Advertisement
buenas dias, mi amigas!
you won´t believe the adventure i´ve been having ... where to start?
let´s see, monday morning my plan was to catch the executive service bus from san jose to managua and transfer to rivas along the way. i made it to the station and as soon as i walked in, some guy was waving customs slips at me saying something in spanish that, of course, i could not understand. ´this is going to be a long trip´, i thought. then, i heard a voice ´luanne! luanne!´ i looked around and there was eric, a kayaker friend of laura´s who had attended their ceremony! he was heading to nica too and best of all, he spoke fluent spanish! the good news - yay! he can help me with my ticket!!!!! the bad news - he quickly ascertains ALL the buses to nica are sold out until tomorrow. eric locates a travel service and we evaluate various combinations and permutations of bus and plane routes to determine the quickest way to get to our destinations - me to ometepe, he to leon where he was meeting up with friends. on the map, i notice a town on
the northeast border called los chiles and from the dredges of my memory recall a travel show where some guy took this route and then took a water taxi up some river and into san carlos, nica and then a ferry from san carlos to the west side of lake nica. i offered eric the option to bail at this point but i pretty much had made up my mind that was how i wanted to go. eric opted to come along, much to my relief! i officially had a new travel victim, errr, companion!
this decision confirms that i am really at heart a strategic visionary. details are best left to others. what we didn´t realize until we actually got to los chiles was that you have to time everything just right to make the connections. that is, the water taxis leave late, probably too late to catch the ferry from san carlos. other details missed was the ferry only went on certain days at 4pm and would take 10 hours (15 according to eric) to reach the other side of the lake. if we had just taken some time to consult the various guidebooks we had, we
would have figured out these details!
fortunately, being relatively wealthy americans, we were able to buy ourselves a private taxi to get us to san carlos in time for the ferry. and, there was a ferry for tomorrow. our next challenge was if there was a way to reach the other side of the lake other than the ferry. some research found we could take a bus that is theoretically faster, but, the road was sketchy and the bus frequently breaks down. There was also a dirt airstrip and a 50 min flight to granada! but, according to the guidebook, you must make reservations way in advance because it fills up early. i explained to eric the concept of manifesting what you want. all we had to do was picture ourselves on a plane tomorrow, and we would be on a plane. he seemed doubtful and insisted on a backup manifestation for a comfortable seat on the ferry.
we spend the evening in los chilis strolling around the town. i found two puppies i wanted to take with me, they were so cute! as in all small central american towns, everyone was out socializing. we watched some
kids playing soccer and the local trials bikers came by to put on a show for us!
the next day, eric called the airlines in san carlos from los chiles where they told him the flight was, of course, full. again, i told him not to worry because i had visualized us on a plane last night - we WOULD be on a plane today! we catch our private water taxi where we motor up the rios frio. this made the entire convoluted route worthwhile! we saw caimen, cormorants, orange iguanas, and best of all, howler monkeys! our taxi driver would hoot at them and get them all worked up and they would hoot back! the funniest moment was when eric tried to hoot at them and get them worked up too. they just ignored him - i guess he wasn´t that threatening! there was also a rare, totally orange monkey. they were so entertaining to watch!
we eventually make it to san carlos and find the airlines. they confirm again they are full, but .... some people haven´t checked in yet .... we are welcome to leave our bags there while we take care of some other
errands and get lunch!
the guidebooks were not kind when talking about san carlos. however, i found it quite lively! it was certainly the best impression of a central american country i´ve had. we found a place to eat with a deck over the lake and a swimming pool on the deck? eric found out that they fill it up on sundays and people come and sit it it and drink. considering how hot and humid it was, we were wishing they had filled it up today!
during lunch, we hear an awful noise outside, like someone was slaughtering an animal. i quickly run over to investigate. some men had the back legs of a pig tied while they tried to get a harness on it. the pig, of course, didn´t appreciate this and was squealing, well, like a pig. The tossed it into a boat and tied it down. it finally stopped squealing. i went back to the table where eric was sitting and informed him we should buy the pig to save it from its inevitable fate. unfazed, all he replied was "i can´t wait to see how you are going to get all these animals
through customs!"
