Days 30, 31 & 33 - Granada, Nicaragua

Day 30 (February 9) – To Granada we be


On the day to depart for Granada I see
An oxen in the field next to me
He's plowing the tobacco fine
High and Low it does grow

School children all dressed alike
In uniforms of navy and white
Horse and cart with solid wood wheels
School kids atop the old wood cart

Can you believe rice fields I see
Veggies at road side piled so high
Looked fresh and nice

Iguanas for sale as he's held by the tail
Down by the river side she's washing her clothes.

A lady under a tree reaching so high
Her pole to the sky
What might she get
Something to eat I bet

A village of hammocks we passed through
He's twisting the twine as his wheel spins around
All colors and shapes look so great
But don't be misled it might dump you on your head

Two or three times we see mattress piled high
Maybe to the sky in colors so bright
It'll give you a fright

Let's go to the city by horse and buggy
It starts out slow all in a row
Horse goes along not minding us at all

The heat we can't beat so smile and enjoy
This city of history
Leave us at the park a drink to enjoy
That's all we need to clear our head.

So we each make our way to Playa
The beach at our doorstep today.


Rig #13

Day 31 Wednesday February 10, 2010
We are in Granada, Nicaragua, parked on the shore of Lake Nicaragua with the smaller rigs parked right on the beach and larger ones across the street. It’s a beautiful view with big trees and sometimes horses, cows and the occasional net fishermen can be seen. We have horses, cows and dogs that wonder up and down the street mixed amongst the traffic ranging from horse drawn carts carrying almost anything to autos, motorcycles, bicycles and the ever present people walking and others selling their wares. We have small lake front restaurants all around us but, up until now, no one has tried any of them to know how they are.
We left the camp area about 8:30 in 2 buses for a 45 minute ride to Masaya Volcano (a Federal Park) passing large areas of old lava from a 1700s eruption once inside the park. The volcano is comprised of five caldrons but only one is still active, it last erupted about 60 years ago, today the active crater puts forth a goodly volume of sulfur smelling steam that, fortunately for us, today the wind carried the rotten egg smell away from us. We climbed 177 steps up to a high vantage point where a Christian Cross was first put on this hill overlooking the crater in the 1500’s and has been replaced several times. . Following the look at the crater and lots of pictures we made a stop at a very well done museum with our guides giving us a good explanation of the exhibits that primarily addressed the reasons that this and other volcanoes existed in the area.
We then took a bus ride around the city of Managua the capital of Nicaragua. The city is divided into 2 major sections; the old and the new but to my eyes not very much of it was a part of the 21st century.
Adventure bought lunch that was pretty good but the one server (not Chris, who by the way did the most serving) had a heck of a time figuring out how many chicken meals he needed, however, on about his 6 th or 7th count he finally got everyone a meal. We then went to the city market with lots of booths with lots of tourist junk and another area for food staples. From there we went to a super market, a lot more user friendly to us, to stock up on all the stuff we needed rum, beer, rum, beer and more beer. We were back to the rigs at about 5:00 and everyone did their own thing for dinner and the evening, primarily sitting outside of the rigs to stay cool (it had been at sunny 90 degree and muggy day) and watching the people watch us.
Our guide gave us some fun facts about Nicaragua as we rode between stops:
Nicaragua is the largest of the 5 Central American countries with a total population of 6,500,000 with slightly more than 1,00,000 living in Managua
The average office/factory worker earns about $150.00 U.S. monthly but the farmers and small town people who are employed (unemployment is 40%) earn about half that much.
School is mandatory and free through 12th grade, however, all school children are required to wear white shirts and blue pants or skirts (the national colors), in secondary school the students are required to provide their own books. University is available for a fee but federal scholarships are available for the gifted.
Most cities have no street names or numbers but the mail DOES get delivered. Directions are usually given by landmarks because of this.
The national flower is JACUANIOCHE know to us PLUMERIA


Day 33 (February 12) – Granada Free Day

Everyone's FREE DAY. Small group of people met with a fellow named Dave from Edmonton, Alberta. He had been talking to Sharon and Ed every morning as he jogged thru the park. He agreed to show us around. We left the camp site around 8:30 am and walked to town. Everyone wanted to phone home so we met him at the church around 10:00 am. He brought his girlfriend Anna. We walked through the local market and to the bus depot. For 10 cordobas a piece we went to a small town called Catarina. Very interesting bus ride. People jump off and on from front of bus and back bus. People brought a “huge floral wreath” to the cemetery. They throw bikes on the roof. Whistling and yelling. All very exciting. After 45 minutes arrived at small town. Very beautiful and clean. Very quiet. Nobody hustling you – cobble stone streets, nice nurseries with tons of flowers. Craft shops and restaurants. Very relaxing not to have to dodge people and cars!! We had a nice view of crater lake. Nice park area with lots of cement benches to sit and view the lake. Beautiful breeze. Dave and Anna checked out all the restaurants and found us the best lunch special. Most us had filet mignon. Excellent. We wandered around some more then caught the bus back to Granada. We said our goodbyes at the church on the main square and caught taxis back to rigs. Everyone was relaxing in the shade; getting ready for our 6:30 am start to Costa Rica Border tomorrow!!!


Rig #16 – Wendy and Pete