Granada-Day Three, I Guess!!

 Wednesday December 29^th.

     Awoke ‘relatively’ early, with plans to head for Masaya before it got too hot. Ended up leaving a little later than planned (10:30am) The bus dropped us off at the edge of town and we made our first stop at a couple of guitar shops with the plan to buy a really good but really cheap Spanish guitar. While reviews on the net glowed with references to quality and sound, I was, sadly, less than impressed with what I saw, and even less impressed with the prices- $300-500 for anything decent. Scratching that purchase off my list we grabbed a taxi to the Malecon (walkway) at the west side of town. Overlooking Lake Masaya, it provided a perfect spot to see Volcan Masaya in the distance. Disappointingly, the volcano was not belching out smoke and volcanic ash, or at least not in a direction that could be seen from town.

  Heading back towards the city centre, several hammock makers were displaying their art in front of their homes. Since I already own two from previous trips (Mexico) I declined their multiple offers of  “ for you- the best price”

 After a stop in the Parque Central  [No, that is not a wood flooring store!] to visit the church (closed on my last visit) and a quick lunch of chicken fajitas we spent a couple of hours roaming the craft market. By some miracle we managed to leave without endangering the contents of my wallet.

 Dinner tonight was in, of all places, a German run establishment with the traditional German name of Charly’s Bar y Restaurante. Located down a dark side street on the far west side of town, we weren’t sure, at first if the taxi driver was taking us to dinner or to a mugging. Serving up everything from sauerkraut and schnitzel to venison we settled on a mixed skewer of various meats and vegetables. Our beverages were a contrast in sizes- a wheat beer came in a glass that you could almost bathe in, while a similarly priced piña colada came in something resembling a small champagne glass. Beverage size aside it was quite an enjoyable meal with enough leftovers to give a couple of stray dogs something to fight over once we got back to the main part of town.

Granada-day one

11:30pm December 27^th

 Midnight is fast approaching and we are finally relaxing in our room. Roman Polanski’s movie The Pianist is on TV. The spoken language is German and the subtitles Spanish. Luckily I have seen it before so the language issue is not that big a deal! The flights down here were not too bad, although a very heavy landing in Miami has re-awakened an old neck injury.

 Clearing immigration and customs was a breeze and our driver was waiting for us outside of the terminal. A somewhat hair-raising ride to Granada took approximately 45 minutes, the driver barrelling down dark and winding roads with little thought for other vehicles.

 Lucy, the hotel owner/manager was waiting when we arrived. One of the staff whipped up a fruit plate and juice for us while Lucy filled us in on recent happenings in the city- mostly restaurants closing and new hotels opening. All the while we were talking her menagerie of cats (now numbering 9 in total) came around to visit us [Note to self: bring along lint brush next time]

  Our promised free meal at Jimmy Three Fingers has gone up in smoke as the restaurant has closed. Even the Nica Buffet- a typical Comida is out of business.

  Tomorrow, my plans are simply to have no plans- everyone deserves a Lazy Day once in a while.

 Tuesday 28^th.

   My first taste of fresh Nicaraguan coffee after more than a year was almost worth the wait. A continental breakfast of bread and preserves, fresh fruit and sweets followed while I waited for Susanna to awaken.

  A slow lazy walk around town took most of the morning as we reacquainted ourselves with the various streets and attractions. Tierra Tours, our primary tour agency on the last trip was our first stop. A brief review of available options should keep us reasonably busy on days when we are not bussing it around the area.

  The market area was still a crowded mass of humanity and Pali, a mini Wal-Mart subsidiary, was still as busy and under serviced as I remembered.

 Walking back towards our hotel, I was disappointed to see that a couple of the restaurants we had enjoyed last year had closed, including the Mediterraneo which had been in business for several years.

  For lunch we settled on Nectar, a small place on the main pedestrian street

  Calle La Calzada. Gazpacho soup and quesadillas with pica de gallo , a banana, guava and orange yoghurt shake for Susanna and a Toña ( local beer) for me.

 An afternoon siesta was followed by another walk around town followed by a rather mediocre dinner. Susanna had garlic chicken, which by weight was probably equal parts chicken and garlic. I thought I was getting rotisserie chicken, which turned out to be fried to the colour of chocolate- oh well, live and learn.

