Malawian Rice Vendor

Friday 8 August 2008

Miraflor part II

It was a good thing that we were able to get to bed very early.  We both slept like logs until about 3 am when we awoke to a chorus of animal sounds, roosters crowing, cows mooing, dogs barking and ducks quacking, even though it was pitch  dark, they all wanted to make themselves heard.  This melody of sounds seemed to go on for a couple of hours until it started to get light at which time we knew that we couldnāļ”t sleep anymore so they decided to stop.  At that point, it was time to drag ourselves out of bed and enjoy the early morning watching the mist rise over the fields like steam from a hot cup of coffee.  We needed to pack up and get ready for our adventure.  Dora, our hostess for the day served us one last coffee before it was time to board the old dilapidated school bus.  The seats on this bus were even smaller than on the previous one.  We drove for about an hour further up into the reserve, occasionally stopping to let off the odd passenger or two along the way.  Finally,
 we arrived at another minute village and were led to a small house to meet our hosts for the day.  The girls were led directly to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast for our small group, meanwhile, Jeff sat with the other hombres waiting to be served.  He could get used to this lifestyle!  We at a usual breakfast of beans and rice, though this one did not quite have the flavor of the previous days gastronomic delights. We then proceeded to go on another hike into the wilderness. We walked for about an hour and a half finally reaching another beautiful waterfall. This walk was also very hard, not only did we have to go up and over many hills but since the sun was shining bright it was very hot and humid. Jeff had gotten bit or stung by some sort of tropical insect the day before and by the end of the walk his ankle had tripled in size. This was a bit worrisome to both of us since the closest doctor was many, many miles away. We sat by the water again soaking our tired feet, Jeff 
was hoping the cold water would relieve the swelling but to no avail. After a hour or so by the waterfall we ventured back towards the house of our hosts. The walk back was extremely painful for Jeff and we both decided that we needed to cut the trip short so that he could get some medicine to help is ailing leg. It is always problematic in the tropical jungles since there are so many unusual insects lurking about. We made it back to the house and had a lunch consisting of what else..........you guessed it .....rice and beans!!! Around three in the afternoon the return bus back to Esteli appeared. We said goodbye to our hosts and climbed aboard. The two and a half hour ride back to Esteli was probably the most fascinating part of this journey. The bus is not only used to transport people from village to village it also is used for commerce. Many a farmer loaded on various items to transport to another village or neighbor. We shared the bus with many people carrying their chickens t
hat they were taking for slaughter. At one point the bus stopped and we heard the harsh squeals of pigs. Sure enough the tied up pigs were carefully loaded up onto the top of the bus. We could tell by their incessant screaming that they were not at all happy. They probably knew their fate. By the time we were on the outskirts of the reserve the bus was teeming with activity as everyone and their animals jostled for space on the overflowing bus. WE eventually arrived back in Estili and found our way back to the hotel. We were able to find some medicine for Jeffs swelling leg and it seemed to have an immediate effect. We really enjoyed the time we were able to spend in Miraflor. Once again it gave us both an appreciation as to how good we have it back in our comfortable lives in the U.S.A.  Just the little things like not having to go to a well to fetch water, or trying to accomplish things by candlelight.  We will spend the night in Esteli then move on to Matagalpa another small cit
y in the highlands of Nicaragua. until then Hasta Pronto

