Part 3 of our Costa Rica & Nicaragua trip

Day 10-11 (December 12-13) On the road to Managua Nicaragua and the Holiday Inn:

Happy Birthday to Kevin on 12/12/12!!!

We’d made arrangements with Patty at our hotel to hold most of our luggage for us so we could travel light.  Both of us took 2 days worth of clothes in our backpacks and left the rest.  We left for the car rental agency around 7am and it wasn’t a bad ride.  We were certainly glad that we’d taken the time the day before to drive the route because there was a line of trucks that probably stretched 2-3 miles blocking almost the entire 1 lane road north. The truckers all had to wait their turn to have their load and insurance documents checked by the border officials and it was a very slow process.  Had we not figured it out we would probably have sat behind all of those trucks and cursed the hold up.  But we jumped right into the oncoming lane, and drove off the left hand side of the oncoming lane whenever a car/truck/bus came at us, and made good time.  We got to the National Rental agency and happily the guy showed up early.  So we were 30 minutes ahead of schedule. We walked to the Costa Rican border crossing and were met by a screaming hoard of people wanting to change our money but we knew that we could use American dollars in Nicaragua just like we could in Costa Rica (Belize too) so we didn’t change any.  As we stepped under the building roof (it’s mostly outdoors with the Immigration and Customs people inside) we paid a dollar for who knows what (we never did figure it out), and then $12 at Immigration and got our stamps.  We walked back to the rental agency and were given a ride to just before the Nicaraguan Immigration office where things went equally as easy.  I don't think we spent no more than 30 minutes clearing both borders, which was really nice.  I’m used to the MX/BZ border crossing and you never know what to expect there.  I’ve spent an hour just waiting to have my bags searched by BZ Customs on my way back into the country so I thought these 2 crossings might be equally as annoying.  But they proved me wrong.  None of our stuff was checked at all.  We were picked up by the National Rental guy right at Immigration and walked to our new car, maybe 5 minutes away.  The place we walked through reminded me of Matamoros MX right at the Brownsville TX border.  Food shacks on a dirt road cooking mystery meat on truck and car rim barbcues.  We had our car in just a few minutes and headed out.  We had a nice, and rather calm, 3 hour or so ride to the hotel in Managua.  The traffic wasn’t nearly as bad going north of the border as it was south, although there was a massive line of trucks there too.  But we were in the departing lane so had pretty much a clear passage.  Driving in Nicaragua is about the same as Costa Rica…you pass the slower moving traffic on curves and hills because not much of the road is ever flat or straight.  So you get used to being semi-terrified and do it, otherwise it would turn into an 8 hour trip to go 20 miles.  Both of us decided that we weren’t in any jeopardy of having a heart attack anytime soon because of that!  The drive was really rather pretty.  We passed several volcanoes and a lake that could actually pass as an inland sea, Lake Nicaragua. All along the lake are huge wind generator fields for power production.  Not sure why Belize doesn’t do that too other than they buy all of their electricity from Mexico.  I’m sure they could save quite a bit of money employing wind generators and making their own electricity.  Anyway... As we drove Kevin spotted a septic truck emptying out into the lake and told me that the lake was so polluted you couldn’t eat anything from on or around the lake.  We actually saw another one dumping directly into the Pacific later on.  Pretty sad!  But I digress.  We found the hotel after stopping to ask directions at another hotel that resembled a Holiday Inn (yes girls some guys do stop for directions!) and found that we were pretty close.  The Holiday Inn AND Casino turned out to be a really nice place.  We checked in and, because we hadn’t eaten since our early not-much-of-a breakfast (it was now around 1pm) we headed for the hotels only restaurant.  It turned out to be a pretty good choice, although a bit pricey.  We spent US$22 each on the lunch buffet and enjoyed walking away stuffed.  We figured that it would be our big meal of the day anyway and it was (I snuck down around 10pm for a burger and fries).  Kevin headed to the lobby around 2 to meet up with the Compassionate Child folks for his visit with his boy Angelo.  Me, I just took it easy and watched some downloaded shows.  With the internet being so fast there (as compared to here in Belize) I was downloading as much as I could and caught up on all the shows I’d not been able to download over the past week or so.  So I was a happy boy!  Kevin returned in a few hours happy but depressed.  He loved Angelo but said the area where he lived was pretty depressing.  Funny thing is that Angelo's father is in construction too, same as Kevin. Angelo made him a Styrofoam Christmas tree to take home.  Very cute!  All in all Kevin loved his visit and I think is planning another trip already.  We were up around 7, had the buffet breakfast, and headed back for Costa Rica around 8:30.  We stopped and took pictures up at the top of Masaya Volcano where you can drive right to the top and peer into the smoking caldera.  Pretty impressive!  We spent about an hour or so there before heading south again.  Crossing the border was a bit more eventful but still quite easy.  We stopped in the same spot that we picked up the car and were broadsided by a group of guys jostling each other and yelling to let them take us across the border.  A guy came up and wanted to take the car but we were told that it would be the same guy who gave us the car so Kevin was very leery.  Since we were about an hour and a half early he wasn’t there.  So the new guy got him on the phone and Kevin talked to him.  He was told that, when we met the National guy at the border between the countries, he, Kevin, would give the keys to the new guy after being assured by the Costa Rican National guy that he knew the Nicaraguan guy.  Got that?  Have I confused you?  Well you can’t be any more confused than we were.  But it all worked out.  A guy asked for our passports and filled out the Immigration document for us and then put his hand out to be paid.  The National guys in Costa Rica did it for us so we thought it was still part of the service.  It turns out that it wasn't and we didn't have any córdobas anyway so said no.  The guy got really angry and tore up the documents.  We just laughed it off.  Had he told us up front that he was a paid service we might have let him do it.  After the 2 border crossings, and having to pay US$3 to enter Costa Rica, we were soon headed back to La Cruz to pick up our luggage.  We planned to stop in Liberia for the night but got there pretty quickly so we decided to drive until dark.  We stopped at a combination Papa Johns, Burger King and Pollo Loco for dinner and both chose the chicken.  I forgot to mention that we stopped at a Citibank across the street from this place on the way north.  Kevin needed some American cash.  I ran over to the BK and had my 1^st American fast food burger since July.  Pretty darn tasty too!  Back on the road and looking for a hotel.  We thought we’d have our pick of hotels but that wasn’t to be the case.  They were very few and mucho far between.  After dark we ran across a restaurant with cabanas called Los Gebiraros and called it a night.  We each got our own ant infested room but both slept well. 

