Alice et Ben

Today we went up in the mountain a bit.

So now we’re in Matagalpa, main city in one of the most agricultural oriented region of Nicaragua, mostly known for its coffee production. We do find here similar conditions to the others coffee regions we’ve seen (around San José in Costa Rica, or Salento in Colombia), with fresher and wetter weather, but still a lot of sun.

To get here, we had to get up early (too early…). There are only 2 buses a day from Masaya to Matagalpa : 6am or 7am. And we were told we should arrive at least 30min before departure because they can get quite crowded (well, there’s only two of them…). As we were about 40min away from the bus station, the 7am bus seemed better (as we didn’t really want to wake up before 5am). Bus we left the hostel pretty quickly, and took a taxi because it was raining a lot, so we reached the bus station just before 6. We got lucky as there was still room available on the 6am bus, so we left immediately!

After two and a half hours bus we reached Matagalpa’s bus station, and walked to our hostel with 2 other French travelers we had met in Liberia, Costa Rica and met again here on the bus. We realize more and more that central America is a very small place, as we often meet other travelers again, or at least people who’ve met other people we know!

As we arrived at the hostel at 9, the rooms weren’t ready yet, but we booked our room and left our big backpacks in the luggage storage, before going in town to explore. Matagalpa itself isn’t beautiful, and aside two nice parks with a lot of Mexican food trucks (no idea why…) and a very white cathedral, there’s not much to see. But the town is surrounded by green hills, so it seems much less grey and oppressing as it could have been.

As we had some time on our hands, we went to the free coffee museum. A lot of informative panels about the history and the production of coffee around here. There was a lot of text, very dense and not always well written or laid out (sometimes it felt a bit like a first draft…). But it did help us realize life here is often very hard, and people died of hunger in the region just 15 years ago, following the coffee crisis of 1999.

The museum was also clearly pro Daniel Ortega, the actual president, which belongs to the same party that overthrew the old dictator in the 70s. But as one of the founding members and most important figure of the party, Carlos Fonseca, was born (and assassinated) here, it’s no surprise. We also went to the Carlos Fonseca exposition, hosted in the house he grew up in, but the translations were very bad, and the panels were not in the right order (and some of them obviously missing). So even if there was a lot of information, it was a bit hard to understand the story as a whole.

So, that’s enough cultural information for now! But I had to fill the article a bit because aside from eating lunch at a local restaurant, taking a nap and eating great pizzas (at a real Italian pizzeria, with the only wood oven in the city), we didn’t do much today (yes, the nap was long 😊 ).

More news about Matagalpa and around in the next post!

P.S : this article is redacted on time, but the Wi-Fi code is written on the reception desk, and I’m in bed in my underwear, so it will be posted tomorrow !

Today, we decided to go around a bit before leaving Masaya, because it turns out it’s quite nice !

The city is know to be a center for crafts and commerce and has an old market in a fortress, selling all kinds of stuff from around here (or not ?). Around the city, there are also many villages selling stuff, but mostly making it ! They are called the Pueblos Blancos (the white towns) because they used to be painted only with lime. Today, they are all painted with bright colors, so it doesn’t make sense anymore, but the name stuck. We left from the main terminal in Masaya to the closest and most famous of them : Catarina.

It is said that Sandino liked to hang out, talking about the world whilst sitting on the Catarina gazebo, overlooking Apoyo’s lake (he was the revolution leader in Nicaragua, Wikipedia is your friend if you want to know more on Nica revolution history;) ). We can totally get it, and even if we didn’t talk about politics much, we also sat there a while to enjoy the view…

As you can see, there is a lake in front, then a volcano, then the Nicaragua lake, and between them the city of Granada and its surrounding country. Not too bad. However, we were a bit disappointed by all the junk being sold around, it was way worse than the touristic market of Masaya, and the vendors were less nice. So we went straight to the next village, San Juan de Oriente, and we walked because it is really close. The specialty is pottery and they had really nice things. The town is much smaller and we couldn’t see the workshops, but a cooperative of potters had a really nice exhibition (we didn’t take pics, it would have been rude).

Then we took a Tuk-tuk (that which Colombians call moto-taxi) to Masetepe, where the specialty is wooden furniture. Here, the craftsmen’ cooperative is in an old train station, and there is also a nice central square with a park and a church.

What was really nice about these villages is that we can feel a bit better the atmosphere and the life of Nicas (I didn’t make up that name, it’s official). It puts us back into a way of traveling that we experienced in Colombia where we ate and took the bus like anyone living there, whereas in Panama and Costa Rica, there was always a rift or a glass wall between tourists and locals. Of course, when we go into a crafts shop, we go back to that side of the barrier, but otherwise, since we are in Masaya, we feel like we are in the real life and not in a postcard anymore (and that’s good !)