Thursday 7 August 2008

Miraflor Part I

Esteli is a nice little town in the Highlands of Nicaragua. At first sight it does not look like much. Sitting of one side of the Pan-American highway the town is laid out in quadrants. Unlike Granada the streets actually have names and so navigating is quite easy. We found a little cafe, owned by an English women, that serves a nice cup of Nicaraguan coffee and a tasty breakfast burrito. We had a chance to talk to her for quite a while while we waited for our food. She gave us some good recommendations to pass our time here. After breakfast we grabbed our small backpack and went to the local "Supermercado" to buy some water and snacks. She had told us about a nice hike up to a waterfall located in the nearby tropical forest. We caught a local bus to the dirt road that led up the small hillside. The walk itself, though quite long, turned out to be really beautiful. We ventured through numerous cornfields and cow pastures. The people we encountered along the way were extremely friendly as we needed to continuously make sure we were going in the correct direction. Luckily we had our snacks as the hike proved to be a little longer than we had been told. We probably walked well over six km´s before we finally entered the park zone. After paying a nominal fee to enter, which by  the way we hope actually goes for something, instead of the kids that manned the gate!! We wandered a few more minutes down to this beautiful waterfall surrounded by sharp cliffs. There were actually about 10 or 12 people there swimming in the cool waters. We could have done the same thing but we did not come prepared with our swimsuits and we dared not skinny dip with so many onlookers. We befriended a couple of Israeli girls and spent a while talking with them while enjoying the cool spray from the water above. We were also approached by a Nicaraguan who spoke very good English. Turns out he had lived in the states along with his sister for nearly 23 years befor e finally being deported about two years ago. Their story is truly tragic. They, along with their mother had escaped Nicaragua during the war. They were able to cross the border and find a place to live and eventually jobs. The mother had applied for political asylum only to be denied several times. This despite the fact that  it was too dangerous for them to return to their homeland. They ended up living in several places in the states having to move just to find work. To make a long story short, a "routine" traffic stop (even though the cop had no probable cause) turned into a criminal proceeding by the INS. They wound up both being deported several months apart with the sister having to leave her kids in the states with their grandmother. She has not been able to see them for over two years now. The INS gave her the opportunity to take the children back with her but since they were born in the states they were Americans and she did not want ot uproot them and take them to a foreign land with much less oppurtunity. So here the two sit in Esteli with very little oppurtunity for advancement. They are like fish out of water since they have spent much more time in the states than here. The amazing thing is neither one is bitter about the whole ordeal and both hope to return to the states one way or another.
We ended up all of us hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck to the main road. Unfortunately just about then the skies parted and we got absolutely soaked by the tropical rain storm. The ride seemed to take forever as we were pelt ed by the slanting rain. We made it to the main road and found a bus back to town. The brother and sister invited us back to their house to drink a special Nicaraguan concoct ion to help warm us up. The special brew was made from roasted corn and cocoa mixed with warm milk and the obligatory sugar. We sat around, the six of us, sharing stories and Ideas trying to help these two lovely people brainstorm for id eas to make a living. Not that Erika or I are experts in this field at this particular moment. We all really had a wonderful time and we ended up spending several hours at their humble abode. Finally we were starting to get hungry and we said our goodbyes. We walked home and along the way we stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant of all things and we wandered in. As it turns out the food was fabulous, real authentic tacos and quesodillas. The whole ambiance was very authentic, the place even had a couple of stray dogs wandering the premise' looking for the odd scrap of food!!! Tommorow we are going to do some research on going up to the Miraflores Nature Reserve.  Hopefully we will be able to leave the following day for a couple of days journey into the cloud forests and the rustic villages of the surrounding area. Since there is no electricity or running water it should make of quite an adventure. We will let you know.

Monday 4 August 2008

esteli

Esteli is a nice little town in the Highlands of Nicaragua. At first sight it does not look like much. Sitting of one side of the Pan-American highway the town is laid out in quadrants. Unlike Granada the streets actually have names and so navigating is quite easy. We found a little cafe, owned by an English women, that serves a nice cup of Nicaraguan coffee and a tasty breakfast burrito. We had a chance to talk to her for quite a while while we waited for our food. She gave us some good recommendations to pass our time here. After breakfast we grabbed our small backpack and went to the local "Supermercado" to buy some water and snacks. She had told us about a nice hike up to a waterfall located in the nearby tropical forest. We caught a local bus to the dirt road that led up the small hillside. The walk itself, though quite long, turned out to be really beautiful. We ventured through numerous cornfields and cow pastures. The people we encountered along the way were extremely friendly as we needed to continuously make sure we were going in the correct direction. Luckily we had our snacks as the hike proved to be a little longer than we had been told. We probably walked well over six km´s before we finally entered the park zone. After paying a nominal fee to enter, which by  the way we hope actually goes for something, instead of the kids that manned the gate!! We wandered a few more minutes down to this beautiful waterfall surrounded by sharp cliffs. There were actually about 10 or 12 people there swimming in the cool waters. We could have done the same thing but we did not come prepared with our swimsuits and we dared not skinny dip with so many onlookers. We befriended a couple of Israeli girls and spent a while talking with them while enjoying the cool spray from the water above. We were also approached by a Nicaraguan who spoke very good English. Turns out he had lived in the states along with his sister for nearly 23 years befor e finally being deported about two years ago. Their story is truly tragic. They, along with their mother had escaped Nicaragua during the war. They were able to cross the border and find a place to live and eventually jobs. The mother had applied for political asylum only to be denied several times. This despite the fact that  it was too dangerous for them to return to their homeland. They ended up living in several places in the states having to move just to find work. To make a long story short, a "routine" traffic stop (even though the cop had no probable cause) turned into a criminal proceeding by the INS. They wound up both being deported several months apart with the sister having to leave her kids in the states with their grandmother. She has not been able to see them for over two years now. The INS gave her the opportunity to take the children back with her but since they were born in the states they were Americans and she did not want ot uproot them and take them to a foreign land with much less oppurtunity. So here the two sit in Esteli with very little oppurtunity for advancement. They are like fish out of water since they have spent much more time in the states than here. The amazing thing is neither one is bitter about the whole ordeal and both hope to return to the states one way or another.
We ended up all of us hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck to the main road. Unfortunately just about then the skies parted and we got absolutely soaked by the tropical rain storm. The ride seemed to take forever as we were pelt ed by the slanting rain. We made it to the main road and found a bus back to town. The brother and sister invited us back to their house to drink a special Nicaraguan concoct ion to help warm us up. The special brew was made from roasted corn and cocoa mixed with warm milk and the obligatory sugar. We sat around, the six of us, sharing stories and Ideas trying to help these two lovely people brainstorm for id eas to make a living. Not that Erika or I are experts in this field at this particular moment. We all really had a wonderful time and we ended up spending several hours at their humble abode. Finally we were starting to get hungry and we said our goodbyes. We walked home and along the way we stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant of all things and we wandered in. As it turns out the food was fabulous, real authentic tacos and quesodillas. The whole ambiance was very authentic, the place even had a couple of stray dogs wandering the premise' looking for the odd scrap of food!!! Tommorow we are going to do some research on going up to the Miraflores Nature Reserve.  Hopefully we will be able to leave the following day for a couple of days journey into the cloud forests and the rustic villages of the surrounding area. Since there is no electricity or running water it should make of quite an adventure. We will let you know.

