Mama and Dad in Nicaragua: The Saga Continues

By now we had already bisected the country. We traveled from the capital to the northern regions of Matagalpa and had successfully made our way to the coast of Leon thanks to my skillful driving. Spirits were high and we made it into the city by nightfall. Thankfully I had the tour book that Stella left me on her last visit and I was able to pick out a good hotel located in the center of town. I was a little skeptical because there is only so much you can discern from a 40 word description, but what the hell we went for it. The hotel was actually pretty nice and our room had hot water, an ac, and a tv; what more could you ask for? It was already nightfall and there really wasn’t too much to do around Leon so again I turned to our trusty tour book and picked our a restaurant that was supposed to be the best in town. For Nicaraguan standards it was pretty good,, but I would not put it in the same league with even some of the more average restaurants in Brookfield or Danbury. I don’t know, but something about the food in Nicaragua just lacks a sense of emphasis or passion. Maybe I am just being snobby, but I was not completely impressed. I didn’t mind though and I did eat my whole plate, maybe it was the large glass of wine and the following long island that helped wash it down. My goal that night was to find a live music bar for my dad because Leon is the college town of the country, but it seemed like everyone had different ideas. The bars were packed but the only music coming out was that of techno or house. We made a quick stroll around the park but decided to retire as most of the shops were already closed up.

The following day we just had the morning to kill. I wanted to show my parents a traditional Nicaraguan market and do a quick lap around the churches of Leon. Of course we stopped at the main cathedral and I took a picture of my parents posing with the lion of Leon. The whole reason we came to Leon was so that we could be closer to Nagarote where we were planning on meeting up with my friend Chris and several other volunteers for his town’s Hipicas. In our morning tour of Leon the big to-do was the market. Unlike the supermarkets in the States the market is a free-for-all. Sure, there is order of how the booths are organized, but what is sold or the prices are no hold bars. We saw everything from live crabs, to iguanas, to turtle eggs. The sad fact of the matter is that the iguanas were all alive and what the merchants do is snap the fingers of the creatures off and use the ligaments to tie their limbs behind their backs. It sounds more like a torture technique used in medieval times, but try explaining that to all the iguanas stacked five high on top of one another. 

Since this is the rainy season it began to rain by mid morning. Being naïve tourists we figured we were special and the rain would hold out just for us. We were wrong and the return to our hotel turned more into a sprint with periodic dives for shelter. This picture of my parents pretty much sums up our experience in Leon. It was fun and I think my parents liked the main square and church, but they failed to experience the true splendor of the city. For example, Leon is one of the hottest cities in Nicaragua and the rain tarnished that impression. Also, they have a bagel restaurant! Not a big deal in New England where bagels are everywhere, but it is my whole reason fro traveling 5hrs to see the city. Anyways, after getting thoroughly soaked we made it back to our hotel and met up with two of my friends: Rachael and Karen and headed off to Nagarote. 

 

My last impression of an Hipica was in Masaya and it consisted of many fat men riding around on their horses and forcing them to “dance”. It is a pretty hilarious sight especially since everyone is dressed up in cowboy gear, flannel is the design of the day and nearly everyone is drunk. I had similar expectations for Nagarote, but I was surprisingly let down. The drunks of Nicaragua were not carrying their weight and I was left disappointed. I guess it is good that the town knows how to control their liquor, but I wanted a show to be put on for my parents. The other big event of the day was that it was the Fourth of July! Happy birthday America! Chris did a great job decorating his house with red, white, and blue banners and even made vegetarian burgers. Rachael miraculously whipped up an onion dip and it was almost as good as being in the USA. Oh how I missed hanging out on the lake, spending the day skiing, building a bonfire, and launching fireworks off. I settled for some drunks on horses and a vegetarian burger, but you can see that it paled in comparison. I think it is worth mentioning again that it is the rainy season. About halfway through the day the power went out and we were left sitting in the dark of Chris’ house. It may have only been mid-day, but Chris’ place doesn’t have any windows and we took to the streets instead. It was a good experience for my parents because they got to meet some of my friends and also see how other volunteers live. Getting back to the rain, the sky decided to open up about halfway through the horse parade, but we were already in our spot and I was not leaving. As much as I make fun of this event there is something captivating about watching hundreds of horses dance by. Well we tried to take shelter under a tree, but as the picture shows it wasn’t a complete success.