  It was breezy to the point of almost needing a jacket when we headed back to the hotel, passing several (damn it, should have eaten there!) restaurants on the way. Tomorrow we have a day to Masaya planned which I hope will include a trip to Pilates Guitars, a custom guitar maker.

Some things you can't plan for!!

The good news is that my Nicaragua trip is on schedule as planned.
  The not so good news is that, immediately on return from the trip I head for Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto for a double bout of eye surgery. Surgery one will involve the insertion of a radioactive disk behind my left eye to destroy a choroidal melanoma which has developed in my left eye over the past year or so.
 Surgery two, one week later, will involve the removal of the disk as well as the repair of any muscle and/or tissue that were cut during the initial procedure.
 Simple enough, and hopefully, complications down the road will be minimal.
   Looks like my planned two months off work will now be extended to three.
  For most people that might be considered a bonus. For me, Mr Type A,[ I need to do something RFN] that is not the case.
 Anyway, as I watch the waist deep snow outside my bedroom window, I am only 3 days away from bitching about the heat while sipping a cold one on a veranda in Granada. It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it!!!!!!!!!!

29 days and counting!!!

In just over a month I will embark on a journey that will probably prove to the world just how adventurous (crazy) I am.

By way of proof, see the attached e-mail I received from a hotel owner living near one of my planned travel routes.

I have recently consulted with friends who live on the upper Rio Coco along BOSAWAS as well as family who live in Waspam. They do not recommend travel to the upper Rio Coco by tourists (aka foreigners) at this time due to several factors: 1) Nicaragua and Honduras have been at odds recently, and, those tensions have not subsided, 2) Due to the high price for gold, there is a lot of artesenal mining taking place along the river with consequent assaults by heavily armed persons looking to take gold and cash from people who might be buyers, and, 4) The area has become a major drug trafficking route with many dangerous people who don´t want strangers poking around!

Needless to say, I have amended my travel plans just a teeny bit.

  Normally when I do travel, I tend to map out my planned route in great detail, checking and amending plans as the date gets closer and closer. This trip is strictly by the seat of my pants. I do know that my flight for Managua leaves Detroit on December 27^th, but after that……??

 I have a hotel booked in Granada for a month, but at $20 per night I won’t lose too much sleep if I end up somewhere else for a few days.

  A trip to the Corn Islands might be a possible option for 3 or 4 days, assuming the flights are not too expensive. Then again, there is the opportunity to see several of the sites that were missed on the last trip- Volcan Masaya at night, a canoe trip to Las Isletas, the small islands which dot the lake adjacent to Granada. [ Actually formed when Volcan Mombacho erupted several thousand years ago, dumping large hunks of lava and rock into the lake]

Another interesting option is the crater lake of Apoyo, near Masaya- A water filled crater formed during an ancient eruption which is now home to some unusual fish species. Luckily the place has not been discovered by many of the Gringo Gang which sticks to the "tried and true" tourist sites of the country. 

  One can still get a room for less than $50 a night with warm and cold running water. 

  I say that with tongue in cheek cause one of the biggest "whines" on tripadvisor.com is " No-one told me the hotel didn't have hot water." Sorry folks, this is Nicaragua- the onlly way you can get into hot water here is trying to pick up married women!!LOL. 

   Seriously, a hot shower in Nica is a pleasure that is often only offered at the more " upscale" hotels- i.e. those costing over $40 a night!

  At least you don't have to worry about your clothing shrinking in hot water. As for body parts! well lets not go there :~(

     Adios Amigos

  

 

The adventure begins soon

Edited November 27th
    The countdown begins for my next big trip- 50 days 30 days and counting.
The location, Central America. The place- Nicaragua. A sedentary 2 weeks in Granada to start things off, followed by a more strenuous tour of the southern parts of the country with maybe a quick trip- 10 days or so into Costa Rica.
I had originally planned a trip into the Bosawas Biosphere in the North East part of the country but was warned off on account of the extreme dangers that exist in the area- largely related to drug smuggling towards the USA
 As I look outside my window while editing this previous post, the reflections from a nearby streetlight show me that snow has turned my black car an eerie shade of white.
  It is clearly time to start making a few lists and checking them twice and believe me, it has nothing to do with Santa. The worst thing you can do at the end of a trip is unpack your bag realizing that you didn't use 30% of the "stuff" you dragged along.