Nicaragua part 3 — Land of Lakes and Volcanoes

So this vacation has been a perfect combination of relaxation and sightseeing. For such a short trip, I am glad that I chose a more upscale hotel than usual, since I felt like staying in the hotel was part of the experience of being here and provided a nice balance to the sightseeing and exploring that I have done.

Since we arrived late on Thursday, Friday was our first chance to explore Granada, Adriana, Alliah and I set out in the morning to walk around the city. Like all Latin American colonial cities, everything is centered around a central park, bordered by a cathedral and some government buildings. It was fun seeing the activity around the park, although the vendors there were somewhat aggressive, as were the young children begging for money. We also went to book a tour for the following day, and then to the supermarket for some snacks. On the way to the supermarket, the street was jam packed with people selling everything imaginable so it was a great way to get a flavor of the real Granada away from more touristy areas.

That afternoon I relaxed at the hotel’s pool and then had a 30 minute massage. When I booked the massage, the receptionist asked if I minded if it would be with a man. I said that was fine, and had a fabulous massage with Julio, the blind massage therapist. The massage was so great that I asked Julio if I could request him for my next appointment. He recommended that I do shiatsu next time since I had so many knots. While hanging out at the pool after the massage, I met a few expats from Canada, the United States and England who were all living in Nicaragua. I always love talking to people who have the courage to do things like that, and spent a really nice afternoon with them. I ended up going out for drinks that evening with Nancy from Canada, her Nicaraguan boyfriend Willy, and Becky from New Orleans. I could tell that they really wanted me to have a good time and besides enjoying their company, I got to see a little of their Granada.

On Friday Alliah, Adriana and I had booked a tour for the next day to the Masaya volcano and craft market with a company called Tierra Tours which was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. But then when I met Nancy, who works in the tourism industry, she recommended one particular guide, Ramon, who works for Tierra Tours, as well as independently and for several other tour companies, Nancy whipped out her cell phone, called Ramon, found out he was free, then handed me her phone so I could call Tierra Tours and request that Ramon as out guide. At first they said he was not available but then said that they would try to get him for our tour. Sure enough, when the van came to pick us up the next morning, Ramon was our guide. Even luckier, we were the only people on the tour which made it even better, Although Ramon speaks excellent English, my friends (who are both completely bilingual) wanted the tour in Spanish, so I had the added bonus of an immersive Spanish experience.

Masaya is an active volcano and we had a beautiful day for exploring it. The first stop was a lookout point and small museum, followed by a climb of 177 steps for a spectacular view, That area has many noxious fumes and we were the only people who had oxygen masks, But it was worth the climb! That was followed by a hike of about an hour to one of the peaks for even more beautiful views. Next was the Masaya craft market, which wasn’t terribly different than other markets I have been to, but I did manage to buy a pair of sandals and an embroidered blouse. We also had a nice lunch at a restaurant with yet another lookout point. Both Ramon and the driver Roberto ate with us, which isn’t always the case on tours but I always like to talk to new people so I was glad that we all ate together. Then we got to drive through and see some local towns, known at los pueblos blancos (white towns) Ramon was so flexible and accommodating that we returned to Granada a bit late and he never once rushed us or seemed to mind that we were behind schedule. We were so happy that we booked another tour for Sunday and requested that he be our guide again. If anyone needs a great guide in Granada, I highly recommend Ramon Parra, His own company is called No Rush Tours and his email address is ramonparra60@yahoo.es.

Saturday evening Adriana didn’t want to go out to dinner, so it was just Alliah and me. We ended up at a pizza/pasta restaurant on the main tourist street, Calle Calzada, which is filled with restaurants and bars and is pedestrian only. There was a mariachi band playing in a restaurant across the street, then there was a horse parade going down the street. I have no idea if this is a common occurrence, or what was being celebrated but it made for a festive meal. Even though it was Saturday night, we just returned to the hotel after dinner, as Granada doesn’t seem to have the most exciting nightlife, and I have been told numerous times that it is not safe to walk around late at night.