That night we took said good bye to my friends and continued on to Granada. It is the old colonial city and the big tourist hot spot in the country. It is located on Lake Nicaragua which is famous for being the only lake in the world with freshwater bull sharks. The city really is beautiful with the old colonial architecture and I chose a hotel that was close to the center. The following day we decided to abandon my initial plans of heading to Isla Omotepe because neither of us seemed to motivated to climb for either 3 or 6 hours up any volcanoes. Instead we compromised on a nice boat tour around the small islands that surround Granada. I inherited the job as translator even though our tour guide spoke some English and we were driven down the harbor. We jumped onto a boat that holds about 15 people, but got it all to ourselves.

 

 

I was nervous that it was going to be some gimmicky tour, but I was left corrected. Our guide was very friendly and I think it was well worth the grand total of 40 bucks. We learned that Granada is surrounded by over 300 islands and all the big economic magnates have a house or an island. It seems that the whole country’s economy is run by two or three families and each has a house near Granada. It was Nicaragua’s version of a star tour from Hollywood, but the houses were beautiful. The weird part was how a giant mansion would be in juxtaposition to a small fishing shack on a neighboring island where an indigenous family still lived. The other perilous part of the trip was that as we toured around the sky became gradually darker. If you looked off to the horizon you could see the imposing thunder clouds and we knew it was only a matter of time until they came our way. No matter, we still stopped at one of the local restaurants to get a drink. I think it was more because it was an arrangement between the tour and the restaurant, but I got a nice picture of their pet birds. 

We timed it perfect, just as we started to head back into the boat the first wave of rain came. We were luckily under the canopy and didn’t get too soaked. The fun part was it looked like we were going to run aground until I realized the path we were taking back to the dock was through a swamp. Supposedly the canal had not been used all winter and it was well overgrown with water plants and the captain had to gun the engine to push all the plants aside. It made the whole tour feel a little more dangerous and exotic and I had no problem selling myself to the idea. Just as we finished the tour I got the guide to take a picture of the family and if I am not mistaken we are missing one member… I don’t know why my parents forgot to bring Bailey.

  In typical Koza fashion we were not done with just one tour. That was merely a warm-up and we still had the rest of the day to fill. I figured that we could head over to Masaya, see the market, make it to the volcano, and finally hit Catarina and Masatepe. For most families this would be about two or three days worth of activities but nothing is too much for us. I helped the fact because I was driving and got us lost in Masaya. Unlike Granada it is not so touristy and is not as prosperous as Leon. After I drove through a few dodgy neighborhoods my dad said he had seen enough of the markets and that we should move on. It is lucky that we did because we got to the volcano early enough to tour the visit center and then walk around the crater. Now the volcano is probably not what you are imagining. There was no spewing lava or any visible for that matter. All you could see or smell were sulfur clouds; the bugs were atrocious and there was not much vegetation because of the old lava fields and sulfur. I did get a great mom and dad shot at the top of the look out.

 

From there it was off to Catarina which is a small artesian town just outside of Masaya. It is famous because it has a lookout point where you can see Laguna de Apoyo and Granada on the other side. Again, luck seemed to be on our side in a sense because it was pure fog. When we got to the lookout all you could see was a wall of white. My dad is not a man to linger and was done with the town in about two seconds. Our one other chore was to inquire about a hotel since I had a wedding there the following week. We stopped at the one hotel in town and I knew it would be more on the expensive side. When the owner was busy I told him not to bother, but finally he told me to name a price, I said 10 to 20 dollars and he said those were impossible for anywhere in Nicaragua… prick.

To end our whirlwind of a day we headed to Masatepe so my family could see my training town and family. It wasn’t as big of a deal as I expected it to be. In Nica fashion we were escorted in, seated and then it was followed by an awkward silence. The big talk was about Hilda’s wedding and the surprise that Sol is supposedly getting married as well. I got to play with Andres a bit and we just reminisced about my time living with them. I think my parents liked Masatepe more than San Dionisio, but I can’t really blame them, it is a true city and the neighboring towns are a 2 minute taxi ride away. By now it was getting pretty late and we were all on our last strands of energy. We saw way more than anyone is supposed to see in a day and called it quits. It sure was a good idea that we decided to take a rest day.