Saturday 2 August 2008

Matagalpa

Well a funny thing happened on the way to Matagalpa. We had a very nice evening staying at the "Birdcage" hotel. Our two hosts were very kind and the room was really nice and peaceful. Breakfast was included which is a rarity here in Nicaragua and they provided a very nice spread including a jar of peanut butter which I thought Erika would devour herself. After a leisurely meal we gathered our gear and headed for the express bus station to grab transport to Managua. The bus was actually a mini bus of sorts and since we were the first two on we got our choice of seats. We have learned to sit in the middle of the bus as not to absorb all of the bumps and grinds of a third world road. The ride only took about an hour as we traveled through the high plains in-between two massive volcanos. Managua is a huge typical Latin American city. Lots of poverty, pollution, and people. The bus stopped at some obscure parking lot slash bus station. Before the bus came to a complete stop we wer e  being surrounded by taxi drivers and hawkers both inside and out wanting our money. We needed to catch a taxi to the other side of Managua to continue our journey toward the north and Matagalpa. The initial price being quoted was astronomical and we decided just to sit for a moment to catch our breaths in the hope that half of the solicitors would give up and walk away. Luckily some did. Before too long a guy came in  at a price that sounded reasonable $4.75 for the ride. We grabbed our gear and loaded it, along with ourselves, in the old Datsun 1600 taxi.  I told Erika to immediately to lock her doors but of course all the locks were broken. The other bus station was actually quite a long way and it ended up taking us about half an hour to get to the other station. We were dropped off at the side of the road and were told to proceed to an iron gate. Low and behold behind this well guarded gate was a large parking lot with 50 or so busses, most of them old  y ellow school busses. We got directions to the correct side of the station and found a bus to our anticipated destination. It was getting ready  to pull out. The problem was that Erika needed to go to the bathroom. She knew the busses were not equipped with facilities and she could not hold it. She raced off knocking a few poor Nicaraguans out of the way. By the time she had returned  the bus had already left. A little kid who could not have been much more than eight or nine years old directed us to another bus much to the consternation of other men. It turned out that he was trying to get us to board the Rapid bus to Matagalpa. The problem was when Jeff looked in the bus was already totally packed with people so we would have to stand or worse. It was then we spotted a really NICE bus and asked where it was headed. Turns out it was headed for the north also, but to a city called Esteli. We thought what the hell and we climbed aboard. We were think ing of going to Esteli so why not now??? This bus was the best we have taken here in Nicaragua. Reclining seats, clean windows, the best part was that it was only one quarter filled so we could spread out. The ride itself was really nice as we left the flat lands of Managua towards the highlands of the North. We passed through several miles of cornfields and cattle ranches into the rolling highlands. The roadside vendors went from selling fresh fruit to tropical birds that sat precariously on sticks. I am not exactly sure who purchases these birds but they must sell quite a few as there were a couple of dozen campasinos spread out for a few miles. The ride ended up taking only a little over two hours, which is nothing compared to some of our excursions in Asia. The town of Esteli sits in a beautiful green valley surrounded by coffee plantations. We were able to find accommodations after a lengthy search. The problem with some of these smaller towns off the beaten path is that the choices are usually between bad, worse and worst. So we try to find the bad accommodations. This actually turned out okay and the people who owned it were very nice and quite helpful. We spent the rest of the day wandering the streets taking advantage of the cool weather of the highlands.

