Atlantic Coast Adventure

Before heading off to the great unknown, aka: The RAAS (the southern, Atlantic autonomy of Nicaragua), I went to Frank’s place to visit and check out his work there.  I got to go out to a finca with some of the local jovenes to see the garden they’ve been developing and I even got to pull a few weeds.  Nope, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty!

We made sure to get some pizza at his local pizza place because it’s the best pizza I’ve had so far in Nicaragua—it’s a good thing I don’t live in his town!!  It’s a nice treat when I go to visit :)  I also tried some helados for the first time.  I’ve seen them before but haven’t tried them since they’re made with tap water, but I was feeling adventurous and it was totally worth it in the end!  It was sooo hot that day and helados are basically a popsicle in a bag.  Most snacks here in Nicaragua come in plastic bags—I might even change their motto from “The land of lakes and volcanoes” to “The land of plastic and fried food” but that just doesn’t sound as appealing to tourists I guess haha  Anyway, these helados were made from a variety of chopped up fruits and the juices and frozen in little bags, sold for about 10 cents.  Deliciously cheap :)

After I got to relax at Frank’s and we were ready for our big trip, we hopped on a bus and headed to Managua to meet up with the rest of our group.  We had dinner at McDonald’s because that really is like a little piece of home for us here.  It’s crazy because I NEVER eat McDonald’s back home, but for some reason whenever I’m in Managua, I see those golden arches and I’m drawn to them.  Well, it certainly hit the spot (especially the hot fudge sundae dessert) and we took a taxi to the bus terminal to wait for the night bus.  Our bus wasn’t leaving until 9pm, but left around 9:30pm.  We all piled in and soon realized that our back seats had been added so they could sell more seats so we had absolutely NO leg room, and to make things worse, there were big metal springs sticking out of the seats in front of us… We didn’t want to rip our pants or get stabbed by those, so we had to sit a little sideways and take over an empty seat next to us.  Needless to say, it was not a comfortable 5 ½ hour bus ride, but we made it there safely so that’s something to be thankful for.  

After arriving in the RAAS from the bus ride, we waited at the boat dock to take our ride into Bluefields, which is a port town on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua.  Our boat left at about 5:30am and it took 2 hours to get to Bluefields.  It was a little smoother in the panga than the bus ride, but every now and then we hit a small wake or wave and it scared me awake.  Thankfully I had Frank’s arm to grab :)  I do like boats, but trying to sleep on one and then waking up to the boat bouncing and smacking the water is not so fun.  Anyway, we made it to Bluefields and I was so excited—it looked beautiful!

Napping at the boat terminal after the long bus ride

Pangas

Crawling out of the panga onto the dock.  They really need to invest in ladders.

We met up with Martin, a PCV who lives in Kukra Hill (about a 30 min boat ride north of Bluefields) and then we went to our hostel to check in.  Since we were all exhausted, we zonked out for a couple hours and decided to meet up for lunch later.  This was great.

We then had lunch on the bay and enjoyed each other’s company, telling stories of the bus/boat rides, etc.  That evening we went to a showing of a film made in Bluefields called “The Black Creoles” which shared the history of the area and included interviews of locals.  It was very interesting and fun to listen to people speaking creole.  It was funny because even though they were speaking English, because it was creole, it was difficult to understand and I ended up reading the Spanish subtitles to understand what they were saying.  Go figure!  That means that my Spanish is good though :)  This also reminded me of studying different dialects, accents, pidgins and creoles in grad school.  It’s so interesting—you should check it out if you have some free time.

The next day was the feria and parade.  It was only the second annual fair there even though they’ve been celebrating palo de mayo (maypole) for a long time.  This was fun—there were booths with local foods, handicrafts, and giveaways.  I bought some pan de coco (coconut bread) which is a very common item here.  It was a pretty chill day as we walked around the park and waited for the parade to start.  We heard an announcement for the parade just before 2pm and headed out to the streets, but in true Nica fashion, the parade didn’t get going til about 3:30pm.  We found a restaurant with a balcony facing the streets and ordered drinks while we waited.  At least we found a fun place with a nice view.

That night we decided to check out the local night life after dinner on the bay and visited a reggae club.  It was definitely interesting, but good for dancing and I LOVE dancing :)  It was even better that I had my boyfriend there so I could dance with him and not have to worry about any creepy guys asking me to dance.  There are some definite advantages to having a boyfriend here haha  I'm definitely glad I have Frank here other than those reasons though.

Sunday was crazy, but turned out well in the end.  We got up early because we were planning on taking a trip out to the Pearl Keys in the Pearl Lagoon, north of Bluefields.  Some girls in our group had arranged a deal with some locals they had met and we got 11 of us together to make the trip.  Well, we were supposed to leave at 7:30am, but that came and passed quickly.  While the guy went to get gas, we all went out and searched for breakfast foods and then eventually walked over to the guy’s house and waited for him to show up after filling the tank.  It was 9:30am by then and we found out that it was going to be a little more expensive because the gas was more than expected. Also, they told us that it would take 2 ½ hours to get there instead of 1 ½ like we had thought originally.  Hmmm…well by then some of us started to talk about ditching this plan since things were changing and we hadn’t even seen what kind of shape this boat was in.

We waited a little longer and then decided to leave and just go to the beach in El Bluff on the coast, like we had originally talked about the day before.

So, four of us took a 30 minute panga ride to El Bluff, found a little cabana, and enjoyed the beautiful beach.  The waves were perfect and we were greeted by two really cute puppies.

Later we found out that the rest of the group encountered more issues with the boat deal, including motor problems and sitting and waiting for 2 more hours.  So, they didn’t end up going and a couple of them had to stay and try to sell the gas…  Glad we got out of that one!

After having a great lunch (gallo pinto cooked with coconut oil, tajadas, and salad) and getting very sunburned (what’s new right?), Frank and I decided to catch a panga back to Bluefields so we could buy our tickets for the bus and boat ride home the next day.  We got there in time to get the tickets and I felt relieved after that knowing that our rides were secure for our early morning travel :)

Frank and I cruised around the park that evening and got a little ice cream treat before heading back to the hostel.  We turned in early because the next day we would be leaving early and traveling the whole day…

4am came way too fast, but we got up and headed downstairs to meet up with the others.  We walked down to the boat terminal and waited a little to load the boats just as it started to rain.  Our boat did not have a cover, but fortunately Nicas have a plan for this: using a giant piece of plastic (similar to a tarp) and having the passengers hold on to it and the panga goes jetting down the river.  I couldn’t help but laugh as the tarp flapped up and down hitting people in the head and still allowing sprays of water inside.  In times like these, you have to laugh and realize that it’s just a little water and it’s an experience you’ll never forget.  I didn’t get a picture of this, but you can use your imagination.

Our bus left El Rama at 8:30am and I got off early at the roundabout before my town because the route passes through Boaco—very convenient!  I then had to wait a couple minutes for the bus to pass by to take me into Boaco.

Wow, what a weekend!  We did lots of traveling and saw lots of interesting and unique things.  Definitely a great experience!