Nicaragua

Before I get into the blog I want to share something with you that best describes why I enjoy sailing.


Many people I have met and those that I have known before sailing off across the world have asked why I enjoy sailing. They use adjectives such as, dangerous, wet and cold, risky, lonely, boring, pirate attacks to describe what they believe to be my experiences. I respond that I find it relaxing and none of what they might expect has been found true. However, in my heart I feel that there is much more than simply finding sailing relaxing but I have not been able to put in words the true feelings that I have when I set sail.


The following describes best on how I truly feel when sailing. For non sailors, the bowsprit it at the front of the boat where the true sounds of the sea are best as you move through the water. Astern is at the back of the boat.

I lay on the bowsprit, facing astern, with the water foaming into spume under me, the mast with every sail white in the moonlight, towering high above me.

I become drunk with the beauty and singing rhythm of it, and for a moment I lost myself—actually lost my life.

I was set free.

I dissolved in the sea, became white sails and flying spray, became beauty and rhythm, became moonlight and the ship and the high dim-starred sky!

I belonged, without past or future, within peace and unity and a wild joy, within something greater than my own life, or the life of Man, to Life itself!

To God, if you want to put it that way.

            Eugene O’Neill,  Long Day’s Journey into Night

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I and two friends just returned from a week in Nicaragua. This is the forth country in Central America that I have visited. As in the other three countries, Nicaragua  has a beautifully bright green landscape as far as you can see, broken up only occasionally by cultivated land and exotic flowers. Nicaragua has the largest lake of all of the Central American countries, Lake Nicaragua, and has the only fresh water sharks in the world in its' waters.


We had a 11 hour bus ride from San Salvador to Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua. The bus was comfortable, movies to watch if you wished and an attendant to serve you drinks and food. None of this would be found if you rode in a bus in the good old USA unless it was a chartered very expensive bus. The round trip cost was $100.


We stayed in Managua the first evening. Managua is much like many large cities, noisy, smelly, and some dangerous neighborhoods. This describes the area where we  were staying so we stayed close to our rooms that evening. The next day we had a short tour of the historical areas of the capitol before continuing onto our next destination, Granada. Nicaragua had a very long civil war that ended in 2001. They are celebrating the 10th anniversary next year. Many signs around town, memorials, statues, post cards, flags celebrate the victory over  the dictatorship that controlled peoples lives for many generations.

The following photos were taken in Managua on our tour. I am sorry I can not share with you the details of what we saw but I will do my best were I am able.

This is photo outside our rooms where we sat and relaxed.

This is a photo outside of my room that I found appropriate. There goes another virgin!

A statue of one of the heroes of the country that was responsible for early uprising against the dictatorship.This is placed on the grounds of the castle where the dictators lived.

This sign briefly describes where an early torture room was  found where people ended up if they where heard to complain about the governments policies before and during the war. Our drivers grandfather was imprisoned for simply helping an individual that was thought to be a rebel.

A memorial statue

One of many signs around the capitol announcing the upcoming celebration.

This is a photo taken at the city square in front of the church where rebels celebrated the final victory over the dictatorship. The second photo is of the church that still stands in the square.

Next stop is Granada, Nicaragua. This is another colonial town with many old churches some of which are still in service and others that stand as a reminder of the cities history. Colorful buildings and people make this a wonderful location to visit and it is an easy city to simply walk around to view what the city has to offer its visitors from around the world.

After two days in Granada, we headed off to a large island on the lake. If I remember correctly, and that is a long shot, there are 20,000 people that live and work on this island. We had about a hours cab ride to where we caught the ferry that would take us to the island. As you will see in the following photos, we had our fingers crossed hoping that we made land fall before the boat sank. The boat was a very old wooden boat that listed (tipped)  to port. There were no life boats, no signs saying there was a maximum capacity and there was a nervous man pumping water overboard from the bottom of the boat. We made it to shore safely as evidence that you are reading about this in a blog and not the news paper reporting the sinking of a ferry boat on its way to an island on Lake Nicaragua.

But first, here are some photos of the hotel we stayed at in Granada.

Now we are off to the island. This is a car and people ferry that we took returning from the island. The passenger cabin was air conditioned and the boat was well maintained. As you can note by the name on the boat, Che Guevara is a hero in this country.

Now let us see the broken down boat we took to the island. There are also photos of another of these boats that some other poor people were taken, hoping as we did , that they made it to land.

 

We are still happy because we do not yet understand the dangers ahead.

 

 

The boat is FULL and the only reason there are no more people on-board is because they loaded everyone that arrived at the boat for the trip.

 

We are no longer happy.

We rested and drank heavily after arriving at our hotel. This is an area outside my room where I enjoyed reading, drinking rum and smoking a fine Cuban cigar. A reward to myself for surviving our trip to the island.

The following day we decided to rent motorcycles to travel around the island to visit some of the sights. We traveled about 40 miles and I had only one incident after deciding the wrong path threw the water and sank deep into the mud and having to get off of the bike to start it and drive it out of the hole I was in. Mud up to my knees. I was good entertainment for the workers along the road watching me. I am sure they were saying "Dumb Gringos". This is a photo of my bike before it was full of mud.

Here are some photos that I took as we stopped along the way.

The above photo shows how the island is portrayed. The island has two large volcanoes at either end of the island.

We moved to a hotel at another location on the island before we started our trip back to El Salvador. We came upon this area while riding the bikes and it turned out to be one of the better locations we stayed at during the trip. This is in a rural area accounting for the cattle you see in the photos and the monkeys you will see in the short movie I took with the camera.

How many of you can say you stayed at a hotel or resort where they herded cattle past your room?

Or had these as your roommates? Tail was broken off of one of my roommates. I suspect it is the male who got in trouble one evening after coming home drunk with lipstick on his collar.

Here are three short movies to enjoy. The first is taken as we walked through the jungle looking for monkeys or at least hearing them as you do in the first movie at the very start. The second movie is of white faced monkeys that were across the road from our hotel. The third and final movie is a recording of what I think are frogs outside our room. Turn the volume up on your computer so you can hear better.

That would be the end of this blog and the last one before leaving with my friend Bob Scott as we sail southeast to Panama, enjoying the sights and adventures along the way.

I will send out blogs along the way where we have access to the internet. Until then, be safe out there.