This trip started December 14 with a drive to Houston
because we decided to fly directly to Managua and keep our car at a hotel near
the airport. The 3 hour drive to Houston
was uneventful, we checked into the Ramada Hotel, and then met with friends Jo
Ann and Lee for dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant near their house.
Our United Airlines flight on Monday did not leave until
3:30 pm so we had plenty of time to kill.
We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel but we were not impressed by
anything at the hotel (well, maybe the price) and decided to check out and take
their shuttle bus to the airport early.
We checked into our flight about 11:00 am with one excess bag – a
Lightning McQueen bicycle for Ms. Sophie-Claire. We ate lunch at the Cat Cora restaurant in
the airport and sat next to a nice, chatty couple from Victoria, Canada. They owned a B&B in Victoria and we found
plenty to talk about over the next hour or so while eating a nice lunch with a
glass of wine.
Our flight left a little late at 4:05 pm and landed in
Managua about 7:15 pm. It was a new
country for Rita and me. Customs went
smoothly and all our baggage plus the bicycle arrived just fine. Gretchen met us with an Embassy driver and
bus. We arrived at their nice house a
little late and Chris and Sophie-Claire were already asleep. We talked a short while then went to bed.
Tuesday, December 16 we were pleasantly awakened by
Sophie-Claire coming into our room and calling to us. She gets up at the crack of dawn which is
about 6 am in Managua. She jumped into
bed with us full of kisses and hugs. It
was wonderful and what we hoped for.
Chris took the day off work and I went with Gretchen to
take Sophie-Claire to her school – the Pierre and Marie Curie International
School. I accompanied her to her
classroom where she attends pre-school for half a day. I met her teachers and had a short tour
around the campus. We went back by the
house, picked up Chris and Rita, and then went grocery shopping at two nice
grocery stores. Then Gretchen took Rita
to her dentist (an Austrian lady) to get Rita’s mouth guard repaired. Next we all went to pick up Sophie-Claire and
had lunch at La Cocina de Dona Hayde, noted for good Nicaraguan cuisine. The food was very good and I had my first, of
several, Nicaraguan beers. The rest of
the afternoon was spent watching Sophie-Claire play with her scooter and then
going on a long walk around the neighborhood.
Wednesday morning we were once more startled by
Sophie-Claire waking us up as both of us were sleeping soundly. When I asked her what time it was she replied
“to get up”. Gretchen served us tamales
and eggs for breakfast and, after we dropped Sophie-Claire off at school, we
all headed south to the town of Catarina, one of the Pueblos Blancos. Catarina is known in Nicaragua as the place
to go for plants and trees and there are dozens of nurseries selling roadside
plants. We went to a recommended nursery
that had acres of land in a jungle like atmosphere. The people were friendly and helpful. Gretchen bought several flowering plants and
herbs that her gardener planted later.
There is also a lot of local furniture made in Catarina as well as
neighboring towns.
In the center of Catarina we drove to an overlook with
great views of the Laguna de Apoyo and Mombacho Volcano. The lagoon is a previous volcano crater
filled with water now. We took back
roads home through Niquinohomo, Masatepe, La Concepcion, and Ticuantepe to the
main highway back to Managua. The
countryside was very tropical with many flowering plants, pineapple fields,
cows, horses and pigs tied to trees alongside the highway, considerable traffic
and people galore. The weather was the
same most days with highs in the upper 80s or lower 90s, a few clouds but no
rain as this is the dry season. While
the Nicaraguan government may have several issues with our government, the
population seemed friendly and, while poor, they still dressed modestly. In the afternoon Rita and Gretchen baked
Christmas cookies while Chris, Sophie-Claire and I took another walk.
On Thursday we all went to Sophie-Claire’s school for
their pre-school Christmas program set in an auditorium with the stage nicely
decorated. There were several pre-school
and kindergarten students who put on a song and dance show – mostly Christmas
carols. Unfortunately, Sophie-Claire
developed stage fright and refused to dance and sing with her classmates. At one point she lay on the floor in a fetal
position with her back to the audience but she wasn’t the only child to refuse
to sing or dance. The curtain closed and
re-opened with Sophie-Claire on a big drum set.
Her teacher sat next to her and, with drumsticks in her hands, she
pounded out a rhythm while many of her classmates sang and danced to another
tune. She even saw Rita and me in the
audience and waved a drumstick to us. As
the curtain closed again she apparently had a change of heart and wanted to
sing “Feliz Navidad” after her class had finished the song. So she grabbed the microphone, the curtain
opened again and there was Sophie-Claire singing her heart out. All the audience had many good laughs during
this program. After the program we all
drove to the Embassy where Rita and I used their ATM for cash and where
Sophie-Claire spent some time on the playground provided for employees.
After a short nap in the car and a light lunch at home we
drove back into the downtown area of Managua.
We saw the shell of the Cathedral Santiago de Managua which was
destroyed in the 1973 earthquake that leveled much of the city. In the Barrio Santo Domingo we found the
Parque Luis Alfonso Velazquez, a large, clean park with several kinds of
activities for children. There was a
water park (but we didn’t bring swimsuits), children’s train, sports fields
(baseball is the major sport in Nicaragua), and dozens of children’s play sets
with swings, slides, and climbing areas all combined in a single play set. Sophie-Claire loved it and went from play set
to play set making new friends along the way.
