Edited by Rocky Grove, Thursday, 13 Sept 2012, 02:54
Today I moved on to Nicaragua. I caught the coach right outside my hotel, the Inter Americana was surprisingly quiet again and we reached the border very quickly to find a queue of many hundreds of trucks waiting to cross. The bus first drove down the opposite side of the road but, after it had to reverse some way to let traffic through, it took to a mud path alongside the road and drove up to the border, bypassing the waiting trucks!
The Costa Rican border was reasonably quick, we all got off, had our passports stamped and then got back on. I thought Nicaragua was going to be even more efficient as the conductor collected all our passports plus $14 entry fees however it was not to be! We had to reclaim our baggage and open it on a long wooden table. Nothing happened for about 20 minutes, there were now about 100 of us waiting as there were two coaches, then a guy wandered over, quickly felt a few bags but motioning OK to most of us. We then repacked the bags and the coach moved to the other side of the parking lot where we waited for our passports to be returned which took another half hour before we could eventually be on our way. Whilst we were waiting, outside as we weren't allowed to reboard without passports, we were constantly being harassed to buy things, ranging from watches and belts to peanuts and water, to give to beggars - one lady kept on wheeling someone who I guess was her disabled son amongst us, and hundreds of money changers. I did change my last few Colones into Cordoba, I didn't bother to carefully check the exchange rate is it was only about £3 worth which I probably wouldn't be able to exchange elsewhere.
My first impressions of Nicaragua is that it is a poorer country than either Costa Rica or Panama, the houses we passed in the rural areas were much more shack like. As well as the region wide presence of old US school buses I saw people standing packed in, shoulder to shoulder in the back of small pickups, there are also rickshaw type vehicles propelled by bike, motor bike or horse. Nicaragua has two massive lakes, Lake Nicaragua which is 100 long by 45 miles wide and Lake Managua (40 miles long and 16 wide) on which the capital city is located. I will be visiting there next week but for now I am in a hotel across the road from the airport from where I fly to the Corn Islands tomorrow.
While sitting at my computer checking the cricket score there was a very noticeable earth tremor, made me feel almost sea sick - no one else seemed to be bothering about it, presumably they are common day occurrences! I have since discovered that there was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake close to Liberia where I was yesterday, that was what I felt, it was at 8.42 which was the same time. The local television announced that classes in the Nicaraguan Pacific coast university have been cancelled today.
My initial view of Corn Island is that it is a relaxed paradise. My room is a thatched hut set back from the sea under palm trees. I've been for a walk into town, everyone smiles or greets you. They are extending the airport runway to take international flights but currently, although there is a fence round the field, it has several open gates and some youngsters were playing baseball on the extension!
I spent a generally relaxed 5 days on Big Corn Island, it was once a haven for buccaneers, surrounded by clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, fringed with grass and coconut palms. The main language is Spanish but most people speak English as they are of Caribbean descent. Reggae is very popular and the island is covered in different protestant churches - the population is just over 7000 but there are dozens of churches, most open structures with no windows. I didn't see one Catholic church despite that being the dominant religion of Nicaragua. I had a slightly disastrous first full day, they say misfortune comes in threes and that was indeed the case. First the tap fell off the shower in the morning, spraying water everywhere. Next I hired a golf cart to drive round the island, only for it to break down when I was in an out of the way place. A local, however was working on a nearby plantation and helped me try to turn it round - I slipped and pulled a muscle in my thigh! On getting the cart back to the main road he asked me to wait "while I get me cutlass" - he'd left a machete stuck in the roadside while he helped. I left the cart and took a taxi back to the hire place for a replacement, only for this to breakdown too, I then abandoned golf carts (I had actually driven most of the island at no cost!). Taxis are less than 40p to anywhere so I did quite a bit of walking and caught a cab when I got too hot or tired. The cabs are either beat up wrecks or brand new Japanese micro cars with no registration plates!
Just off the beach by the hotel is a boat wreck, home to lots of reef fish and a lovely place to which to swim. I walked from the hotel over grass and sand and then had a leisurely snorkel out to the wreck - I did this most days and have probably never swum as far in open water a good kilometre. A couple of times I also went scuba diving over beautiful coral reefs.
The only downsides to the islands are insects, rain and power cuts. There were a fair number of biting insects about, but not too excessive. It did, however, rain very hard, some of the heaviest I have ever seen - the grass outside my room was often completely flooded, only to have drained away a hour later with brilliant sunshine. On the one day when it rained for a long time I went for a walk in my swimming trunks. When I got to a shop or cafe I wanted to visit, I stopped and put on a shirt. Rain in the tropics is rather different to in England. The power cuts were a bit of a nuisance, 2-4 hours most days, but not that inconvenient as I could normally find somewhere cool to read.
