The Saturday night festivities started with dinner at Big Bob's Burrtio Banditos joint 10km down the dirt road. The birthday girl brought a large bottle of rum and everyone ordered Pepsi or juice to mix. We ate pizza and finished the bottle with help from the some of the other surfers that frequent Big Bob's on the weekends. The next stop was in the nearest big town called Masachapa. In the fishing village that parties hard, we went to La Barra which seems to be the most popular open air disco. A decent dance floor and a good music selection. The crowd was friendly and we tried to remember some of the Salsa steps we had learned in Antigua. It was a great time, better than I had expected since I normally dislike crowded dance clubs. The open air atmosphere with plenty of space made it easy to relax, drink, talk, or dance.
Sunday: Julia was up at 6:30am to head into Managua with Angela to pick up our incoming friends (Megan and Brock). Out way too late the night before and up way too early, we would feel the effects for the next few days. I at least got to try and sleep in a little, before laying on the couch all day watching golf. Julia returned by early afternoon and it was good to see our friends and do some more socializing. They stayed in a condo on the ocean and we met them for drinks by the resort pool before returning home to cook some Mango Chicken Curry.
Monday: We woke up early again, this time taking our friends to the fishing village of Masachapa in the early daylight in order to see the boats returning and to buy some lobster, barracuda, and other goodies. Back at the resort, we filled a cooler with drinks and played 9 holes of golf in 4 hours. The rough is a little thicker in the rainy season so ball searching was often and lengthy. With an empty golf course, we also had the luxury of taking our time and enjoyed the views.
Fresh fish
That night, we drank at the resort pool while watching the sunset. Osman made us ceviche and lobster pasta (gluten-free), the girls got to watch The Bachelorette together, and we saw what chocolate does to a 2 year old at 8pm.
Tuesday: We packed our bags for a week of exploring some other parts of Nicaragua with our friends. Osman dropped us off at the bus station in Managua and we quickly hopped onto a shuttle bus headed for the picturesque colonial city of Granada. We wanted to give Megan and Brock a decent taste of backpacking life and the bus ride didn't disappoint. It stopped frequently, we had to put our bags on our laps, and the bus was packed to the brim. We warned Brock that he would get a butt in his face, and he did. The rooms at the hostal in town were also a good representation of our normal accommodations, with unique decorations and an open bathroom. The next step was to find some local food and slow service, and that we did. We were thirsty from the heat but some restaurants wait to bring out the drinks with the meal. We had to ask for ours after waiting about 25 minutes. The food was good with lots of rice, meat, and veggies.
That afternoon we walked around town, trying to avoid the occasional rain shower. They have some great old churches and the market area is as real as they get. With so much to see and not much time, we paid $10 to do a 1 hr horse drawn carriage ride around the town as the sun was setting. It was a great way to see all of the outlying sights but it was tough not to think of the scene from Seinfeld.
That night, we found Mojitos for 95 cents each and then ate outside at an okay place on the main tourist drag.
Wednesday: Slept in and got some much needed rest, then ate a late breakfast before walking down to the lake. Granada sits on Lake Nicaragua, a huge body of water connected to the Caribbean by Río San Juan. It was a prosperous city that was fairly well protected, but it still got ransacked a few times by pirates led by Captain Morgan, who figured out ways to get there. We went down to the water to do some kayaking around the hundreds of tiny islands that sit offshore. The area was created by numerous eruptions from neighboring Volcán Mombacho. The islands are now privately owned and have huge houses built by rich locals and expats, and even a former president of Costa Rica. We did a 3 hour tour. (A quick random side-note; did you know that the lyrics and music from Giligan's Island and the song "Amazing Grace" can be interchanged? Try it).
We had 2 double kayaks and a local guide who showed us around. Pushing off from shore, we quickly took on water from the waves and had to use a sandal to scoop water out and keep from sinking. After the initial struggles, between the islands it was smooth and calm. We saw monkeys on a tiny island and Megan tried to shake hands with one of them. We swam a little near an old fort before making the easy downwind trip back to the dock.
That night in town, we satisfied Julia's sushi craving at a place that had 2x1 on Wednesdays. Although only 3 types of rolls were on the deal, it was still tasty. Despite the good food, we would have to give the restaurant, Tercer Ojo, a bad review. The food was generally expensive and the prices were all listed in US Dollars. When the bill came, they had converted all of the food prices to Nicaraguan Cordobas using the exchange rate of 27.5 C to $1 (higher than the standard 27/1 everybody else uses). They added on the usual 15% tax and the 10% "voluntary" tip. Then when they converted the total price back to US Dollars, they usd a different exchange rate of 27 C to $1. The result was over $2 higher than it should be and more importantly, extremely odd and unethical. Most tourists probably wouldn't notice, but we were checking the bills carefully due to the added taxes and tips that are somewhat unique to Granada. We argued the discrepancy with the waitress and she seemed to acknowledge the different rates and after speaking with a manager, accepted the correct lower amount. Our advice is always check your bill carefully, especially in touristy cities that regularly use 2 currencies.
Thursday: We ate a cheap local breakfast of gallo pinto with eggs, cheese, and tortillas. Megan found a rather large spider in their room and the cleaning lady killed it with a can of bug spray and a broom. We then hopped in a cab for the hour ride north to the airport in Managua. From there we jumped on a smallish plane that took us to the Corn Islands, a pair of Islas on the Caribbean known as Big Corn and Little Corn. We booked a place on Big called El Paraíso and actually met the chef on the plane ride out. He is from San Diego and gave us some good advice.
Our bungalows are nice, with hammocks on our front porches and AC. We are about 100 meters from the water and a 15 minute walk from the town center. The first night, we strolled around a little to find rum and watched the locals play baseball on the airstrip that is safe after the last plane leaves at around 4pm. We ate dinner at our resort which was relatively expensive but delicious, followed by card playing and drinks.
Friday (today): Up early for free breakfast before walking over to the closest nice beach called Southwest Bay. With only 2 resorts on this stretch of sand, it was basically empty. The water was not very clear but the sand was good for playing and building. We all burned in the sun then walked to a local restaurant by the airstrip for some lunch. I ate a pickled jalapeño out of a jar and got the hiccups and cried for a few minutes. It was painful but luckily I recovered in time to finish the scrumptious food.
We relaxed at the resort in the afternoon before walking into town for some street food for dinner. I ate deep fried enchiladas while everyone else chose plates of meat and sides. The total cost for all 4 of us was just slightly more than 1 main dish at our resort. It is amazing how good it feels to eat cheap food.
We played some more cards tonight and plan to get out and explore more of the island tomorrow. The relaxed pace here has been good compared to the busy schedule we set for ourselves earlier in the week. We will fly back to the mainland on Monday and will arrive back at Gran Pacifica on Tuesday after saying goodbye to our friends. It has been nice to see more of Nicaragua and to catchup on things back home.
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