We were a bit disappointed that we only saw ceramics (of respectable sizes) and furniture (like rocking chairs), which are really nice but impossible to transport in our backpacks, so we went back to Masaya, encouraged by the smile of the photophorus (or scared…)

There, we grabbed a bite to eat and went back to the market to buy a few souvenirs, including wooden objects smaller than furniture, for our future next home (wherever it may be). There are a lot of wood-towered objects and the local wood species are quite fancy (mahogany, teak and others that we can’t name but have fine grain and won’t rot). In the end, it’s not that cheap, but we have to say that they are good !

We ended the day with tacos and beers, watched by the Chester-cat-smiling moon !

Today we took the bus again !

We started the day late (yesterday was a cool but long day), and we spent the rest of the morning writing yesterday’s article (there was much to be said). After a quick lunch in a nice little restaurant near the market, we took the bus.

Ok, it wasn’t very long this time, we only went from Granada to Masaya (about 20km, but still over an hour!). We still had the old school bus and kids seats, even smaller this time so the big backpack didn’t fit under the knees, so we had to pay an extra seat for it (which is common practice here in Nicaragua).

Masaya is mainly known for the volcano (we saw yesterday) and the artisanal market. It’s a bit like Otavalo in Ecuador : small artisanal villages are scattered around a main city with the touristic market where local and made in china stuff are tossed together. We went there in the end of the afternoon, just before closing time, and some wood crafted objects are really nice (our backpacks might get a bit heavier here 😉 ).

Most tourists only come here on day trips from Managua or Granada, mostly on organised tours combining a stop at the artisanal market and another at the national park to see the volcano. We chose to sleep here because the city seemed less touristy than the other ones we’ve been since we entered Nicaragua. The city itself isn’t great, but the atmosphere is nice, it feels “real” and aside from the artisanal market, you see much less gringos than in Ometepe or Granada!

And the hostel is probably the cheapest we’ve seen on our trip (10$ a night for 2 persons in a room with shared bathroom). But there was only the 2 single beds room available, so tonight we sleep a bit less like sinners!

Phew, that’s all for today and we’re not even late on the blog ! With the sun going down at 5pm, we tend to go to bed early and often postpone the redaction to the next day 😉

Today, we went touring !

We got up early thinking of booking last-minute a boat ride to monkey-island. Since Granada is the first tourism destination in Nicaragua, you can find tour operators anywhere in town, and since Nicaragua (or its Pacific side, denser in population, volcanoes and roads anyway) is not that big, you can go anywhere in a day-trip. This way, for a short trip, you can book in the morning, and the later you arrive, the more inexpensive it is (and the less choice you have).

We found an office on the main street (that we call gringo-street among ourselves), and the guy wanted to fill his boat for an island-tour. Since he already 5-6 people, he was sure to go, but since he also has 20 seats in the boat, he wanted a few more, but they would have been a “bonus”, so the prices were nice (yeah, we are counting a lot, the prices are almost costa-rican here but it’s also less organized, so we are paying a lot of attention).

Being (very) lucky, we directly booked the island-trip and the volcano-trip in the evening, and we almost had 2 hours to walk around town before the boat left. Granada is very pretty and cared for. Gringo-street is completely reserved for pedestrians (and street vendors : jewelry, hammocks, paintings…), the central park is very nice, shaded in the day, lighted at night… Most buildings have been restored or maintained, and we also went up the bell-tower of one the churches to have a view of the city and its surroundings.

When we got back down, we bought some food for a picnic and joined the group for the boat ride. Granada Islands (called isletas, i.e. mini-islands) are a bunch of little rocks around a peninsula, resulting from a lava flow a few thousand years ago. The earth is so fertile that in the lake, it took the form of a wetland archipelago rich with life-forms. There are many bird species, birds of prey but also herons and egrets, a few monkeys in half-captivity on small islands (some were brought by a veterinarian to save them) and of course various fishes.

The boat then took us to a restaurant-island, and we had a drink. Since are a still a bit scratched (but it’s getting better fast), we didn’t swim, but it was the perfect time for a watercolor-painting.

We went back and ate our picnic, after which we went for a nap, before going to the volcano. Masaya (that’s its name) is the most active in the country, the last eruption was last December, and was mostly lots of gases being pushed into the atmosphere and a few lava sprays that made the crater broader (so now the fumes are better distributed and the view is better). It’s still growling, sometimes shaking a bit, if it’s showing signs of getting angry, the area will be evacuated (2-3 small towns) but it’s not an explosive hazard at all.

