LAS CARRETERAS NICARAGUENSES Y EL ARBOL DE LA BASURA

 

I mentioned that I would show something about Nicaraguan roads, generally better than Costa Rica although CR is much more prosperous. All Chinese foreign aid. (Someone still believes in soft power.) What's notable is the tree-like thing in the center. They are all over the place, maybe 15 meters tall, brightly colored and splashed with LEDs at night. The government calls the design Tree of Life. The locals call it Tree of Garbage. Chinese designed and manufactured, but built at great cost to the Nicaraguan state. What could the money have done for education or health care?              

MIRADOR DE CATARINA

 

One of the stops on the Nicaragua tour was El Mirador de Catarina, located in the town of the same name. The view is of the extinct Apoyo volcano, whose caldera is filled with water to the depth of 200 meters. I didn't know the snack quesillos. Turns out there are varieties across Latin America, both sweet and savory. The Nicaraguan version is a thick corn tortilla, soft cheese, pickled onion and a sauce. I might have tried one but the stand was closed.                  

STOP; OR I VISIT HOUSTON FOR THE FIRST TIME (SORT OF)

A nicer than average house in Granada, Nicaragua. No light coming in from the front. Windows traditionally face an interior courtyard.

We have not had a good flying experience on this trip. As I mentioned, both our STL - DFW and DFW - LIR segments were four hours late. Not too much inconvenience, as we had planned to overnight at DFW anyway. On Saturday, our inbound plane to Liberia was on time. However, The Liberia CR airport is so far over capacity in high season that the plane had to wait a long time for a gate to open, so much so that the pilots timed out and can't fly all the way to Dallas. So we are landing in Houston to get another crew. Customs and immigration there, then on to Dallas, where we will miss the last flight to STL of the night. 

Never been to Houston. We've visited Kathmandu, El Calafate, Alice Springs and X'ían, but never America's fourth largest city. I could do without.                       

HAVE A BLESSED RIDE

 

An autorickshaw or tuk-tuk, if you will, in the old colonial town of Granada, Nicaragua. I think that's Our Lady of Guadalupe on the back, along with a sticker of a hostile, science fiction-y face. Vaya con Dios.

HAULAGE

 

I've done some reading about Nicaragua since our visit Tuesday. Its GDP per capita in 2024 was US$ 2,600 per year, second poorest in the western hemisphere after Haiti. There are trucks and vans, but horse drawn carts are common. 

It is striking, though, that Nicaragua's main roads are clearly better than Costa Rica's. Chinese foreign aid, according to our guide. I'll find an illustration.                   

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - STREET SCENE

 

We spent a lot of time on the road Tuesday driving north from the Costa Rican border into Nicaragua. This is the southern town of Rivas. Some general impressions: Nicaragua is notably poorer than CR. The houses are mostly smaller and in rough shape. The cars are older and more beat up, and there are fewer of them. Lots of horse-drawn carts. In more populous areas, there are many autorickshaws, like you see in parts of Asia. Busses and some trucks are as festively painted and religiously decorated as in India. Few if any modern strip centers that are now common in CR. Many fewer supermarkets; our guide said they are too expensive and people prefer to buy from local roadside vendors. Flags are everywhere, with more of Daniel Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front than the national flag.

The day was exhausting and we took yesterday off. More of this to come.             

IT'S NOT EVERY DAY . . .

 

. . . that we watch spider monkeys on a volcanic island in Lake Nicaragua, eating fruit provided by tourists during a boat ride. As I mentioned, this is a big lake (19th largest in the world), with volcanoes in and around it. Some big blow sent huge chunks of black rock through the air, creating a group of islands in the northwest corner. This pair of monkeys were settled here, we were told, for rehab purposes.

Late post today. The tour company picked us up at 4 AM and got us back at 9 PM. Now a slow day.                     

THE BEST I COULD GET

Stefan asked for pictures of volcanoes, among other things, when we got to Costa Rica. The route into the airport at Liberia, where we always go, comes down the  western shore of Lake Nicaragua, which is pretty darn big. It contains an island with two volcanoes, the larger one called Ometepe, which last erupted in 1983.

I can usually get some good shots when we arrive early to mid afternoon. But, remember how our Friday flight was four hours late? Well, yesterday's flight was four hours late for reasons I won't begin to discuss. It was hazy and the sun was setting as we flew through here. I hope to get much better pictures Tuesday when we take a long day trip into Nicaragua.                      

