El Salvador to Nicaragua - Road trip
We discussed having a quick peak at Nicaragua via a road trip rather than calling into the country whilst sailing down towards Costa Rica. Whilst the road trip meant a long ride to get to our destination, having the boat in a secure anchorage and friends keeping an eye out for us was comforting. So here we are, sitting on a King Quality bus going in the opposite direction to our last trip.
When we purchased our tickets (some 12hrs before the bus was due to depart) we were informed the bus was running 2.5hrs late. I did wonder how they knew that far in advance. We arrived at the depot half an hour early as requested, without any form of communication from staff we waited a further 2 hours in a hot stuffy waiting room which is designed to ensure all passengers get their 10 years dose of bus exhaust fumes in a very short period. It is basically a tunnel underground, open at both ends for the bus to enter and exit – a waiting room in the center to catch the fumes.
Shortly after we departed the air conditioning was turned off and only hot dusty air was blowing through the tiny air vents above our head. Shortly after that they ceased all air flow. The bus did not have any opening windows so there we sat sweltering for 10 hours. It was inhumane treatment and life threatening to the elderly, young and ill. No water was offered and when the bus did stop our door was kept firmly shut so passengers would not get off to get a breath of fresh air as it took too long to get them all boarded again. The driver did stop for 10 mins at a service station café – this was around morning tea time – we had no idea that it would be the only stop of the entire trip.
Customs and immigration officials entered our bus at the Honduras boarder as we had to travel through Honduras for a short period of time to get to the Nicaragua boarder. The officials collected their fee for our 1 hour drive through visit. The Hondurian officials were literally dripping with sweat – stinging their eyes and drenching their uniforms. The sympathetic looks we received said it all. The toilet had the only tiny opening window so Don stood in the stairwell holding the toilet door open to allow a tiny amount of air flow from the window. He was a hero to all on the bus!!!
We arrived in Managua around 9pm and having read that this country is much safer without the crime rate of Guatemala we decided to walk the 600mtrs to our accommodation. Hummm apparently that was not the thing to do. We took the long way around (by accident) but arrived without incident. Our accommodation was very very basic but despite the heat we slept like babies. Up and ready early the next morning our host would not allow us to walk back up to the bus depot, she insisted it was not safe. We had read the various leaflets, in large black letters, advising;
. to take taxis everywhere whilst in this particular zone;
. have a taxi take you to the ATM and wait for you so you can climb directly into the cab and he can drive off. This is to prevent being robbed shortly afterward;
. don’t go out with a large amount of cash;
. leave extra money and passports in Hotel.
Needless to say, we caught a taxi via an ATM to our bus. The usual bus hustlers pushed and pulled us into a very nice clean comfortable bus which had the engine running and moving forward – have I mentioned this is a ploy to get more customers??? The drivers rev the engine loudly and make several false starts leading people to believe that are leaving now so they choose this particular bus over the next one – we are awake to all their tricks now – being seasoned travelers !! Also gringos don’t get change for their fare – change only goes to locals. The amount is usually minimal but there is a principle in there somewhere. We were glad to leave the city for Granada.
Our accommodation in Granada was similar to a hot box – Don was not impressed – a tin ceiling and a wall that ran the entire length of a supermarket car park – both heated up and in turn cooked our bed which felt like lying on an electric blanket switched on to 3. Many cold showers were taken during the course of the day – I did some washing and it dried within minutes in our room. We hid until the sun began to drop then went out exploring this pretty town. Highly decorated horses and carriages are the main transport, many horses look emaciated – very sad.
Dinner was a lively affair – loud music coming from utes, children in dress up clothes doing tricks for money, every hawker imaginable passed by our table (which unfortunately was on the street as inside is too hot) which became annoying – every mouthful was interrupted with a continuous “no gracias”. Some of these hawkers were very persistent and had to be encouraged to leave by the staff. One enterprising fella pretended to want to polish my sandals but was really asking for my left over meal – I had a large serving of hot chips that I had not touched so not liking waste I bundled them up when the waiter was not about and he put them in his shoe polish box – not being happy with my chips he proceeded to paw at the leftover bits of batter from my fish which totally grossed me – he was short shifted by the staff !!! I suppose I shouldn’t have encouraged him but I don’t believe anyone else saw what was going on and my chips would have ended up in a bin. Our restaurant was of the Irish Murphy type boasting the best fish and chips in town. The front cover of their menu talked about the beggars – children in particular. The local children are often forced into begging by parents – some children are even hired by other adults (earning money for their parents) and forced out into the street to beg. The information went on to request visitors not to give the children any money not matter how dirty or hungry they look or pleading they do – they are trained to look and act like that. They ensure all visitors that there is a “soup kitchen” available that feeds healthy food to all hungry children and beds are available also. The common trend is for these children to be kept from school in order to beg and end up drug addicts. The story made sense, and ensured all visitors that Nicaragua is taking care of its children and programs are in place for them – by giving them money we are actually encouraging the child abuse. One little fellow, about 5 years old, jumped on our bus clapped out a tune and sang his little heart out – he was very good and very practiced at giving “gringos” that cute smile whilst holding his hand out – he got to Don who had to give him some small change for his efforts. No parents were in sight and I worried about how he was going to find his way back home.