Sunday morning I woke early and went down to the pool prior to my 10 AM scheduled massage. It was a hot and sunny day and was looking forward to having time just to relax. Since Julio, the massage therapist had recommended shiatsu, that is what I did. It was not as relaxing as other massages that I have had and was somewhat painful at times but I could see the value of it for the knots in my neck and generally tight muscles. Then it was back to the pool for some more relaxing and a lunch of blended drink of cocoa, milk and cinnamon. Did I mention that the hotel also has a choco museum? Finally it was time to get ready for the afternoon tour that we had scheduled, with just enough time for a quick visit to a large supermarket. After all, I do need to sample various brands of Nicaraguan coffee.

The tour we had scheduled for the afternoon was to Las Isletas, which are small islands in Lake Nicaragua. Ramon and a driver picked us up and we were off to the dock where we boarded a small boat for the tour. We didn’t have a private tour this time, but it was still very enjoyable. Some of the islands are privately owned by very rich Nicaraguan families, some have some poor families living on them, and a few are even for sale. Maybe someday I will buy my own private island! We also saw an island that has 4 monkeys living on it. They are fed and cared for by a local veterinarian and one of the monkeys put on quite a show for us. We also saw many birds, stopped for a drink at at bar on one of the islands, and saw a beautiful sunset from a fortress located on another one of the islands.

Monday, our last full day in Nicaragua was another day for me to just take it easy. I woke up early and had the pool to myself for a while. There was not a cloud in the sky and shortly I felt like I was roasting. I had another massage scheduled for Julio at 11 AM–I definitely didn’t want to do shiatsu again, so he recommended a sport massage. That was much more my style. It was nice to have the same massage therapist each time and I felt like I got to know him a bit. He surprised me by asking questions like what color my eyes and hair were, but then I learned that he only lost his sight at 18 in a car accident. I was very impressed with him, particularly his involvement in an organization called Seeing Hands, which trains other blind individuals to be massage therapists and then helps them to find jobs.

Following the massage, met up with Nancy, the Canadian expat who I had met a few days earlier. She and I really clicked and first she showed me the municipal market, where you can buy everything from pig heads to dog food to fruit to bootleg DVDs. Then we had a great meal together at a very nice restaurant called Garden Café. As we strolled around Granada after lunch we kept running into people she knew, and through her I got a sense of what life is there for a foreigner on a daily basis. Then it was back to the pool to enjoy the last little bit of sun before returning to winter in New York.

We had learned that there was a documentary film festival going on at a local cultural center, so Monday evening Adriana, Alliah and I went to see a film called “La Guerrera” about a female boxer from Mexico. Although I didn’t understand everything (when you see a Mexican film in Nicaragua, there are no English subtitles!), with a little help from Alliah I was fine. It was kind of sad that despite the movie being free, there were only about 10 people in the auditorium. Then we had dinner at a restaurant near where we saw the film. The street seemed a bit sketchy with a lot of local kids just kind of hanging around. It was interesting to see the contrast to the more touristy street where we had eaten a few nights earlier.

Overall, I enjoyed my time in Nicaragua but I am sorry to say that I didn’t fall in love with the country in the same way that I have with other places that I have traveled. There is a lot of natural beauty here and tourism still appears to be in its infancy with a lot of potential for it to further develop as an ecotourism destination. I heard several people living here say that in 10 years it will be like Costa Rica is now. It was fun to stay in beautiful hotel with a spa treatments included and a lovely pool. Granada is a pretty colonial city, not all that different from Antigua, Guatemala but there isn’t terribly much to do there and it did feel a bit unsafe at night. But it provided exactly what I was looking for and am glad that I got to experience the “land of lakes and volcanoes” as described by our tour guide, Ramon

Nicaragua part 2 — Hotel Spa Granada

After our unexpected afternoon in San Salvador on Thursday, Alliah, Adriana and I made our way back to the airport for the flight to Managua, Nicaragua. We discovered it was delayed from 7:05 to 7:35 PM, and didn’t end up leaving until closer to 8:00 PM. But it was a very short flight, just around 40 minutes and before I knew it we were landing. It was very quick going through Nicaraguan immigration, getting our luggage and finding a taxi. We were able to negotiate a little bit with the driver, getting the price down to $40 from $50. It should be about a 45 minute ride but our taxi driver drove like a maniac I think it was even shorter. Speeding like crazy on dark roads, going into the lane for oncoming traffic to pass slower cars–welcome to Central America.