Day 11-12 On the way to San Jose for our trip home:  Early up, early breakfast (not too bad), and on the road by 8:30 and headed to San Jose.  Before we left Kevin booked us into a Wyndham Hotel (with another Casino) that turned out to be a really nice place.  We had a bit of trouble finding it because the reservation was actually for the Best Western (I think) but it was actually the Wyndham.  Anyway we got there and were impressed by the place.  Looking at the hotel menu we decided we could eat cheaper somewhere else.  We’d spotted an Appleby’s right nearby and walked there.  It turned out to be a pretty expensive place too.  Not American prices at all.  But the one thing they had here, that we didn’t find anywhere else (including here in Belize) is free drink refills.  My baby back ribs were US$30 but really tasty and the leftovers served as my dinner later in the evening.  Kevin’s fajitas weren’t much cheaper but he enjoyed them as well.  We shared a very good shrimp ceviche appetizer too so again we were headed back to our room stuffed to the gills.  We joked that it seemed that all we did was eat and sleep this entire trip.  Hey we did a lot of hiking, horse riding and other sightseeing too so it wasn’t all eating.  But 75% of our meals were buffet style and both of us have a problem not making a trip or 3 to the line at every meal.  For the most part though we skipped desert to make up for all the food we were eating.  Kevin spent quite a bit of time in the casino and I think actually won money.  I lost about US$20 but had a good time.  A trip to the pool was a disappointment.  The water in the pool and the Jacuzzi was was cold so Kevin settles on the Jacuzzi tub in the room.   More casino later, Kevin still winning, and then to bed.  Breakfast was provided by the hotel and was a buffet, again, but free and quite good.  Kevin said how he was going to miss one of the breakfast staples:  rice and beans.  Actually rice and beans is a staple of almost every meal of the day but you get used to it. Sometimes it’s red beans and others black beans so there is a little variation.  His flight left around 9am and he had to turn in the rental, and my flight was at 12:20, so we said our goodbyes in the lobby after breakfast. I took the 10am shuttle.  Not sure how his flights were because I haven’t heard from him since but mine were all good.  On time, no hassles with security, and no rushing to make connections.  I had already made arrangements with Trish to pick me up in Dangriga so I called her from the plane as soon as we got to Belize City.  She got to Dangriga airport about 15 minutes after I did with Judi and Michael in tow.  About an hours worth of banking and shopping (Trish & Judi) and fried chicken dinner at our friend Norman’s Bakery and we were on our way to Hopkins.  Michael and Judi were taking a bus trip to shop in Chetumal MX with Norman so that was the reason for the stop at his shop.  My trailer smelled pretty strongly of mildew from being closed up for the 2 weeks so I spent about an hour washing the place down before climbing into bed for a long winter’s nap.  I’m only home until 12/20 when I head for Orlando so my mission today was to get my laundry done so I could repack it.  Trish did it for me while I filled her computer with TV shows that she likes and a bunch of movies so that she has plenty to do while I’m gone for the 28 days (unless the world ends on 12/21…)  So now I have a few restful days to recuperate from Costa Rica.  I’m sure that I will need a vacation after Orlando as well.  I’m figuring that the world WILL end because I turn 62 on 12/22 and will be eligible for Social Security (which I’ve already applied online for) and I’ll get screwed out of it!

 

More on our horse ride to the falls at near the Arenal volcano.  Thinking back on it I decided that it had been at least 46 years (high school) since I’d last ridden a horse.  So I decided I’d stand in the “never ridden” line.  I got some old guy who wheezed almost the entire trip.  I kept appoligizing to him for his losing the rider lottery and getting the Fatboy.  I wasn’t the heaviest there but that didn’t help my horse much.  Kevin didn’t like his horse at all and after about a 5 minute ride took him back and swapped him out.  He was much happier with his 2^nd mount.  Some of the trail that we road was truly ugly.  Lots of deep mud, rocky and steep paths, just a misery for the horses.  The guides managed to keep us all together though.  We had a pretty good group of fellow riders and actually met a guy who was born in the same hospital as Kevin and I (and probably most of our 1^st cousins…Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park IL) and grew up in our town of Oak Lawn IL.  He didn’t go to our high school though because he lived further south so was zoned to Richards HS.  Pretty funny though that we traveled all that way to meet a homey!  It really shows us what a small world we live in!

And so, life goes on for the Fatboy in Belize (until I leave on 12/20)…  As always, stay well, keep happy, and practice peace.  I am!!!