At night,the lava at the bottom of the crater is very visible, and so the tourists cars are waiting in line to take pictures in groups of 20. No more than 20, so if Masaya gets angry, less people will die (no, because they can go away faster, of course, there is a seismic early-warning system, it’s not their first rodeo !). As good tourists, we took pictures (and even a selfie, it had been a long time since the last one).

Then we got back to town, it was late and the day has been long. We shared a pizza and fell into bed !

See you tomorrow, X

Today we finally left Ometepe.

And it was a bit heartbreaking, because we really loved the island (even though the scooter accident part wasn’t very nice). But we also wanted to see something else.

So we started the day by waiting for the bus to Moyogalpa. As we’re not the only tourists on the island, we were 8 foreigners waiting, so a big transport van stopped hoping to make a fortune out of a group of naive tourists. No luck for him, we were all budget backpackers used to taking the bus (and aware of its price). So after only a few tries (still…), he got his price down to what we wanted (a bit more than the bus, but much faster so worth it).

I don’t think we’ve mentioned this yet on the blog, but south of Moyogalpa is the only airport of the island, with one large landing strip, the longest they’ve managed to fit. But a bridge or a tunnel costs money, so here they found a cheaper way : the road goes through the runway. So it’s quite funny to see the drivers slow down, look left and right to see if there’s a plane, and then crossing the strip by car.

So we were dropped off at the ferry terminal just in time to catch the next ferry (no waiting time!). After the 1 hour crossing under a perfect blue sky (we’re definitely starting to be close to dry season), we arrived to San Jorge. From there it’s about 5-6km to Rivas, where you can catch the main buses.

Of courses buses from San Jorge to Rivas are rare, irregular and there is no schedule. But an army of taxis are waiting for you as soon as you step out of the ferry. Even with four people (we traveled with 2 Swiss girls we met at our hostel), there is a minimum price under which they won’t go (still lower than the initial price). Our ride was probably the shittiest car we’ve seen, but it managed to drive the few kilometers to the bus station.

From there, as you’ve probably guessed, it was bus again! Still the same old American school buses with kid-sized seats, completely filled with locals. The trip wasn’t that bad, and it only lasted 2 hours (which seems very short for us now!). Once in Granada (the one in Nicaragua, not Spain!), we grabbed a bite before heading to our hostel.

Well it sure is a change of style from our very cool hostel in Ometepe. Here we don’t have mosquito nets, but it won’t be a problem since we don’t have any windows either ! Well at least we’ll be visiting the town more instead of lazying at the hostel.

So before sundown, we went to the city center. We can feel the city is quite touristy with pedestrians streets with all the tourist-souvenir shops, nicely painted and maintained colonial buildings and a lot of hipster or at least tourist-oriented bars/restaurants. But you can still easily find the local street food specialty : the vigoron, mix of coleslaw, mashed yucca and pork (and optionally additional chicken).

So we tried the vigoron in the central park, under a few trees with a lot of loud birds (see recording), but most of all under an umbrella. The table with the umbrella was the owners suggestion, and thanks to him we avoided the bird feces shampoo free trial! Otherwise, the vigoron is pretty nice and very cheap.

So, that’s all for today (we’re up to date again, phew!). More news on the city tomorrow!

Today, we didn’t give up.

We took our time in the morning, because we felt a bit sore after all, and a bit down too, we made a few calls and hanged around. Also, the view from the common area didn’t help us to move, it’s so perfect, the volcano even has a cloudy angel halo.

Since we’re on that subject, let’s tell you about the outside areas. Here is always hot, so even when it’s raining heavily, we live outside. The rooms are well aired (with movable angle blade windows and fans) and everywhere, everywhere, there are porches, roof overhangs and even roofs that are not even attached to a building, a bit like covered markets. And since rain here is so strong, the slopes are really steep, and for nice wooden buildings, the roof is often made out of dry leaves. The end results are somewhat impressive.

After a while, we hit the road (with the scooter) and went to the beach. THE Ometepe beach is Santo Domingo. It’s a nice black sand beach, and its width depends on the state of the lake, therefore on the season. Well, beginning of dry season is not the best moment, because, just like for Punta Jesus Maria, the sand strip was really narrow, like you can sit but then BOOM the lake is at your feet. We also avoided the water as not to ruin our brand new (and small) bandages.

On the road, we realized that we were not that much of a road hazard, compared with whatever you can find on this road : an incredible number of beasts (and children) are on the side of the road and in front of the houses. Crossed the road before our transfixed vehicle, for a route shorter than 20 km : a veal, two horses, 500 roosters and chickens (at least), pigs of every shape and size (but not that many, they got scared and turned around mid-crossing) and a few playful kids. At least, we didn’t fall on the main road.

