Nicaragua and done

I'm not sure anyone is reading this blog anymore, but I still like writing it, and besides, I feel the need for some closure after more than 6 months away. We're heading home in two days.

First, an update on the events of the last 2+ weeks. Elise, Deb and I ventured off to Nicaragua via a 2 day megabus ride from Guatemala City to Managua with a short overnight stay in El Salvador and a pass through Honduras.

Nicaragua is a wonderful country, quite a bit poorer than Guatemala, with less of a tourism infrastructure. All told, traveling in Nicaragua is more taxing than either Guatemala or Mexico, and by the end of our two weeks there, we were a bit frazzeled. The people of Nicaragua are quite nice, most of them have forgiven us for the Reagan years, when our tax dollars were paying to arm and train assassins to kill all things communist, socialist, or generally non-capitalist (those older readers will remember the Iran-Contra Scandal). On the other hand, I was suprised to find out that Daniel Ortega is not that popular in Nicaragua, and not just with business owners, but with taxi drivers and many others. Daniel Ortega, for those that don't know, headed up the Sandanista Revolution that finally toppled the Somoza regime in 1979. He has been in and out of power since then, he has 1 year left in the current election cycle. In fact, I never talked to a Nicaragüense that liked ol' Danny boy. They state that he has turned into something of a dictator himself, only without the jobs of the Somoza times. For example, he has managed to change the constitution in Nicaragua to enable him to hold office indefinately (sound familiar, think Honduras).

Once our bus arrived in Managua, we got out as soon as possible (Managua, like most of the major cities in Central America is dirty and dangerous). We took a colectivo to Granada, a pretty town that sits right on the banks of Lago Nicaragua. Granada reminded me a bit of Antigua in that it had a beautiful parque central and friendly people. We stomped around the city for a couple of days, enjoying the sights and food. While there, we took a day trip to Masaya, a town nearby with a large market.

From Granada, we took a 4 hour ferry to an eden-like island in the middle of Lago Nicaragua (the largest fresh water island in the world), Ometepe. Ometepe is formed from two adjacent volcanos merged together, looks a bit like a cell in late anaphase. We spent 4 days on the island in a town called Merida, truly, el medio de la nada. We hiked up Madera, the smaller of the two volcanos. Although smaller, it was still over a 4000 foot ascent up steep muddy trials. It took us 9 hours and silenced any suggestions of climbing the other volcano the next day. Unfortunately, it was so overcast that we didn't get to see the laguna in the crater, in fact, because we were in the clouds most of the day, we didn't get to see much in the way of views. To add insult to injury, we got drenched in a torrent the last hour or so of the hike. All told, it was a meat grinding experience. We did get to see some wildlife, though, including a coral snake, howler and capuchin monkeys (a mama capuchin was carrying her baby on her back as she made her way through the trees), and crabs. Now, crabs might not sound like that big of a deal unless you consider we were probably 4 miles up the volcano, and at least 30 miles from the nearest saltwater. Here is a picture of the sun setting from our hotel. If you look to the right, that mountain capped by the clouds is Concepcion, the larger of the two volcanos.

Due to general fatigue and inertia, we spent the next day hanging out and reading. Somewhat refreshed, the next day we took a kayaking tour up a jungle river were we saw caymans (small alligators), turtles, and tons of birds. I have a picture here of a cayman we saw and another of Elise with our guide with Madera in the background.

We were sad to leave Ometepe, but leave we did, and made our way to Laguna Apoyo, a large crater lake in the middle of the jungle (you may have noticed that everything here is in the middle of the jungle). Apoyo was a delight, the water was clean and perfect for swimming, which we did. Alot.

Then on to Leon, a town about an hour north of Managua. We were in Leon during the 31st anniversary of the Sandanista Revolution/overthrow of the dreaded Samosa regime. The Somoza family ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist from 1936 to 1979, first by the father, then by two of his sons. We were running low on steam by this time, but managed to take a two hour walk through some of the parts of the city less seen by tourists that took us to El Fortin, a prison where Somoza incarcerated, tortured, and, of course, murdered countless political enemies (the Somozas had lots of those). I have a picture of Deb next to a prison cell that was no bigger than 6 feet long, 4 feet wide, and too low to stand up in. Note Deb's disapproving look. If there is anything Deb hates worse than a bad bagel, its torture and murder. From Leon, we also took a day trip to Poneloya, a beach just to the west of Leon on the Pacific Ocean. The surf there is too dangerous to swim, but we puttered down the beach for a couple of hours, then returned to Leon. My last picture if of Deb and Elise on the beach at Poneloya. From Leon, we jumped on another megabus to San Salvador, spent the night, and back to Guatemala.

