Maddy's Travels
Nicaragua with Terri
2016
Omatepe, Nicaragua
Terri is my BEST travel buddy. We are so in synch we practically wear identical clothing - Chaco brand sports sandals, REI multi-pocket capris, bright colored visors and a cross-body Baggallini (the uniform of our demographic).
Our trip was two weeks and three parts. I’ll begin with Part One, colonial town Granada, day trips, volcano hike, swimming in volcanic crater, and a boat ride around the tiny volcanic islands in “Lake Nicaragua”. Also called Cocibolca, it is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world. It is delightfully un-touristy - no chain restaurants, no kale salads. I couldn’t even find a postcard. There were a few T-shirt vendors in the town square. W e should have gotten one then because we never saw them again. Our hotel here was sweet, beautiful courtyard, hammocks, pool and great breakfast - room a bit rustic. The pedestrian mall loaded with cafes and restaurants, in the evening was filled with locals. Kids are out late at night and we couldn’t exactly figure out what their school hours were. I did not see one baby stroller in two weeks. All kinds of things counted for transportation- car taxis of course, but also three wheeled motorcycle based “tuc tucs”, horses, horse carriages as you’d see in Central Park, NY, but in Central Park, Granada the locals use them. When tourists ask a horse carriage driver to take them on a tour, the driver doesn't know what to do.
Granada, Nicaragua
Granada, Nicaragua
Part Two of the trip was Omatepe Island. It’s about the size of Martha’s Vineyard and is in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The island is the shape of a peanut formed by two large volcanoes. We took a 45 minute cab ride to the ferry, an hour on the ferry and 45 more minutes by cab to our hotel. Our hotel consisted of lake front cabanas, black volcanic sand beach for miles, beautiful swimming, and a view of the lake with cows for visitors in the early morning. The hotel had bicycles - we rode them on the beach, swam when we were hot, stopped at beach side restaurants when we were thirsty. It all seemed adventurous. Pushing the bikes up a rocky, muddy path we somehow got ourselves to the one road that went around the whole island and found the thermal pool at the very beginning of a river. My favorite Omatepe adventure was riding a horse down the beach (with a guide of course) to see the monkeys swinging through the trees. These were the adorable ones with white faces. They were as curious about us as we were of them. The next day we changed hotels to get the sunset view and change of perspective and adventurously found the Nature Reserve with the Howler monkeys. (I say we were adventurous because after walking over rock and brambles, and through water, we never found the entrance and had to climb through barbed wire.) It was well worth it to see a Howler mom and her baby.
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Maddy and Terri
The last part of the trip was Caribbean Beach - a whole days’ journey to get there including puddle jumper, 12 seat airplane. The Corn Islands (Big and Little) of Nicaragua are a trip back in time. There are no grand hotels, most don’t have hot water, no one on the beaches is bothering to sell you something. The ATMs in Nicaragua ask you if you want US$ or Nicaraguan Cordova, but that’s only if they work, which is rarely. We stayed on Big Corn Island - it’s about 9 km around - you take a cab, even if someone else is in it. From any point A to any Point B you pay 20 cordoba (US 75 cents) per person. It’s fun, you meet real people, not tourists. Spanish is not the main language on the Corn Islands - it’s the craziest place. You never know what you’re listening to. There is a Creole language based one part on English words all smudged together like in Jamaica, zero from Spanish and many words of their very own. This is not a written language, and is spoken only there, but by everyone on the island. You can tell by the music in the cab what your driver's other language is - reggae for English, Latin for Spanish with a mix into both of American country music. Spanish is mainly spoken by the “immigrants” (meaning mainlanders). Fortunately no one is building a wall to keep them out.
There is some reef snorkeling from shore, but the best is by boat. Terri and I were lucky to take a day snorkel trip to Little Corn Island. That place is a trip - there are no cars at all. The only problem with Little Corn Island (depending on how you look at it) is you can get stuck there. The crossing from Big to Little can get choppy and the panga boats can be cancelled for days.
My account of Nicaragua has barely mentioned food, which is simple and good - lots of seafood from lake and ocean, batidos (fruit smoothies), gallo pinto (rice and beans), and tostones (fried plantains). One cab driver told us when he was a kid, chicken was a treat on Sunday only, seafood all the other days. Rum and coke is not called “Cuba Libre” as we know it, but “Nico Libre”. A hotel bartender told me to ask for a shot of rum with a splash of coke and it will cost even less.
I truly recommend Nicaragua - it is safe, beautiful, friendly, untainted, our money goes very far and as I mentioned earlier, a bit rustic!
HAPPY TRAVELS!
monkey
half goat, half sheep
flying over Big Corn Island
hotel on Big Corn Island