A really enjoyable time, getting to know a completely different life style to that to which I am accustomed.
US TV really is poor, I wanted to watch the US Open final to see how Murray got on. I messed up the times and only realised when I was checking the Internet over supper that it was nearly over. I finished my meal quickly and left for my room when, according to the Internet news the score was 5-2 in the final set. I couldn't find the correct channel (ABC) for several minutes as they were broadcasting ads, eventually I found it to watch the last point of the game when Murray went 5-2! They must have been 5 - 10 minutes behind live, still it actually suited me as I saw him win - well done Andy
I am spending my last two days in the Managua area. After a short, uneventful flight back, I explored the capital. Very spread out as the centre was destroyed in two earthquakes - the latest in 1972 - they decided it would be safer (and more profitable for the politicians!) to leave the centre and build new suburbs. The centre is gradually being restored but the Cathedral is still as it was after the earthquake, with the clock stopped at that moment - the lake front is also largely abandoned. The buses are crazy and potentially lethal. I caught an old US School bus - there seems an inexhaustible supply - into the city. Jam packed and awful roads, so bouncing everywhere. At one point my head hit the roof, no big deal until I noticed I had just missed a 3 inch long bolt sticking out of the roof! I caught a taxi back, less than £3 for about 10 miles and much more comfortable. It's not my favourite city so tomorrow I have hired a car and am heading off to Grenada.
Had a lovely final day exploring the Granada area - once I had left Managua behind. The roads in the city, apart from the major ones, are full of pot holes and you never knew where traffic was coming from. What was amazing was that once I got onto the main road to Granada it was like entering a different country, smooth pavement with US style coffee shops for refreshments.
I discovered that Nicaragua is bisected by a line of volcanoes averaging one every 25 km!! Several are active and there was an eruption about 50 km north of me last week, I visited one that erupted last in April. Granada is a pleasant city, my guidebook states its "restored colonial glories render it a highlight .... of Central America." There are elegant churches and fine plaza in a superb location on the shores of Lago de Nicaragua. It was founded originally in 1524.
On the way back I called into Masaya a "working class city" where you can buy "artesanias". One experience was when I was in the market looking in a shop when I heard it start to rain, I ignored it but when I left, less than 5 minutes later, water was flooding over the floor of the covered market! When I went back outside the sun was beating down from a blue sky but several streets were flooded a few inches deep - that being the first rain of the day!
Nicaraguan news
Today I moved on to Nicaragua. I caught the coach right outside my hotel, the Inter Americana was surprisingly quiet again and we reached the border very quickly to find a queue of many hundreds of trucks waiting to cross. The bus first drove down the opposite side of the road but, after it had to reverse some way to let traffic through, it took to a mud path alongside the road and drove up to the border, bypassing the waiting trucks!
The Costa Rican border was reasonably quick, we all got off, had our passports stamped and then got back on. I thought Nicaragua was going to be even more efficient as the conductor collected all our passports plus $14 entry fees however it was not to be! We had to reclaim our baggage and open it on a long wooden table. Nothing happened for about 20 minutes, there were now about 100 of us waiting as there were two coaches, then a guy wandered over, quickly felt a few bags but motioning OK to most of us. We then repacked the bags and the coach moved to the other side of the parking lot where we waited for our passports to be returned which took another half hour before we could eventually be on our way. Whilst we were waiting, outside as we weren't allowed to reboard without passports, we were constantly being harassed to buy things, ranging from watches and belts to peanuts and water, to give to beggars - one lady kept on wheeling someone who I guess was her disabled son amongst us, and hundreds of money changers. I did change my last few Colones into Cordoba, I didn't bother to carefully check the exchange rate is it was only about £3 worth which I probably wouldn't be able to exchange elsewhere.
My first impressions of Nicaragua is that it is a poorer country than either Costa Rica or Panama, the houses we passed in the rural areas were much more shack like. As well as the region wide presence of old US school buses I saw people standing packed in, shoulder to shoulder in the back of small pickups, there are also rickshaw type vehicles propelled by bike, motor bike or horse. Nicaragua has two massive lakes, Lake Nicaragua which is 100 long by 45 miles wide and Lake Managua (40 miles long and 16 wide) on which the capital city is located. I will be visiting there next week but for now I am in a hotel across the road from the airport from where I fly to the Corn Islands tomorrow.
While sitting at my computer checking the cricket score there was a very noticeable earth tremor, made me feel almost sea sick - no one else seemed to be bothering about it, presumably they are common day occurrences! I have since discovered that there was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake close to Liberia where I was yesterday, that was what I felt, it was at 8.42 which was the same time. The local television announced that classes in the Nicaraguan Pacific coast university have been cancelled today.