We arrived at the Hotel Spa Granada (http://en.hotelspagranada.com/) around 10 PM to find the hotel totally dark and locked. After not being able to find the bell that the sign said to ring, the receptionist heard our cries of “hola” and came out to let us in. Alliah and I had both made our reservations through Travelocity because we had bought some discounted gift cards. I had confirmed my reservation with the hotel manager and he assured me that he had received the information from Travelocity and everything was set. Good thing that I had printed out both the confirmation and my email correspondence with the manager, because when I got there, somehow I wasn’t in their system and didn’t have a room. Allah’s reservation was there but there was also some confusion about what room category she had booked for Adriana and her. All in all, it took about 45 minutes for the 2 guys at the desk and someone else on the phone to straighten out the reservations and get us to our rooms. Not the most auspicious start but once I saw my room I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that everything would be OK. My (single) room has a king sized bed, a TV, rainforest type shower in a corner with a bamboo screen, massively high ceilings, beautiful wooden doors and funky retro pink lamps, chair and headboard. Although I was starving when we arrived, the guy at the desk said it wasn’t safe to walk around at that hour, so we just decided to call in a night and begin exploring the next morning.

Friday morning I woke up early, Adriana found me and we had breakfast, which was included at the hotel. They had made to order eggs, as well as gallo pinto (a rice and beans dish, also popular in Costa Rica), tortillas, platanos, fresh fruit, juice and coffee. I also had a chance in the morning to talk to the manager about the room situation. I am still not sure exactly what happened but I think that he didn’t get the reservation confirmation from Travelocity so I wasn’t assigned a room. It turns out that the room I was put in was a deluxe room, not the standard one that I had paid for. He told me that he would have to talk to the owner to see if I can stay where I am or if I would need to move to a standard room, So far I am still here so I am hoping that I can just stay where I am. It’s not my fault that they screwed up my reservation and it would be good customer service to keep me happy. Also I kind of have a big mouth when I am pissed off.

After breakfast I had time to explore the grounds of the hotel a bit. According to a booklet left in the room, the building was built by Evaristo Carazo, who was the president of Nicaragua in the 1870’s. In 1981 it was confiscated by the Sandinistas and the former owners say that all their furniture and personal possessions were taken by the Sandinistas as well. In the 1980s it became the offices of the Ministry of Health. In the 1990s it was returned to it’s former owners and was purchased by an American investor in 2004 who converted it to a hotel. The building and grounds are beautiful in traditional colonial style of rooms surrounding a courtyard. There is also a lovely pool and garden area.

A 30 minute spa treatment per room per day is included in the hotel room rate, so for the 5 nights I am staying I basically have 2 ½ hours worth of treatments, whichever way I want to schedule them. I booked a 30 minute massage for later in the day Friday, and a 60 minute massage for Sunday. That still leaves me 2 more treatments, which will most likely be another 60 minute massage on Monday, unless I want to try a facial or something else instead. It is kind of nice to have this as the biggest decision I have to make in the next few days.

Getting to Nicaragua–Unexpected Detour

I haven’t even gotten to Nicaragua yet and already this feels like quite an adventure. First there was the Amish looking family I noticed when waiting to check in for my flight. Mother with a long dress and a bonnet, father with a beard and fairly normal clothes and their 8 children. The girls were all wearing long purple dresses and bonnets and the boys were in regular clothes. But why were they going to Central America? Unfortunately, we will never know the answer to that question.

I met my friend Alliah and her friend Adriana at the boarding gate. Alliah had some problem checking in but eventually resolved it and we were off on our first flight, to San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon arrival there, we were offered the opportunity to voluntarily get bumped from our connecting flight from San Salvador to Managua, Nicaragua. Instead of taking a flight at 2:30 PM, we would be put on a flight later that day at 705 PM. As compensation, we were offered $300 credit on another Taca flight in the next year. After successfully negotiating up to a $400 credit, we decided to take the offer. I guess I will be returning to Central America sometime next year! We were also given transportation to a nearby hotel to have lunch and spend the afternoon. I am writing this on a chaise lounge by the pool of the Hotel Quality in San Salvador, El Salvador and even got an unexpected stamp in my passport as an added bonus. Getting bumped really isn’t so bad.