we finish our meal and return to the airline office. eric is resigned to the ferry and keeps saying "you know, the boat ride won´t be so bad". i keep telling him we will be flying to granada. when we reach the office, they inform us some people still haven´t checked in! they will take us to the airport and if they don´t show up, we are on the flight!
i won´t keep you in suspense any longer. let´s just say that despite eric´s lack of faith, i manifested us a flight on that plane! however, what i´ve learned is that you need to be very specific about what you actually manifest! the flight over the lake went by quickly! We saw granada on the shore. our plane flew towards granada, then over granada, then away from granada. eric just looked at me and said "are we going to managua?" how many people get on a plane and don´t know where they are going, for pete´s sake! we scrambled for our guidebooks to figure out the buses to our respective destinations. eric is now starting to pay attention to details and notes the buses appeared to
be in different stations for leon and rivas.
we landed and a taxi driver quickly found us. eric explained where we needed to go and the drive said he would take us both. 12 cordobas! he assured us the buses were at the same station. on the way, eric again confirms with the driver the buses are at the same station. we get to the chaotic bus station and the taxi driver drops me off and some men come over to help with luggage. eric´s bus is apparently at some other part of the station so eric abandons me and we say our goodbye´s, and i follow my porter to the bus.
i´m officially on my own now. i confirm with the bus driver that this is the bus to rivas. "no" he replies. it is the bus to "rralkfjdies". some city i can´t understand. ahh, he must not have understood me. again, i confirm more loudly, it is the bus to rivas. "no it is the bus to rralkfjdies." and then he gets my porter back. somehow, i figure out that, of course, i´m not at the right bus station. i resist the urge to return to
the safety of my translater and friend, eric, and ask to tag along to leon. instead, i hail a cab. tell him where i want to go. 30 cordobas! cheap, but, for nica it´s double what we paid to get to the first station. i climb in the cab and am finally delivered to the other side of town where an even more chaotic station awaits me!
i´m greeted at my cab by another porter who grabs my bag and runs through the station shouting "arriba, arriba, rivas, rivas" over and over. everyone is shouting like this. i don´t know why, but, they like to shout. he puts me on my bus and then gesticulates to a badge his is wearing demanding ´propina, propina´. "what is a propina?". suddenly, it comes to me! a tip! he wants a tip! i hand him some money and he leaves me to the chaos of the chicken bus.
For those of you that haven´t traveled through third world countries, chicken buses are typically old, sketchy, yellow school buses where they cram in as many people, luggage, pigs, and, of course, chickens as possible. fortunately, this one didn´t have any livestock, but,
it was quite crowded. there is a crazy driver and his assistant whose job it is to take money and push passengers off the bus and grab those trying to get on the bus WHILE THE BUS IS STILL MOVING! chicken bus drivers rule the road.
i finally make it to rivas for the night, stay in a palace of a hotel for $35 US where i get my first real hot shower. i take a stroll around central park and am quickly reminded of the manners of latinos when single women walk by.
i try a few atms to get cash, which, of course, don´t work. there is a celebration of some sort going on complete with a fair and fireworks. it is quite lively!
i find food, sleep, and awaken the next morning to take the ferry to ometepe. that brings us to wednesday morning. i will end here and write more about the rest of my adventures later(yes, i manage to continue to get myself into ... situations, i really need to learn spanish).
oh, by the way, i changed my flight out from saturday to monday. there is just to much to
do in ometepe, i can´t bring myself to leave!
terry - hope this isn´t a problem for work - i´ll be in the office tuesday afternoon!
randy & victoria - let me know if this will be a problem keeping josie.
susan - i should have listened to you about staying away from the nica men!
karen - thanks for checking on stimpi! and for the manifestation lessons!
eric - thanks again for sharing the border crossing journey with me! you´re a great travel partner!
signing out for now!
luanne
Advertisement
Tot: 0.093s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 8; qc: 42; dbt: 0.0503s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
