After dropping off my parents at the airport in Managua, I went down to Masaya to meet up with Frank and his family. I got there a little early since I left Managua at 7am and I hung out with Frank a little before meeting his family. They were staying at a hotel in Masaya and I met his mom, dad, and little brother. We chatted over breakfast and then began exploring Masaya.
First stop was the Nica market—often described as dark, crowded, and dirty, it was quite the opposite that day. We walked around through the maze searching for good deals and fun souvenirs. Although I’ve been there many times before, I purchased a couple small items. I was trying to find some new sandals since mine are wearing down, but I had no luck. Frank’s mom found a pair though so that was good.
We then went over to the tourist market which is usually much cleaner and less crowded. The items here are marked up almost double the price of what you find in the Nica market, but you will also find some higher quality products.
After some more purchases, we headed over to the central park for smoothies and pizza—pretty much my favorite foods :) Frank’s mom mentioned to me that I was a fun shopping partner since she raised 3 boys. I had a great time since I usually don’t go shopping for fun things and get to help people pick out souvenirs.
Since there was still some daylight, we grabbed a cab and went to Catarina. Frank had never been to the mirador (lookout) there and it’s one of my favorite places so I really wanted him and his family to experience that. It was so refreshing there with the wind and even though I’ve been there so many times, the view gets me every time.
We walked around a little on the paths around the area to enjoy the fresh air and relax. I had never been on the trails so this was a neat experience for me too.
Now what came next was quite the opposite of the tranquility we felt up at the mirador. So we decided to head back to Masaya, but we needed to find transportation. This seemed easy since there were quite a few taxis around. However, the taxis weren’t going to Masaya. I then thought a mototaxi would be fun and a cheap ride back to Masaya; plus, Frank had never ridden in a mototaxi before. Because my parents and I had done the same thing less than a week ago, I figured it would be just fine…
I got into one with Frank’s brother and dad, while Frank went with his mom. We split up to make sure we had a Spanish speaker in each moto. We gave directions to where we wanted to go in Masaya but as we headed out of Catarina, our mototaxis seemed like they were racing or something as they passed each other, exchanged hand signals, etc. Then, they stopped at the highway and told me that I had to ride in the back because the police were on the highway checking vehicles. I got in the back, but there still seemed to be a problem. Then they told us that they’re not really supposed to go to Masaya from Catarina in their mototaxis so the police would pull them over. I thought this was weird since I had already made this trip this same week with my parents, but I know there was more traffic this day. So, they said they could go the back way and we would have to pay a little more. Ok, fine. I have been the back way before in a mototaxi so I wasn’t too bothered by this option. I knew it was a little longer, but I figured as long as they got us there it would be fine. Well, this turned out to be a back road to the back road and we drove through campo neighborhoods on dirt roads kicking up dust as we sped through the area as if we were being chased by the police. The locals just stared as the mototaxis full of gringos passed through their neighborhoods. As these were dirt roads, they were not smooth so they made for a very bumpy, somewhat uncomfortable ride. I had to laugh at the experience though, because where else can this happen, but Nicaragua. I find myself saying so often here, “Only in Nicaragua…” During this adventure through the back roads, I began to feel a little bit responsible for this craziness and thought my mom would certainly be freaking out in this situation so I’m assuming Frank’s mom was probably not enjoying our little off road trek.
We finally made it back to the main road and guess what; we got pulled over by the police. Fortunately, they took pity on our drivers since they had foreigners in tow and let us continue on to Masaya. Apparently though, Frank’s driver was accused of being drunk and didn’t have his license, but the police allowed him to take us anyway. Hmmm, I’m glad I didn’t find that out until after our ride was over. Well, we cruised into Masaya and just when we thought the adventure was coming to an end, our drivers pulled up an alley to take us through more dirt roads. I had absolutely no idea where we were, but we were following other taxis so that made me feel more comfortable. We then pulled out onto a cobblestone street—never have I been so glad to see one of those! I then realized I knew where we were and our drivers pulled over by the central park. We quickly exited the vehicles even though this wasn’t our intended destination. I think walking the last few blocks was probably safer than those mototaxis.
Well, it was quite an adventure for what was supposed to be just a 15 minute ride along the breezy Masaya highway. However, we were all able to laugh about it later over dinner. Thankfully, Frank’s family didn’t kick me out of the hotel :) In all seriousness, they were very sweet and welcomed me into their family vacation. I was very thankful for that.
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