were fantastic and on the last night we had a party where we all brought something to eat or drink. Steve made a curry and I brought desserts. Nicaragua is famous for its rum, Flor de Cańa which is made here and is really cheap to buy. A bottle of the 7 year old is about $10. At the party I realised that if we are going to live in this part of the world we are going to have to learn how to dance as it is a huge part of the culture. The son of the family is a dj on an international radio station so he set up his decks and gave us an education in latino music; they tried to teach me a few moves but I was hopeless and Steve wasn’t drunk enough to try. Next came the karaoke and the mum of the family sang a gorgeous Cuban protest song. There was no way I was going to follow that with a terrible version of Bat out of Hell or Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Our week was spent studying and Steve found a bar that was showing all of the European football games. The time difference meant that they were showing the games at 2ish in the afternoon which was perfect as our classes were in the morning. Spanish football is much more popular here than the premier league so there were not many people watching the Tottenham game, even I was only there to use the free wifi so I think Steve was missing his friends at that point.

We tried to spend our afternoons studying but the heat made it difficult. At one point I even offered to watch the Robocop remake just so I could sit in an air-conditioned room for a couple of hours.

The earthquake

One night in the house we woke up to feel the bed and the whole house shaking. At first it felt like a train going past until I remembered that there aren’t any trains here but they do have lots of earthquakes and volcanoes. It was then that I realised that I have no idea what to do in the event of an earthquake. The next morning we found out that it was a 6.4 earthquake but luckily out to sea so no damage. A bit scary though.

Cultural Leon

We spent the weekend exploring the city and its museums. Its Cathederal is a Unesco world heritage site and is very pretty. You can climb to the top for views across the city which I thought meant that we would walk up to a viewing platform. After finding the ticket office through an Alice in Wonderland sized door, we were taken up to the roof and told which bits we could walk around. This involved climbing around on the roof in the style of the Hunchback of Notredame. Not recommended for people with vertigo. We then went to the Museo de la Revolucion on the main square. This is run by volunteers who fought in the revolution and who give you a tour. As the tour was in Spanish and our guide would get very heated, speaking quickly, we only understood half of what we were told. Leon was at the heart of the fighting in the 80’s and the building that houses the museum was badly damaged. Our guide showed us pictures of himself from old photos and news clippings. One of the exhibits was a newspaper with the story of the president being assassinated by having his car blown up. They have the bazooka that was used in the museum and he got me to hold it and have my photo taken. No matter how bad the president was I am not a fan of glorifying violence and it made me very uncomfortable. Our guide then took us up to the roof which was made of corrugated iron, this did not feel particularly safe.

We had been recommended the museum of myths and legends and I am glad we went because it was very fun and very bizarre. Housed in an old prison building, one resident of Nicaragua decided to put together a museum to preserve the legends of Leon. This involves badly made up figures in comical costumes in the prison cells. We had a guide to show us around and tell us the stories, the most memorable being an apparition called Toma-tu-teta. ‘Toma’ in Spanish means to take a drink ‘tu’ is you, and you can work out what ‘teta’ means from the picture. The legend tells the story of a woman who was so ugly that no one would marry her so she killed herself. Her ghost then came back to haunt drunk men in the street after midnight. She would appear to them with her boobs hanging out and invite them to have a go. When they did she would kill them by smothering them. Absolutely bizarre! As was the theme of the day, we were once again invited to walk around the roof of the museum. This was the perimeter that the guards walked around when it was a prison so was a very narrow wall. Again, not very safe.

Leon is a really lovely city and would be a great one if it wasn’t so blimmin hot! Our next destination will be the Corn islands just off the coast on the Caribbean side. I’m looking forward to some cooler temperatures and a nice sea breeze.

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Comments

[Kimberly]

Sounds like quite the asventure!
Loved your boat story, and not one bit surprised it didn't go as planned! I am sure while you were going through it you felt a bit scared or upset not knowing what's going on, but as a traveler we all know how the worst stories usually turn out to be the best stories later. Can't wait to see some pictures of Corn Island as I plan on going soon. Thanks for the tip on Monterrico, but still itching a week later lol! Stay safe and have a great time!