There was a very tall Christmas tree in the center of the park and a
stage for late night shows. We finally
coaxed Sophie-Claire out of the park and drove down a major street set up with
dozens of very large nativity scenes sponsored by government offices and
ministries. There was also a very large
lit up figure of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
We stopped at a nice steak restaurant called El Tiscapa where we had a
very nice meal of salads, steaks, fries and red wine.
We were all up, packed, breakfasted, and away by 9:00 am
on Friday for our trip to the Pacific beaches.
We drove past Volcano Masaya to the Pan American highway at the town of
Nandaime. We continued south to Rivas
where we had good views of Lake Nicaragua and volcanoes Maderas (inactive) and
Concepcion (active) on Ometepe Island.
As we drove further south the traffic subsided and we saw fields of
sugar cane, banana plantations, sorghum, and occasional rice paddies. There were also ranches with cattle and
several horses. In the town of La Virgen
we headed west to San Juan del Sur, one of the slightly developed beach towns
in Nicaragua. It was good to see the
unpopulated beaches now as I can see resort developments in the future. Nicaragua has plenty of beautiful areas for
tourism.
First we drove to the modern villa we rented high up on a
cliff overlooking the town of San Juan del Sur and the Pacific Ocean. The villa, named Olas Bravas, had three
bedrooms, two baths, and an infinity swimming pool at the edge of the cliff. The villa came with caretakers, Elmo and Maria
Eleana, who gave us the keys and helped us over the next few days. We drove into San Juan del Sur and had lunch
at a beach side restaurant called Josselines.
I had local shrimp and lobster.
Chris and Sophie-Claire went on the beach for a while. This was the most crowded beach we
encountered and we saw several North American tourists here too. We walked around town a bit and had delicious
gelato at Super Frutto. We stopped at a
small grocery store and picked up bottled water, groceries and wine. Back at the villa some of us went swimming in
the pool while Maria Eleana came over and cooked us a nice dinner of grilled
chicken, rice, carrots and chayote. Rita
and I enjoyed just rocking in chairs on the patio with views of a beautiful
sunset. We saw frigate birds, pelicans,
vultures, grackles, swallows, hummingbirds and the national bird, the
motmot. A very tired Sophie-Claire
resisted sleep but finally fell asleep on Rita’s lap having been rocked to
submission. Music from the bars in San
Juan del Sur drifted across the bay but did not keep us awake.
Saturday, December 20 was Sophie-Claire’s fourth
birthday. We sang “Happy Birthday” to
her over breakfast which Gretchen prepared.
Then we packed up for a new beach.
We drove about 12 miles south with the paved road turning into a bumpy dirt
road. We arrived at Playa le Coco or
Coco Beach and parked at the only restaurant, Questa del Sol, on this deserted
beach. The restaurant, with a few rooms
to rent, was owned by an Austrian and had some typical Austrian food items on
the menu. While Chris and Sophie-Claire
hit the beach, the rest of us had apple strudel and cappuccinos first. Rita sat and read while the rest of us walked
up and down the long, wide deserted beach.
There were a few rocks and sea shells to collect. Sophie-Claire enjoyed building sand castles
but wasn’t really interested in going into the surf. Eventually we were joined on the beach by a
few other Americans and a small group of Russians. We ate lunch – Wiener schnitzel for me and
shrimp in pasta with cheese sauce for Rita.
We drove further south to Playa le Flor, a beach to visit
at night when hundreds of turtles come ashore, and then to the town and beach
of Ostional just a few miles from the Costa Rica border. Sophie-Claire fell asleep in the car and we
drove back to San Juan del Sur seeing a caracara bird cross the road in front
of us. Gretchen bought a birthday cake
at a bakery and back at the villa we had a small party for Sophie-Claire with
presents, cake and candles. We cleaned
up and drove into town to a beach side Spanish restaurant called Meson
Espanola. As the sun set on the beach we
had tapas, paella and sangria.
Sophie-Claire went to sleep after a full fourth birthday and the rest of
us read our books.
Sunday we were up early as usual. Rita stayed at the villa while Chris,
Gretchen, Sophie-Claire and I drove north a few miles on a dirt road to
Marsella Beach, another nearly deserted beach.
We saw local fishermen pulling nets full of small sardines onto the
beach where the children and wives picked the sardines out of the net. There were hundreds of pelicans, seagulls,
and cormorants diving into the water to get their share of sardines. We left fairly early to go back and check out
of the villa and to tell Elmo and Maria Eleana goodbye. We drove north on the Pan American Highway to
Managua and stopped for lunch at a sandwich shop called Lemongrass. We arrived home dirty and tired. After cleaning up I downloaded several photos
and posted them on the Internet and in emails.
We all retired to bed early tonight.
