Learning how the buses work is an important skill while traveling in Nicaragua. After much thought, trial and questioning I have learned that there really are no rules. Not one..Except maybe learn to breath through your mouth. A bus ride usually goes something like this...
1. Find a busy street and stand in the dirt near enough to read the destination of passing buses but far away enough not to get hit with rocks kicked up by speeding motorcycles.
2. Carefully examine each bus that passes in order to determine its destination. One way to do this is to decipher the name of the bus, usually written in old english, somewhere near the name will be the town name. Another way to do this is to attempt to make out the words being shouted by a boy hanging out the bus door, it usually sounds like this ...moyogalpamoyogalpamoyogalpa... Attempt to do this before the bus passes to avoid chasing after in a cloud of exhaust.
3. Once you have found the correct bus wave your arms wildly and hope it stops. Sometimes they do, your bag is grabbed from you and lifted up to the arms of a boy who has been riding on the roof. Sometimes they only slow down as you run in your flipflops and reach for the arms of the boy at the door, hoping he can pull you in before the nearing street sign hits you in the face. Sometimes if the bus is at capacity...a word that doesnt really mean anything...you can ride on the roof and duck under power lines.
4. Good job you made it on board. Now try to squeeze past the crowd and head towards the back. There is a three plus person to a seat norm. You are lucky if you get both butt cheeks on a seat. Usually you have to stand, swaying around while one hand grasps at the center pole above your head. You will probably be sandwiched between a bucket of fertilizer, a bag of manure, a woman in heels carrying a baby and a man with a bag of live chickens digging into your side. Your head will also be nestled nicely in an armpit.
5. Grin and bear it. Usually some bad club music is blasting. I usually close my eyes and pretend Im at a party..a really smelly, dusty party.
6. Pay the man that comes pushing through the crowd. It costs about a dollar.
7. When the bus stops vendors push their way on the bus with fried chicken, bread, sodas, bags of produce and basically anything you could ever want.You could probably buy anything you ever need if you ride the bus long enough.
8. Sometimes there is a shared water container...sometimes this water is being passed around in an empty engine coolant container. Drink at your own risk.
9. If you choose to ride on the top, find your spot between the thousands of pounds of grain sacks. Its probably more comfortable than sitting on a pile of wood. Also, watch for power lines. Expect to be covered in dust.
10. Sometimes the bus stops while crossing creeks in order for a man with a bucket to douse the overheating engine with water.
11. Congrats you made it. Now push your way off the bus before it starts leaving. Find a new spot on this road to flag down your next ride.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tranquilo
I´m going to sum up Ometepe in a list of highlights because it´s easier. This keyboard has punctuation in all the wrong spots.
1. Charco Verde..A nature reserve where we met an awesome couple from vancouver, accumulated a crazy third person who didn´t get the clue and waded waist deep through a swamp while howler moneys sat above us.
2. Walked to Merida because crazy latched on person didn´t want to pay a dollar for the bus. It took us two hours and was rather miserable.
3. Stayed at an awesome hostel in Merida. We were the only people there so we had a private chef and a room with screens on the windows....the screens part deserves an exclaimation point but I cant find it on this ridiculous keyboard. Jumping off docks while the sunsets while two volcanos tower in the distance. Hiked to a waterfall. Learned to pronoune Merida correctly...we had been calling it mierda which apparently means shit.
4. Took the bus around the volcano to Balgue where we stayed in an old coffee plantation. Shared a room with a vampire bat. Walked around the beautiful gardens. Saw a lot of petroglyphs from ancient cultures. Saw a dead tarantula in the bathroom and decided not to shower while there. Lots of monkeys.
5. Santo Domingo. Walked to Ojo de Aqua, a fresh water pool nestled between two volcanos. Drank coconut juice and beer...not together. Relaxed.
6. Rode the most crowded bus I have ever been on...EVER. Back to Moyogalpa. Boarded an even sketchier looking ferry and somehow made it back to Rivas alive and with breakfast still in our stomachs.
An Apology... I have not encountered a single computer that has the keys in the correct spot since being in Nicaragua. I have no idea if any of my sentences make any sense to you. Also I dont know how to change spell check to English, so every other word is probably spelled incorrectly. Hopefully I will catch up on these blog posts someday. For every post, about a trillion things happen in real life.