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - VOLCAN

Costa Rica has two international airports. The main one, of course, is in San Jose, the capital. We use the one in the northwest near the small city of Liberia, situated to serve the gorgeous areas along the Pacific coast.

When flying in from Miami, the plane leaves the Caribbean at the north of Nicaragua, then turns south along the west side of Lake Nicaragua (the 19th largest in the world). The two cones of Ometepe Volcano are off the left wing so we always get seats on that side.            

On Lake Nicaragua

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Another late post. This has not been a relaxing trip so far. I was sitting on the sofa last night editing photos and fell sound asleep. Time to wake up and do nothing! Well not exactly. We plan to drive north up the coast and look in on some other villages and beaches.

These shots are from our boat ride on Lake Nicaragua that I mentioned yesterday. Monkeys are not native to the little islands. This island and house are owned by a veterinarian who imported a few and has special food delivered to them daily. Not all the homes are opulent. Even a small volcanic lump can support a small house (people do run electric cables out to them).

It was a fascinating half hour. On your way back to the dock, though, don't forget the boatman.

Nicaragua

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Exhausting, fascinating day trip to Nicaragua yesterday. It was not what I expected. Got back to Tamarindo last night, had a bit to eat and fell into a deep, tropical sleep. These are some first edits.

I expected the country to be rather scary from the alarming travelers advice page published by the U.S. State Department. We only saw a bit of it, but it looked at least as prosperous as Costa Rica and the roads were way better. Edwin, a law student from the town of Rivas who was our excellent guide, said that English and dancing were compulsory in the schools. However, he also told us that the economy is dependent on exports to the U.S. so when things are down for us, Nicaragua suffers.

We took a boat ride out of the beautifully preserved colonial town of Granada, about 30 miles from Managua, on vast Lake Nicaragua. That part of the lake is full of small islands that were literally blown out of the nearby Concepción Volcano. That's a frightening concept - great chunks of lava big enough to become islands hurtlinng through the sky. Edwin picked something from a low-hanging tree that looked like a long, waxy bean, spread it open and revealed the flower in the top picture. Many locals will only get married when it is in bloom.

He told us that public transportation is bad. Many vehicles, like the one below, are former Texas school buses. There is a state law that they can only be in service ten years. The Nicaraguans buy them, fix them up and use then until they disintegrate. If the inside is full, people ride on the back or top.

Next, some local industry. A woman rolls fine, hand-made cigars and a sugar cane truck lumbers down the road. They grow three crops of sugar a year. Some of it is used for Flor de Caña rum, their highest quality.

The following two pictures are of Masaya Volcano, near Granada and Managua. It is active in the sense that it emits gas and occasionally some chunks, although the last big blow was in 1772. Vehicles must park facing the way out in case a hasty retreat is needed. Edwin told us to spend not more than ten minutes at the overlook because of the sulfurous gasses. We followed his advice but still felt the sting in our lungs for another hour.

The man in the bottom photo is Daniel Ortega, the former Sandinista dictator and now elected president of the republic. The center-right had controlled the government for some years after Ortega was ousted, leading to a period of political stability and growth. However, that party split in two (Edwin said that the Sandinistas planted fifth-columnists in it to push the break-up) and Ortega was re-elected. This summary is simplistic; you might want to look at the link on his name.

Today is a lazy day, nothing scheduled. As I've mentioned, I don't do nothing well. I'll probably edit some more pictures of Nicaragua.

¡Hola, Costa Rica!

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We made it. Through the good offices of our friend and colleague, Dave Selden of Tamarindo Daily Photo, we are settled into one of his two beautiful condos (pictures here).

Yesterday was a rare day in which we saw both the Atlantic and Pacific within a space of two hours on our flight from Miami. The first photo is of a pair of volcanoes that form Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua, followed by two shots of the coast of CR's Guanacaste Province. At the bottom, a view from our balcony of the catamaran that does an afternoon and sunset trip (known locally as the booze cruise) returning to port.

Fabulous dinner last night at the restaurant of the Swiss-run Capitán Suizo resort. Hard to beat seafood that came off the boat the same afternoon. El Capitán must be retired from the army, since the officer corps of the Swiss navy is severely depleted.

Long day tomorrow. We have a 5:15 AM pickup for our trip to Nicaragua. Depending on time, I might have some pix on Tuesday.

Sorry for the late post. The Internet service in the building went down last night. There's a solar storm, isn't there? Besides, everything here runs on Tico time.