On Monday, December 22 Chris returned to work. It was a busy day at home because workmen
from the Embassy GSO office came to hang the many pictures Chris and Gretchen
have on the walls. Another workman came
to repair broken kitchen drawers at the same time that the Embassy delivered
their air shipment of three big boxes.
Lots to put away and Gretchen did that while I watched Sophie-Claire
play in their backyard. In the afternoon
I went with Gretchen and Sophie-Claire to buy a turkey and pick up Chris at the
Embassy where they received in the mail today seven boxes of Christmas
presents.
Tuesday Chris went to work again while Gretchen, Rita, Sophie-Claire
and I drove to the Masaya Volcano National Park. We walked along the active crater with
sulfuric smoke drifting up. Cars are
instructed to back into the parking places so as to make a quick getaway if
necessary. This volcano last erupted a little
in 2007 – not that long ago. Next we
drove into the town of Masaya and found the Mercado Viejo (Old Market) which is
sometimes called Mercado Artesian (Artists Market). There were lots of shops selling local handicrafts
but Rita and I agreed a long time ago that we don’t need any more “stuff” in
our house. Gretchen did buy a nice
hammock which was made in this town. We
walked a couple of blocks to the town square where Sophie-Claire had spied a
playground earlier. She had fun on the
slides and swings and met two little girls her age who all played
together. We returned home after another
good day.
Christmas Eve came on Wednesday and we were all preparing
for Christmas. Sophie-Claire was excited
and knew what was happening. Gretchen
and I took her for a morning walk in the neighborhood. Rita and I watched Sophie-Claire while
Gretchen went to the store for last minute items. Rita baked a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. In the evening Sophie-Claire set out cookies
for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.
Over the holidays we watched “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and “Elf”
several times. After an excited little
girl went to bed the adults wrapped presents and assembled the bicycle and an
artist easel for her.
Sophie-Claire was up about 5:45 am on Christmas Day
excited about all the presents under the tree.
She hurriedly opened all her presents and emptied her stocking. And she made out just fine. Rita prepared hot cocoa which Sophie-Claire
proclaimed the “best hot cocoa ever”.
The morning was spent riding the bicycle outdoors in the driveway,
drawing with finger paint on the easel paper, and playing with new magnetic
building blocks and other toys. Danny
called and we talked a long while with him, Melissa, Morgan and Jonathan. We Skyped with Rachel and Deana too. In the afternoon Gretchen and Rita prepared a
delicious dinner of a big turkey, cornbread dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy,
green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls along with white
wine. The house smelled wonderful and
everything tasted scrumptious. For
dessert Sophie-Claire once more stated this was “the best pumpkin pie
ever”. I think Sophie-Claire had a good
Christmas.
Chris was off work on Friday as the Embassy was
closed. We all drove to Granada today,
an old colonial Spanish town on the edge of Lake Nicaragua. First we walked around visiting historic
churches and buildings such as the Cathedral, Guadalupe Church, La Merced
Church, and the old San Francisco Convent.
We hired a carriage pulled by two skinny horses and rode around Granada
for about an hour with constant views of Mombacho Volcano. We had lunch at Espressonista Restaurant by a
garden patio with good food and local craft beers. We drove back after a full day in this pretty
city.
Saturday, our last day, we left early and drove to the
town of Ticuantepe and the Chocoyera-El Brujon Nature Reserve. It was a bumpy ride down a poor dirt road driving
past pineapple fields and coffee plantations but we made it. We hiked a 2 to 3 mile trail to a pretty waterfall
set in jungle landscape. We didn’t see
the wild parakeets that live here as they fly out each morning. We did see hummingbirds, motmots, and other
unknown birds plus big blue morph butterflies.
Chris, Gretchen and Sophie-Claire went back the long way while Rita and
I went back the easier, shorter way.
Unfortunately they saw monkeys while we did not see any.
In the afternoon I went with Chris to buy steaks and
asparagus for dinner. Chris also got a
haircut at the upscale mall near their house so while he did that I walked
around the mall looking at the stores and food court which looked like most
malls in the USA. We grilled delicious
steaks for dinner then Rita and I packed and went to bed early for an early
wakeup in the morning.
Sunday our alarm went off at 4:30 am and Gretchen
arranged for another Embassy bus to take us to the airport. The bus was larger than expected so Gretchen,
Chris and Sophie-Claire went along for the ride. It was sad to say goodbye to Chris and
Gretchen but doubly so for Sophie-Claire.
Our flight left about 7:30 am and arrived in Houston on time around
10:30 am. US Customs was easy and quick
– we were the only aircraft arriving that Sunday morning. It was warm and tropical in Managua and every
day we dressed in short sleeves, usually shorts, and sandals. Arriving in Houston it was 38 degrees with a
cold rain coming down. Our jackets were
left in the car so we had a cold ride from the airport to our car but all was
fine. We warmed up the car and headed
west out of Houston. On the outskirts of
Houston near Katy we stopped at a Denny’s for a breakfast/brunch as we were
starving. We drove home just fine and
after stopping at the store for essentials, we arrived home about 4:00 pm. It felt good to shower in our own bath and
sleep in our own bed but we dearly missed our family in Nicaragua.