1. Charco Verde..A nature reserve where we met an awesome couple from vancouver, accumulated a crazy third person who didn´t get the clue and waded waist deep through a swamp while howler moneys sat above us.
2. Walked to Merida because crazy latched on person didn´t want to pay a dollar for the bus. It took us two hours and was rather miserable.
3. Stayed at an awesome hostel in Merida. We were the only people there so we had a private chef and a room with screens on the windows....the screens part deserves an exclaimation point but I cant find it on this ridiculous keyboard. Jumping off docks while the sunsets while two volcanos tower in the distance. Hiked to a waterfall. Learned to pronoune Merida correctly...we had been calling it mierda which apparently means shit.
4. Took the bus around the volcano to Balgue where we stayed in an old coffee plantation. Shared a room with a vampire bat. Walked around the beautiful gardens. Saw a lot of petroglyphs from ancient cultures. Saw a dead tarantula in the bathroom and decided not to shower while there. Lots of monkeys.
5. Santo Domingo. Walked to Ojo de Aqua, a fresh water pool nestled between two volcanos. Drank coconut juice and beer...not together. Relaxed.
6. Rode the most crowded bus I have ever been on...EVER. Back to Moyogalpa. Boarded an even sketchier looking ferry and somehow made it back to Rivas alive and with breakfast still in our stomachs.
An Apology... I have not encountered a single computer that has the keys in the correct spot since being in Nicaragua. I have no idea if any of my sentences make any sense to you. Also I dont know how to change spell check to English, so every other word is probably spelled incorrectly. Hopefully I will catch up on these blog posts someday. For every post, about a trillion things happen in real life.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Omotepe
Tomorrow morning we are leaving for Omotepe, a volcanic island in the middle of a fresh water lake. Justin and I are SO ready to shed some of this San Juan Del Sur drama and start something new. I am not sure how often I will have access to internet (or a phone) so be prepared to wait in extreme suspense. Har har.
All sarcasm aside, I am fairly confident that the most adventurous portion of our trip is about to begin. Good stories to come soon!
All sarcasm aside, I am fairly confident that the most adventurous portion of our trip is about to begin. Good stories to come soon!
Friday, February 4, 2011
cotillear
The days here seem to all meld together into one giant sunscreen-sand coated day at the beach. We are really excited for the change of scenery that will take place on Tuesday morning. We will be jumping on a chicken bus (ancient school bus from the US) and heading towards Omotepe, a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We hope to find a farm to work on for a week, hike one of the volcanoes, swim with (out) the freshwater sharks and eat lots of awesome Nicaraguan produce.
In the meanwhile, we are just taking it easy. As in all small towns, there is lots of gossip going on in San Juan Del Sur and we have found it entirely way TOO interesting to indulge. Apparently the old pizza maker is a stud with all the young girls, so and so is not really the father, all the bartenders at a certain bar have STDs and the owner of the resort in town has currently fled the country with an army of private investigators on his tail.
I am really glad that we decided to stay in one place for a month because we got to learn a lot more about the area than just the touristy things. We have lived the the daily rythm, the ladies in the market recognize us and the boy who works at Comedor Margaritas knows my favorite thing on the menu. Justin and I both feel like we coulde easily live here for a longer period of time in the future. It would be great to come back and work in the schools or help with the local recycling program. Who knows though, there are too many places to experience and so little time.
In the meanwhile, we are just taking it easy. As in all small towns, there is lots of gossip going on in San Juan Del Sur and we have found it entirely way TOO interesting to indulge. Apparently the old pizza maker is a stud with all the young girls, so and so is not really the father, all the bartenders at a certain bar have STDs and the owner of the resort in town has currently fled the country with an army of private investigators on his tail.
I am really glad that we decided to stay in one place for a month because we got to learn a lot more about the area than just the touristy things. We have lived the the daily rythm, the ladies in the market recognize us and the boy who works at Comedor Margaritas knows my favorite thing on the menu. Justin and I both feel like we coulde easily live here for a longer period of time in the future. It would be great to come back and work in the schools or help with the local recycling program. Who knows though, there are too many places to experience and so little time.
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