Friday 1 August 2008

Espanol

¡Hola Amigos! It hardly seems like we have been in this beautiful city of Granada for close to ten days now. The time has sure gone by very quickly. We have stayed here to take our initial week of Spanish lessons. As we stated before after some research we ended up finding a nice school located right in the heart of the city. We came very close to not taking the classes at all. The reason being that Erika developed some sort of stomach ailment. Imagine that she made it through eight months of hard travel in S.E.. Asia and India, where everybody and their grandmother gets sick with out nary a bit of indigestion. however within the first couple of days....Bam...It did not start out too bad and we thought that with a bland diet of bananas and rice that she would be able to over come. By the third day of her constantly running for the toilet we knew we needed to seek some professional help. We made our way to the local pharmacist to try to get a hold of some Cipro as we had forgotten o
urs at home. Cipro like an American express card is something you should not leave home without!!! The only difference being is that to most of the places we travel an AMEX card is totally useless while Cipro can be a life saver. Upon arrival at the pharmacy we stumbled upon the pharmacist who was playing his guitar behind the counter. He continued to ignore us for a good five minutes while serenading a local stray dog. Meanwhile Erika was doubled over in severe gastric distress. I thought she was going to lose it right then and there. Thinking back she probably should have because then we would have gotten immediate attention. We were able to finally procure the magic pills and Voila within a few hours she was well on her way to recovery. She had been able to lose those unwanted five pounds without diet or exercise. (Sounds like an infommercial) We were able to start Intensive Spanish on Monday morning as planned. Let me tell you it was intensive Spanish. The entire four hours per
 day were in total Spanish. Trying to learn another language is hard enough, especially as one gets older. The brain is already filled with a lot of * * * * (fill in the blank) but learning it without the benefit of being able to get explanations in English is .......... Wow...... When we did ask questions about words that we did not understand, the teachers would try their very best to explain in simple Spanish. The problem was that inevitably they would end up using an unknown word within the explanation as we would need to have that word explained and around and around  and around we would go. The school itself was located inside a small elementary school which added to the excitement because we would have to try to think over the screaming voices of 100 or so six and seven year old kids. I thought at one point Erika was going to jump out of her seat and strangle a little girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs. The teaching method itself did seem to work because by the t
hird day we were starting(just barely) to get it.WE both really enjoyed our teachers. Since the tutoring was one on one we were able to concentrate all of our time on listening and trying to speak. Jeff had taken intensive Spanish last year however it was within small groups so much harder because the teacher was not able to devote as much time individually. Also listening to other people stumble through the language was not very helpful, as I am sure them listening to Jeff did not help them either!!! All in all we both found the course to be very useful. Neither one of us realized how many different tenses there are in normal day to day Spanish. We spent most of the early afternoons studying and doing our homework before venturing out into the city later in the day. We had to wait until around 4:30 or so because it was way too hot to do much else except be near a fan. We were able to rent an apartment here in Granada which was really an nice luxury. It was a cute little studio tha
t had a little kitchenette so we were able to make most of our meals which we both enjoy. Both of us having been near the food industry have really tired of restaurant food. Give me some good old oatmeal or a grilled cheese sandwich and I am set. Usually we set off for the local mercado in the late afternoon picking up lots of fresh tropical fruits and vegetables. We even got real brave and bought the local eggs and cheese. Considering both sit out in the hot weather for days at a time this was a bit of risk. I am happy to say we both survived. Jeff has even got in the habit of buying lots of creamy Nicaraguan cheese in the market to go along with the fresh tortillas that the random ladies sell door to door. Yummmmmm!! We had to give up the apartment today since it was being rented out on the first of August. Luckily we were able to find a cute little hotel that is run by a couple of Belgian guys that just happen to be gay. Needless to say the entire Hotel (four rooms) and the cour
tyard are decorated like the set of the movie "The Birdcage"   Statues of naked men and phalic symbols abound. I am half expecting Nathan Lane to appear from behind a door!! We probably will only be able to spend one night there because we are planning to take off early tommorow morning for the town of Matagalpa. Located high in the Nicaraguan mountain it is supposed to be very beautiful and COOOOL!!! The only negative is that there are no direct busses so we will have to go through Managua. Which we were trying to avoid like the trots. Oh well. ....... Well the sun is starting to set and we want to go enjoy one last sunset overlooking Lake Nicaragua. Until Next time. Hasta Pronto Erika and Jeff