Nicaragua by Land

Our trip to Nicaragua started bright and early with Leslie Sanchez from Tropical Tours of Coco Beach arriving at 6 am to pick us up from our dock at Marina Papagayo. If you are every in Costa Rica and want a great tour guide, I can't say enough good about Leslie.

We climbed into his Suburban and headed east to the Costa Rica, Nicaragua border, winding our way through the countryside on a narrow two-lane highway. The roads in Costa Rica that we’ve traveled are not well maintained, always a bumpy ride. The majority of drivers here have a unique method of passing cars ahead of them, fast and often, never a dull moment…

Lili and I at the border

As we approached the border we came upon an extremely long  line of large trucks parked in front of us. I expected to slow down and wait our turn. It surprised me when we again, pulled into the on coming lane of traffic and started down the highway without an adequate view of traffic heading toward us. A few cars managed to pass us from the opposite direction on the shoulder of the road as we continued on in the wrong lane. Leslie explained that it takes the trucks much longer to clear through the border. As the line of trucks went on forever, and we approached the front of the line, of course none of us complained.

The border crossing was fast and almost painless. We managed to maneuver our way through the lines, leaving Costa Rica and entry into Nicaragua with the help of our tour guide. We all appreciated being helped through the process without having to figure it out on our own. A few small hoops and we passed into Nicaragua.

Our new driver Rafael, was waiting for us at the border to continue our journey . The first stop was a nice breakfast in Rivas and a three person bicycle ride through the town and market place. The produce was amazing. I was especially impressed with the carrots. They grow them big in Nicaragua.

Next we toured a local pottery factory. They explained the ancient techniques they used in making their specific form of pottery. The factory was primitive, the pottery beautiful.

Traveling further to Catarinas, and then on to The Masaya Volcano. Unfortunately the sulfur clouds in the volcano remained thick and our view of the three craters was obstructed.

Our final destination, The City of Granada, we made a stop to enjoy shopping in the market place by local artisans. As we opened the door of the van we received a warm welcome by a couple of children, anxious for us to purchase their handmade grass flowers. They became very determined and after much conversation and negotiation, they settled on a chicken dinner, rather than a few Cordoba coins.

Church tower in Granada with a wonderful view

We toured a cigar factory. Nicaragua is the third largest manufacturer of cigars behind
Cuba and The Dominican Republic.

We arrived at our Hotel for the night “Hotel Granada” and took a stroll down The “Calzada” or Colonial Boulevard that stretched from Lake Nicaragua to the middle of Granada. The next day we enjoyed a horse drawn carriage ride through the cobble stone streets of Granada, learning the history of the area and entertained by our carriage driver, Carmen with her off color jokes spoken in Spanish then translated into English, along with her infectious laugh.

Our ride started out with a hefty pull from the panga driver

The long walk on a rickety pier.

Our last stop on the carriage ride was to the waterfront of Lake Nicaragua. We stepped onto a row of sand bags lined up into the surf, then balancing on a shaky wooden pier to our waiting ponga. Our captain and his first mate jumped into the water and pulled us out into deeper water. Off we went to explore the many small Isletas that are located along the shore of Lake Nicaragua. One of the Isletas was home to three spider monkey’s and a white faced Capuchin.             

We enjoyed the various birds and wildlife that Nicaragua had to offer.

It's hard to believe this is the same bird.

At bit out of focus I managed to get a photo of this yellow tailed Pendulum bird flying from it's nest. The nests are built high in the trees, and hang down, slowly swaying in the breeze.