I have compiled a rough list of things I've done in the last 6 months. I don't know why, but I have, and here it is. I have chosen to do so in the style of the Harper's Index:

Number of months working in a Spanish-speaking clinic treating patients ranging in age from 2 to 82 with an amazing variety of orthopaedic and neuorological disorders: 3+

Number of weeks of Spanish classes: 5 (but, I'm still not all that good at Spanish).

Number of different countries: 6

Number of countries never visited before: 4 (Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua)

Number of international borders crossed: 12

Types and numbers of forms of transportation: Planes: 8; buses: countless, including full on touring buses (one for 19 hours), shuttles, collectivos, minibuses, chicken buses, open bed pickup trucks with over 20 people in the back; river taxis: 3, open ocean boats: 3; ferries across salt and fresh water: 6, tuk-tuks: 1; taxis: countless; horse drawn train cars: 1; Camels: 0.

Number of hotels, hostels, etc stayed in: >30

Number with truly hot water: 1

Number of times I flushed toilet paper down the toilet in those hotels: 1 (by mistake, forgot)

Bicycle tours: 1

Backpacking trips: 1

Hiking excursions: too many to count,

Miles of walking: hundreds and hundreds.
Volcanos climbed: 2

Nights spent on an active volcano: 1

Feet away from a lava flow: <10

Kayak trips in jungle: 2

Underground river explorations: 1

Whale sharks seen: >50

Whale sharks swam with: 3

Earthquakes felt: 1

Tropical storms: 2

Eruptions of volcanos: 1

Types and numbers of wildlife seen: Birds: >90 species including over 50 new species; whip tailed scorpions: 3; monkeys: >20, 3 different species; coatis: ~10; other small furry mammels: bunches; poisonous snakes: 2 different species; wild pigs: 4; tamazotes (tiny deer): 1; cayman (small alligators): 3, crocodiles: dozens; turtles: bunches; Camels : 0.

Number of world cup games seen in country of team playing: 2 (Honduras in Honduras and Mexico in Mexico).

Number of Mayan ruins seen: 12

Number of Mayan ruins seen past saturation point: at least 4

Types of local cuisine tried: countless, including penuchos, gringas, pollo de jalapeno, chilaquis, pollo de molle, picadillo (Nica shredded beef stew), chaote, ceviche, pan de chazon (shark), pitaya, liche, etc, etc, etc

Bad beers: way too many

Good beers: 1 (Guiness in the can with those cool nitrogen pressure thingies)

Other drinks tried: tons, including bunches of papaya, sandia, mango, melon, and pino licuados, various Carribean Rums, michalada (beer mixed with salsa, lime and salt), El Macua (national drink of Nicaragua), refresca de cacoa con leche, horchada de arroz, others.

Number of interesting people met: lots, but never enough; both of the countries visited and of dozens of other countries. I met an Irish author for Frommer's travel guide (a dream job for me), surfers from Australia, amatuer anthropoligists from Zimbabwe, entrepreneurs and/or small business owners from Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Canada and the U.S., physical therapists from New Zealand and Mexico, Marketing executives from the Netherlands, tons of medical students from England (I would say half the English folks I met were medical students, go figure), professional dancers and actresses from Canada, and lots of folks trying to avoid being much of anything professionally.

Although still a bit disappointed about the camel thing, all told, this past 6 months must have been a success because I'm actually looking forward to returning to work (to quote Elvis Costello, I don't suppose that will last). I think the first thing I'm going do when I get home is flush toilet paper down the toilet, then drink a good beer (or two), get a good night sleep in my own bed, wake up and go to work on my bike. I am going to be teaching Medical Spanish to the PT students and will be treating Spanish speaking patients in the clinic, so hopefully I won't forget too much Spanish between now and when I take my next sabbatical in 6 years!

Thanks for putting up with my blog, and I hope to see you all soon after returning.