Then, we went to eat in Altagracia, second town on the island. These days are holidays in the honor of San Diego de Alcala, so there is a big market and food stands. Sometimes, at the end of the day, we would cross trucks on the road with the backs filled with people and thought that they were going home from work. Nope, they were on their way to a hangover… Well we ate there in the middle of clothing, shoes and toys displays, hosted by crazy dudes with mikes shouting about their discounts like football commentators. It was funny.

At some point, we went back to rest and return the scooter. Of course, every paint particle was inspected, and it was good that we had taken pictures at the beginning in front of the renter. He conned us out of “reparations cost”, reparations that will probably never be done (like the gauge, the odometer and speedometer, the left headlight and footrest… that were never repaired before us and desperately needed it) and some “painting cost”, paint which will also probably never be applied. Well, that’s the risk we took, and all in all it’s not too bad (and we had him lower his price anyway).

After a last meal here, still with a lot of other travelers, we went to bed, because tomorrow morning, we are leaving for Granada !

See you soon, X

Today was full of adventures, good and bad !

Since we arrived at our beautiful little hostel in the mountain on the south side of the island, we noticed a small problem : there are very few buses running here. That’s why numerous locals rent out scooter and sports bikes. Even though we don’t really have much experience driving this kind of vehicle, we decided to rent a scooter just to drive a few kilometers on the good paved road with very few people on it. But here, everything’s done without any paperwork, the scooter are just rented in cash to the tourists.

After taking a few pictures of our new ride (so as to be able to prove a lot of damage was already there!), we went to the Charco Verde natural reserve, located around a small interior lake and mostly surrounded by the Nicaragua lake. So we hiked in the forest, again!

We had heard of the howling monkeys, but really hearing them is something else! After a few minutes in the park we started hearing a big concert of noise somewhat strange. As we got closer, we saw dozens of monkeys in the surrounding trees. We edited a short video for you guys, but being there in person is much more impressive and somewhat frightening!

But the monkeys themselves are very nice, calmly walking around just a few meters from us. We even saw baby monkeys playing while just hanging by there tails, and they were very cute 🙂 .

Further up in the hike we had some nice views of the Nicaragua lake and the interior lake. We also saw many lizards stealthily running near the track, an agouti, a snake and a huge number of birds.

At the end of the trail we went by the beach, but as it’s the end of rainy season, water is high so the beach is tiny. But there were super cool trees to climb on and chill out over the water!

Once out of the park, we thought it was time to grab a bite, so we took our scooter down the 200m dirt road leading to the main road. And bam, we fell! So, yes Moms, we’re perfectly all right, we just look dumb with our scratches at the elbows and knees like kids after a biking accident (or tourist who screwed up in a dirt road because they didn’t really drive scooter before, but we’re probably not the first ones 😉 ).

So we didn’t grab a bite immediately, but we went back to the hostel to fix ourselves up, and then we ate there. In the afternoon we laid back to recover from the shock, and we had a look a the scooter, which unfortunately has a small  plastic cache banged up.

In the end of the afternoon we went out to buy alcohol (as a disinfectant, not to get wasted!), and we tried the road to Merida a bit because we were thinking of going to a waterfall there tomorrow. But very fast the good paved road turns into a shitty muddy and rocky road, too hard to handle for our (clearly) poor driving skills. So we went back to the hostel to make other plans for tomorrow.

So it was a good and bad day, but mainly we’re gonna be a bit stressed until we know for sure how much we’ll have to pay the “repairs” to the renter. More news in the next post (which should be posted shortly, as this one is a bit late  😉 ).

Today, we did nothing. Well, we rested and organized, which are very important things to do, but basically, to travelers, is the equivalent of doing nothing.

Last night, rain fell. Poured. Heavily. Pounded the roof all night, with thunder and everything. And for once, we have real curtains, so we’re not lit by the sun as soon as it gets out. So naturally, today, we slept in ! Then we just enjoyed life, with a big breakfast, reading in hammocks, observing bugs and birds in the garden and so on.

Finally, we also looked at our options for when we come back. And we ran a simulation of train prices to see family in December, for one and the other, friends for new year’s eve… It’s a mess, and it also costs a bit more than buses in Nicaragua, so we will see what we can do. When we will know, we’ll post all the dates of our grand tour, promised. Note : it took several hours to run different combinations, itineraries, dates etc.

Then it was evening, the sun went down and set fire to the skies and we ate and talked with two very nice dutch ladies. We also went to bed early, as to not ruin our perfect resting day !

Tomorrow should be more adventurous. This post will be sent when we get some wifi (it’s a bit fluctuating right now).

X

Bonus : a picture of Ben in front of a lake !