NICA

We’ve enjoyed a week’s visit to Nicaragua . . . that’s an overstatement of the geographic area.  Our stay has been limited to the isthmus between the Pacific Ocean and Lago Cocibolca, aka Lake Nicaragua.  Specifically we have stayed all week at San Juan del Sur on the SW coastline and also made a day trip to Granada.  In retrospect, we probably should have split the week to allow for a couple days in Granada.

This area of Nicaragua is more developed for the tourist including transport, hotels, restaurants, and activities.  You can be as active as you want or you can simply sit and watch NICA go by . . . your choice.  It is helpful to know a smattering of Spanish, at least the pleasantries.  The $US is widely accepted and most restaurants and vendors will show you the bill in both $US and $C (Córdobas).  When we crossed the border from Costa Rica into Nicaragua there were scalpers offering huge wads of cash to change; they would shout Cambio! Cambio!  We avoided them having brought a little bit of $C from home with us and then got more as we traveled either through change given when we paid in $US (change given in $C) or via the ATM.

San Juan del Sur is largely a small beach town, populated with surfers seeking great waves on the beaches north and south of town.  There are lots of hostels (hospadajes) and also shuttles to and from the beaches. 

  

Casa Oro Hospedaje and tour company

Mama Sara's Hospedaje

Lots of shuttle options!

Beach shuttles

Beaches

Surf Lessons

There are also a number of higher-end and mid-range local hotels or private homes/apartments/rooms available through rental consolidators like AirBnB, VRBO, and local property management companies. 

La Terraza (our apartment, yellow building)

There are many transport options ranging from the beach shuttles to chicken buses or private transport. 

Surfer truck shuttle

You can find everything you need in SJdS, like laundry services, Spanish language schools, and sunglasses!  Something for everyone!

Language classes are everywhere!

Sunglasses vendor

Laundry services everywhere

For about 20 years we have followed a couple newsletters about living, specifically, retiring overseas.  Lately Nicaragua keeps popping up on their radar screen . . . so we decided to check it out a bit.  We met a RE/MAX agent who showed us the lay of the land by driving us two beaches north and two beaches south of SJdS. 

San Juan del Sur Beach

Maderas Beach

He showed us a few properties and gave us lots to think about.  It was good to get out of town and also to gain the perspective of someone who has lived many years here.  He shared with us that when he first moved, seven years ago, to SJdS the roads were dirt; now they are paved and that is directly related to tourism dollars.  There’s also WiFi in most restaurants, cafes, and hotels.  There are lots of beautiful homes on the hills above SJdS, and they are in great contrast to the local barrios, neighborhoods. 

Hillside houses

Barrio

One has to hope that the economic impact of tourism will benefit the community in terms of infrastructure, but also I hope that further development doesn’t make coming to SJdS any different than say being in Miami.

Since we are not surfers, you might wonder what we did with our time while being here a week.  The day has taken on a nice rhythm, based mostly on the weather.  The mornings are pleasant with ocean breezes.  Mid-day is scorching hot and humid, perfect for a siesta!  Evenings are pleasant again.  We watched NICA go by . . . we spent a lot of time wandering the streets, greeting people, watching people make jugo de naranja (orange juice), sat in cafes drinking coffee or beer, and enjoying being here. 

Asado (roasting meat)

The side dishes for Asado

Day of the Donut

Making OJ

Ox cart

Bob enjoyed keeping an eye on a small local construction project.  It took several days for the last piece of deck railing to be installed.

No OSHA

Deck railing complete!

Sometimes Americans want everything to be the same as at home; I don’t quite understand why they bother to travel if they are not going to embrace the differences and appreciate the local culture.   We met a lady from San Francisco who actually brought a two-pound package of Starbucks French Roast coffee with her.   I find it ironic because Starbuck buys a lot of coffee from Nicaragua and in fact some of their more popular reserve coffees and blends are from Nicaragua.  We enjoyed hanging out at a couple local coffee shops, one of which had a fantastic bookstore.

We did take a day trip to Granada, reputed to be the oldest city in North America, founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba.  On the shores of Lake Cocibolca, under the shadow of Vólcan Mombacho, it quickly became a trade city.  Spanish sailing vessels would navigate up the Rio San Juan and across the Lake.  Granada became a city of Spanish opulence, and today the colonial city remains picturesque and affluent. The town is dominated by the Cathedral and also Lake Colcibolca.  We were lucky to see a young man painting fresco on the church ceiling!

Cathedral

Cathedral

Painting fresco

 

One of the altars

Cathedral entrance

 

Lake Colcibolca

Lake Colcibolca

Nicaragua has a long history with the US, not always favorable.  Back in 1853, the Conservative party invited Tennessee’s William Walker to join them in a war to oust the Conservatives.  Yes, Tennessee, USA.  Soon they realized William Walker was a monster of sorts and within two years he had rigged the elections and named himself President of Nicaragua.   The US recognized Walker as the President of Nicaragua.  His goal was to make Nicaragua a slave state to the American South.  Both Nicaraguan parties united, Liberal and Conservative, and decided to oust him.  They were aided by financing from Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had lost his steamship company to Walker.  As Walker and his troops fled Granada, they burned the city down.  Soon Walker was defeated in the Battle of San Jacinto, now celebrated as a national holiday.  He was captured and executed while fleeing in Honduras.  Nicaragua’s politics have been unstable throughout history but they were united in the effort to return Nicaragua to the NICA people.  Scholars will tell you that it is due to this history why Nicaragua eyes the US with a bit of skepticism.  But I hope our tourism dollars are changing that image.

Again, we are seeing only a small part of Nicaragua.  There's plenty more to explore in Nicaragua.  Coffee is king in Selgovia, Matagalpa and Jinotega.  Chontales is known for raising cattle. Esteli is known for its tobacco, specifically for cigar factories . . . it’s worth noting that most of the cigar families escaped Cuba during the 1959 revolution and wisely brought their seeds with them to Nicaragua.  It’s a very diverse country of beaches, farming, volcanoes, lakes, jungle and also home to the kind and friendly NICA people.

View from pool resort above SJdS

This morning we left NIC to journey back to Costa Rica, specifically the area around Lake Arenal in the northern part of CR.  On our bus, we met a fun, young couple who have been traveling for a couple months through Guatemela, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama before returning home to Germany.   Oh, to be young again!  My insight into retirement for today is that I'm glad we decided to travel now but I wish we'd had the ability, time, money, flexibility, desire and bravery . . . or whatever it takes . . . to be young, footloose, and fancy free!

Monkey in the tree!