The past six days have allowed us three weary travelers all the amenities you would expect while living at a luxurious resort. There have been Nica Libres (rum & Coke) consumed, multiple afternoons playing golf in the sun, and sunsets by the infinity pool. Our recap of the week begins on Sunday, our last day with heavy backpacks, in Masaya.
Costumes and masks everywhere
More traditional wear
Monday: Clothes were placed in a washing machine and hung on a line and backpacks were scrubbed free of dirt. Micah and Mark hit the golf course for 9 holes that afternoon and I played with my favorite 2 year old. The four of us reconvened and spent the next few hours testing the happy hour drinks and the infinity pool at the restaurant.
Tuesday: Souvenirs were picked through and more cleaning and organizing. The daily ritual of internet time by the office and pool had already begun and was continued. Mark, Micah, Kaiden and I borrowed the Explorer and took to the muddy dirt road that eventually ended at Asuchillo Beach. A long, flat beach that has a gentle wave break, it's the best beach in Gran Pacifica for non hardcore surfers and those who just want to frolick in the water. We frolicked and roasted in the harsh sun for an hour and a half in the late afternoon. That evening, all 6 of us packed into the car and drove the 11km road to Burrito Bandido where two pizzas and multiple drinks were split.
Wednesday: Angie and Osman ran errands in Managua for the day. Micah and Mark spent another 9 holes on the golf course, I had a relaxed morning at the house. After another afternoon with Kaiden at the resort's pool, we feasted on typical Nica food that Angie and Osman brought home with them.
Thursday: For Thanskgiving, there was a lot of interesting conversation regarding how we would celebrate. Weeks earlier, Micah and I offered to cook and host our family and Angie's boss, at our home. That was tweaked slightly by my well intentioned sister and we were declared head chefs for the day at the restaurant to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 20-50 people. We laughed and declined, but in the end we realized the Nicaraguans and Canadians had no idea how to make an American Thanksgiving dinner, so we offered to cook the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. An approximate 20 people would be attending, so 27# of turkey was purchased along with a few dozen other items we'd compiled into a grocery list the day before. By 11am, we had taken over one large kitchen in an open condo unit to begin our work. Micah prepped the turkey and made bread crumbs for stuffing, I chopped veggies and herbs to stuff the turkey, and Mark took on the brave and tedious task of cutting 10+ onions. Seven hours and four ovens later, we had two beautifully roasted turkeys, a few pounds of chorizo sausage stuffing, and a very large pot of gravy. The restaurant transferred the food to serving platters and placed everything, including the potatoes, corn, salad and rolls that they had made, on a buffet table in the restaurant. There was also cranberry/blueberry sauce and green bean casserole with hand battered onion rings on top that were made by friends in the condo with us. The meal was a great success with nearly 20 people joining us, including family members of Daniel Ortega, current president of Nicaragua. We stuffed our bellies, went back for seconds, topped it off with pumpkin pie and were able to FaceTime with family. A wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving to go in the books.
Friday: Despite a tryptophan induced sleep the previous night, Micah and Mark mustered up the energy for 18 holes of golf on Friday morning. I swam with Kaiden in the pool at the house, and lulled him to sleep for his afternoon nap. We gave Angie some time to plant in her garden by taking Kaiden down to the resort pool for the sunset. Once we returned home, Angie and I collected as many empty Tupperware containers as we could find and ran back down to the restaurant, requesting Thanskgiving leftovers. Day two's meal may have been better than day one, and we even had an entire pumpkin pie to complete our leftovers.
Saturday: Today I joined Mark and Micah for 9 of the 18 holes they golfed. When I returned to the house, Kaiden immediately asked if Mark and Micah were still golfing and insisted on joining. For the second day in a row, Kaiden and I went in search of the golfers and he swung away a few times, surprisingly making contact more often than not. Lunch was rice, beans, and ceviche that Osman made with a barracuda that a friend caught while fishing yesterday. We enjoyed Mark's last Gran Pacifica sunset down by the pool, then ate pork ribs for dinner that Micah had slow cooked in the crock pot for the past 20 hours.
Tomorrow: One more day on the road for all of us. We will head to León, likely with Angie, to show Mark a few more cathedrals, museums and markets. On Monday, he will head to Managua to catch his afternoon flight back to the states and we will gather the last of our necessities from the markets in León before we return via chicken bus to the resort for our last full week of our year long vacation.
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