Early start the following morning to catch a bus to Rivas, taxi to San Jorge then ferry to the island of Ometepe. Ometepe is on Lago Nicaragua, Central America's largest lake. The lake measures 177 km long and 58 km wide. Ometepe is an island formed by twin volcanoes arising out of the lake. Volcano Concepcion rises 1610m above the lake and Maderas 1394m. Lava flows created an isthmus between the two. Concepcion is still active with it last major eruption in 1957. There are many beautiful hikes to waterfalls, rivers, beaches etc – a place that time forgot. We had a good view of Volcano Conception on the ferry ride across – she erupted twice spewing billowy gray cloud high up above her summit. It was spectacular. When at the accommodation I noticed my white sun hat had gone moldy – I was amazed as I had not noticed it previously – then the French/Canadian caretaker was telling us about the eruption and how dangerous it is if there were any climbers on the volcano at the time. He looked at me and said to expect lots of ash – and that is when I looked at myself – my white t-shirt was covered in small black dots – volcanic ash – so that is what had happened to my hat. It is everywhere, in the screw cap of our drink bottle, inside books in backpacks – every surface is covered in fine ash and grit – yuk !!! The road we are going on tomorrow is so rough that it takes an hour to go 10km and the entire trip will take 4 hrs – can’t wait for that one !!!That trip was exactly what it claimed to be, slow – the bus did not go over 20km per hour – my suspicion is it did not have any brakes so thankfully it was reasonably flat the whole way. Altragrassi is a small town at the half way mark and the bus stops there for an hour before attacking the really rough section of road. The bus made sure it parked on a hill, with large wooden chocks under all wheels (cementing my belief that it did not have brakes) so it could roll start.
Merida was our destination – a tiny town with a couple of accommodation choices. The place we stayed at was lovely, a beach with kayaks, horses available for hire at $5 per hour (with guide), hikes to the volcanoes, waterfalls etc. Paradise. The accommodation also offered buffet breakfast and dinner – all you can eat, a choice of over 8 different dishes all for $4 – oh freshly made fruit juice included. The food was healthy, fresh and very good. A great place to recharge batteries. There were more English speaking people on this island than we have come across anywhere else in our travels in Central America. 
surrounded by 8 concrete pillar type seats. The centre of the table post and each seat is filled with plastic bags and squashed bottles. Am amazing effort and lesson in recycling plastic bottles for the children.
We began our trip back to the boat, this time catching a freight ferry rather than the passenger type. This wooden boat had gaps between the planking – free air conditioning??? and a definite starboard list. Whilst waiting for the waves to capsize our ancient ferry I constantly made plans on which hole (for there were many) would be best to leap from when the time came to abandon ship. It turned out it was not necessary. On the way back to Managua we stopped at Reserva Natural Volcan Mombacho.
The last recorded erruption was in 1570 but the volcano is still active and sends up a warning smoke signal now and then. We participated in a quick tour through lava tunnels and met a rather fat bat – the guide had nicknamed him Poo (as in Poo bear), then a climb to the top of the lookout to see the cauldron The sulphur gas was strong and little time was spent in this area. One particular guide told us the story of when he first began showing people through caves he went the extra mile and took his group further into the cave to show them the bats while sleeping. He proudly shone a torch on the bats and woke them up. The bats proceeded to fall to the ground. Apparently they had not processed food enough to sustain energy to fly therefore when woken with a bright light tried to fly and fell to the ground. The guide was deeply embarrassed and never disturbed the bats again.
We spent the night in a very ordinary hostel near the Tica bus station – up at 4am to catch the bus back to El Salvador – a bit apprehensive after the bus ride from hell to get there, much to our relief the a/c was functioning on the return trip. We arrived in San Salvador too late to catch a bus down to Bahia del Sol so spent our last night in the city – even though we stayed at our usual favorite hotel, I received many bites presumably from bed bugs – Don not a single one !
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