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Sandinista!
- 29/04/04
After three cramped, stuffy chicken buses I arrived at the
Honduran/Nicaraguan border in the pouring rain. After wading
across the border and giving the usual presents to the officials
(and I remember how disgusted I was at this practice in Vietnam,
to find that it is routine here at every border!) I got a bus to
Ocotal, the closest town. Once there I jumped on a bus for
Esteli, my intended first nights stop, or so I thought.
Even though it stated on the front of the bus Ocotal-Esteli, I
realised after an hour of the journey that the dirt track and
wooden bridges we were on did not resemble the Pan-American
highway and that I was actually heading into the incredibly
isolated and rather dangerous RAAN (Autonomous Northern Region).
I quickly got off and got a bus back to Ocotal, getting there at
4pm. At this point I gave up and stayed put. This
was a good move as I met a Nicaraguan girl in the plaza, Sarah,
who posed as a tourist guide to practice her English. I
chatted to her for a while which cheered me up after the
stressful days travelling and we went for a coffee. As a
further treat I decided to indulge in a hamburger and chips for
dinner, I had been craving one since El Salvador but had always
put it off for local fare. Unfortunately I woke up about an hour
later and threw it back up. Convinced I would spend the
next day moving only between my bed and the (shared) toilet I
was pleasantly surprised to wake up feeling fine. I
quickly got up, got dressed and left, the owner still very
concerned for me and trying to force soda water down my throat!
My first few days in Nicaragua I spent in four northern towns.
The first was Ocotal with its leafy, impressive plaza and
friendly people. Next I finally reached Esteli - more industrial
and the plaza was fenced off but the people were again friendly
and it was my first introduction to Fritangas, the evening food
stalls which serve up giant plates of gallo pinto (rice and
beans), cheese fritters, BBQīd platano (banana), potato cakes,
ensalada and sour cream, you pay extra if you require meat. This
became my diet for my trip through Nicaragua until Granada.
My third stop was Jinotega, separated by a real dirt track, but
a lovely small hill town, though quite hot and very dusty.
Finally I got to Matagalpa, possibly the nicest of the four, two
nice plaza, a great range of foods and a cheap guesthouse
($1.50) which donates the proceeds to the indigenous community.
Matagalpa was also the birthplace of Sandinista hero Carlos
Fonseca. Indeed Esteli, Jinotega and Matagalpa were all
important places during the Sandinista revolution and there are
a variety of statues, murals and museums to commemorate this
period. I think this is one reason why these places were
so interesting despite their diminutive sizes, there was a sense
of community, very friendly, and not the money grabbing cynicism
of the more touristed areas, in fact I donīt think I saw
another traveller during all this time, which made it all the
more special.
Sandinista murals, Jinotega
I finally rejoined the gringo trail at the northwestern
University city of Leon, second largest city in Nicaragua but
perhaps the only real one. I found a cheap guesthouse by
the bus station and was immediately taken under the wing of a
guy from managua staying there on business. He took me
with him to visit friends and I hung out in a typical Leon home.
We passed the Cathedral and went on a crazy hunt for his brother
who lived in the suburbs and who he hadnīt seen for eleven
years. All he knew was that he lived on a road with a
billiards hall on the corner so we wandered around asking people
if they knew his brother. No-one did. Jorge, the guy, had
also been drinking at his friends house and proceeded to shout
(definitely not singing) versions of Abbaīs
"Fernando" and The Eagleīs "Hotel
California" whilst I stayed quiet hoping the earth would
swallow me whole. Anyway he paid for all this, bought me
food, drinks, bus fares, my dinner and my breakfast the next
day, without asking for anything in return. He also gave me his
sisters address in Granada to stay with but I felt a little
cheeky about this and didnīt accept the offer. Apart from
this madness I also managed to find time to explore Leon on my
own, a highlight being revisiting the Cathedral with the tomb of
Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario. Leon has its fair share of
colourful murals to admire as well.
After fleeing Leon I spent one night in the capital city of
Managua. I found it strangely fragmented with no historic
centre. The closest resemblance is the Area Monumental and
Lago de Managua which were eerily deserted and quite
threatening. I have been told that Managua is repeated
voted the worst capital city in the world and I can see why,
dirty, no life and pretty dangerous.
Escaping intact I moved on to Granada, the cultural capital of
Nicaragua and reportedly the first colonial settlement in
Central America. It is also the most popular tourist spot.
I bumped into Luke and Poppy again and very strangely Brendan
and Becky from ebookers who I had last bumped into on Nha Trang
beach in Vietnam. I couldnīt quite believe that I could
bump into the same people I knew from home twice on opposite
sides of the world. Neither I nor they knew the other was going
to be anywhere near Central America.
Grenada
Granada is nice but its just another colonial town and it has a
surprising lack of facilities considering how much tourism it
generates. Still, it was a nice enough place to hang out
for a few days, taking a well earned rest, indulging in various
treats. I spent the days wandering the streets, eating
street food, taking a walk down to the disgusting, fly-infested
lakeside with Luke and Poppy, and indulging in one of the
tastiest pizzas ever.
On the Saturday we headed down to the port, meeting Brendan and
Becky there for the four hour ferry to Isla de Ometepe, formed
by two volcanoes in Lago de Nicaragua, an amazing sight as you
approach it from Granada. It was a nice change to travel
in a group again and we spent three days on the island,
wandering the very small town of Altagracia, taking a trip to
the unimpressive black-sand beach and spending a day walking
along some of the trails in search of ancient petroglyphs, and
spending the nights indulging in incredible (and cheap) portions
of fish washed down with a few beers. It was one of those
places like the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia where there is
very little to do but you end up staying longer than intended
because it allures you in some way, it was one of my favourite
places on this trip so far.
Travelling solo again I
completed my tour of Nicaragua at the seaside resort of San Juan
del Sur. Though the beach was very dirty and unprotected -
it was like sunbathing in a sandstorm because of the winds, and
far too hot when they died down - the town was small and
pleasant enough to relax for a day and a half, drinking copious
amounts of iced fruit juices in an attempt to stay cool.
Nicaragua can be split into a definite two sides. The
northern, off-the-beaten-track towns were incredibly friendly
and welcoming but unfortunately the more popular stops (Leon,
Managua, Granada, Ometepe and San Juan) have attracted the
countries beggars and general scum. It has been the worst
place for this in Central America and the first time I have felt
like a walking dollar. Despite that it has also been one
of my favourite countries on this trip so far.
Finally a further word about Nicaraguan food. In the north
fruit is cheap and plentiful, 30-50p buys a huge selection of
mango, pineapple, melon, papaya and watermelon and in the south
the same amount buys a variety of cakes and pastries. In
addition to the meal I described earlier another favourite is
steamed yucca and chicharron (fried pork fat) with salad on a
banana leaf. Also the fish on Ometepe was the best meal of
my trip.
I have crossed into Costa Rica this morning and am in the small
town of Liberia. A bit of a culture shock as I have come
from Nicaragua where even the beaten track isnīt all that
beaten, to Costa Rica where I have spied a SAGA tours bus in the
plaza of a very small town!
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