My initial view of Corn Island is that it is a relaxed paradise. My room is a thatched hut set back from the sea under palm trees. I've been for a walk into town, everyone smiles or greets you. They are extending the airport runway to take international flights but currently, although there is a fence round the field, it has several open gates and some youngsters were playing baseball on the extension!
I spent a generally relaxed 5 days on Big Corn Island, it was once a haven for buccaneers, surrounded by clear turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, fringed with grass and coconut palms. The main language is Spanish but most people speak English as they are of Caribbean descent. Reggae is very popular and the island is covered in different protestant churches - the population is just over 7000 but there are dozens of churches, most open structures with no windows. I didn't see one Catholic church despite that being the dominant religion of Nicaragua. I had a slightly disastrous first full day, they say misfortune comes in threes and that was indeed the case. First the tap fell off the shower in the morning, spraying water everywhere. Next I hired a golf cart to drive round the island, only for it to break down when I was in an out of the way place. A local, however was working on a nearby plantation and helped me try to turn it round - I slipped and pulled a muscle in my thigh! On getting the cart back to the main road he asked me to wait "while I get me cutlass" - he'd left a machete stuck in the roadside while he helped. I left the cart and took a taxi back to the hire place for a replacement, only for this to breakdown too, I then abandoned golf carts (I had actually driven most of the island at no cost!). Taxis are less than 40p to anywhere so I did quite a bit of walking and caught a cab when I got too hot or tired. The cabs are either beat up wrecks or brand new Japanese micro cars with no registration plates!
Just off the beach by the hotel is a boat wreck, home to lots of reef fish and a lovely place to which to swim. I walked from the hotel over grass and sand and then had a leisurely snorkel out to the wreck - I did this most days and have probably never swum as far in open water a good kilometre. A couple of times I also went scuba diving over beautiful coral reefs.
The only downsides to the islands are insects, rain and power cuts. There were a fair number of biting insects about, but not too excessive. It did, however, rain very hard, some of the heaviest I have ever seen - the grass outside my room was often completely flooded, only to have drained away a hour later with brilliant sunshine. On the one day when it rained for a long time I went for a walk in my swimming trunks. When I got to a shop or cafe I wanted to visit, I stopped and put on a shirt. Rain in the tropics is rather different to in England. The power cuts were a bit of a nuisance, 2-4 hours most days, but not that inconvenient as I could normally find somewhere cool to read.
A really enjoyable time, getting to know a completely different life style to that to which I am accustomed.
US TV really is poor, I wanted to watch the US Open final to see how Murray got on. I messed up the times and only realised when I was checking the Internet over supper that it was nearly over. I finished my meal quickly and left for my room when, according to the Internet news the score was 5-2 in the final set. I couldn't find the correct channel (ABC) for several minutes as they were broadcasting ads, eventually I found it to watch the last point of the game when Murray went 5-2! They must have been 5 - 10 minutes behind live, still it actually suited me as I saw him win - well done Andy
I am spending my last two days in the Managua area. After a short, uneventful flight back, I explored the capital. Very spread out as the centre was destroyed in two earthquakes - the latest in 1972 - they decided it would be safer (and more profitable for the politicians!) to leave the centre and build new suburbs. The centre is gradually being restored but the Cathedral is still as it was after the earthquake, with the clock stopped at that moment - the lake front is also largely abandoned. The buses are crazy and potentially lethal. I caught an old US School bus - there seems an inexhaustible supply - into the city. Jam packed and awful roads, so bouncing everywhere. At one point my head hit the roof, no big deal until I noticed I had just missed a 3 inch long bolt sticking out of the roof! I caught a taxi back, less than £3 for about 10 miles and much more comfortable. It's not my favourite city so tomorrow I have hired a car and am heading off to Grenada.
Had a lovely final day exploring the Granada area - once I had left Managua behind. The roads in the city, apart from the major ones, are full of pot holes and you never knew where traffic was coming from. What was amazing was that once I got onto the main road to Granada it was like entering a different country, smooth pavement with US style coffee shops for refreshments.
I discovered that Nicaragua is bisected by a line of volcanoes averaging one every 25 km!! Several are active and there was an eruption about 50 km north of me last week, I visited one that erupted last in April. Granada is a pleasant city, my guidebook states its "restored colonial glories render it a highlight .... of Central America." There are elegant churches and fine plaza in a superb location on the shores of Lago de Nicaragua. It was founded originally in 1524.
On the way back I called into Masaya a "working class city" where you can buy "artesanias". One experience was when I was in the market looking in a shop when I heard it start to rain, I ignored it but when I left, less than 5 minutes later, water was flooding over the floor of the covered market! When I went back outside the sun was beating down from a blue sky but several streets were flooded a few inches deep - that being the first rain of the day!
An interesting end to a great holiday.
For photos see here.