Nicaragua 20th August 2009
Nicaragua has been a really pleasant surprise.
Before we crossed the border, we knew very little, if anything about the country that we would to be cycling through. From speaking to other cyclists we had heard stories of muggings and so were a little bit apprehensive about what the country would hold for us.
Border formalities were pretty straightforward, we paid our seven dollar entry fee and one dollar local tax and set off on the road to Rivas. This was the section where we had heard that muggings had taken place and so we cycled pretty quickly. After about ten minutes or so, we relaxed back into a comfortable cycling pace, realising that there was a pretty constant flow of traffic on the road and therefore felt safer.
Immediately we were amazed at the difference in the feel that Nicaragua had compared to Panama and Costa Rica. People once again shouted out from their houses with words of encouragement or gave us friendly waves. The jungle that we had been cycling beside in Costa Rica gave way to pastured land with huge wind turbines set on them. We enjoyed waving to people who were looking out from their rocking chairs and my newly purchased "fun" horn provided lots of entertainment to the children that we past.
Just as we arrived into the town of Rivas, we had commented that we hadnt really stayed or got to know many people in Costa Rica or Panama and we hoped that this would change in Nicaragua. There is nothing like staying with people to get a feel and understanding of the country that you are visiting. We checked out a few hostels in Rivas and were quite astounded at the prices for a room - 10 dollars for a very basic and grubby room, cardboard style walls and no private bathroom. Panama and Costa Rica certainly offered better value for money. We were looking a bit forlorn and confused, as we didn't really want to stay in any of the accommodation that we had seen. As we wheeled our bikes further up the street, we met Santiago, an American guy that had been living here four years or so. Santiago explained that he was living in a converted American school bus with his partner Gwen as they were in the process of building their own house. He kindly offered us space to camp on his land, seducing us with promises of listening to the howler monkeys as the sun set. We promptly put our bikes in the back of his truck and backtracked about 20 kms or so towards San Juan del Sur. It was the perfect place to rest our weary legs after pedalling like mad for the past ten days.
A lot of cyclists we had met on the road had said not to miss Ometepe Island, situated on Lake Nicaragua. Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes, Concepcion (still active) and Madera (dormant) which are joined by an isthmus to form the one island. With my birthday coming up, we decided it would be a great place to spend a few days relaxing on the island where much of the south island has been turned into a nature reserve.
I had a great birthday on the island, waking up to watch the sunrise on the beach. Being a water baby, I wanted to have an early morning swim in the Ojo de Agua, a beautiful spot where a swimming pool area had been created from a river - the water changed from turquoise to emerald green with the changing light. Later on that day, we checked into Finca Magdelena and set our tent up in their grounds. The finca-backpackers produces organic honey and coffee for the international market and so we found it quite interesting to chat to the workers and learn a little more about island life and working as co-operative. However the highlight (aside from watching an incredible sunset behind the volcano) that day was being able to watch monkeys in the wild, playing in the trees not too far from where we were walking.
We spent four idyllic days on the island before deciding to return back to the mainland. We had arranged to work on an WWOOF farm (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) near to Lake Apoyo, and we looked forward to learning more about working on the land. It turned out that the American owner was back in the States, however, we were welcomed into the farm by the caretaker, Fermin and his family. We spent about 4 hours a day working, learning how to milk cows, planting papaya trees, weeding and planting trails.
It was living with the family that turned out to be the highlight. They had four gorgeous, well behaved children who adopted us straight away. They amused us as they always wanted to have their photos taken and they enjoyed using our little video camera to play with - to practise their singing and dancing. In return for using our equipment, they took delight in showing us all around the farm, and scaring us with how high they could climb the trees to pick mangoes and avocados. Their independence did at times worry us as we watched the youngest ones (3 years old and 5 years old) use machetes to try and split open a coconut.
Working daily with the family gave us an insight into life in Nicaragua. Life is difficult here - it is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (with Haiti being the poorest). The per capita GDP (2008) being $1.123. Local wages do not go very far for the purchase of basic commodities, for example, a local farm worker or builder will earn up to five dollars a day, to put that into context, it costs two dollars to eat in a very basic local restaurant serving rice, beans and meat and milk is nearly a dollar here.
We were impressed with how all the children got along with each other and just how much they helped around the house and farm, but we realised that this was as much a matter of economy too. As soon as the children returned from school, they would each hand-wash their own uniform until it was clean enough to be worn again the next day and then hang it out to dry, the oldest helping the youngest. For many people here, it is difficult to buy basic commodities for their children to help with schooling, such as books, pencils and uniforms. It made me reflect and feel quite embarrassed about the huge volume of lost property that we used to gather up at school and how careless some of the UK children are with their belongings. I don't think our children realise how lucky they are.
One of the reasons that Nicaragua is struggling to increase its income and raise the general standard of living is that the country experienced a bloody civil war that lasted for about 10 years and only finished in the 1990s. The country has also been affected by a number of natural disasters, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes which frequently devastate the county. Due to the strain of these reoccurring disasters, many NGOs operate within Nicaragua. Thankfully many businesses are also becoming more socially responsible and many tourist businesses try and give a little back to help the local communities.
Dave and I were both interested to find out a little more about the NGOs that operate here. As luck would have it, one of Dave's sisters put us in touch with one of her friends who lived in the capital, Managua. Marta kindly put us up for the night in the city and we found it really interesting to find out all about her work for Oikos, a Portuguese NGO and life in Nicaragua. She also took us to Ola Verde, an organic restaurant that is working with local farmers to help increase their knowledge base. We really enjoyed meeting Carla Fjeld the owner and had a great chat about the need and importance of education in sustaining ecological food supplies.
Managua, itself, was one of the most strangest capitals that we have ever visited. It is considered one of the world's most tenacious cities. The city is built atop geologic fault lines (some reports say it sits on 11 fault lines) and is surrounded by about 25 volcanoes. The 1972 earthquake killed between 6,000 to 10,000 people and damaged five square miles of city centre, causing 1 billion dollars worth of damage. Now, the city only has two high- rise buildings. The central plaza and downtown area was destroyed and even today much of the downtown area has been left to ruin, including its magnificent cathedral. As a result, Managua does not have a central area, we could not get orientated there.
Managua is notorious for its muggings and violent crimes, indeed, if it had not been for meeting Marta, we would have bypassed the city. With its unemployment rate at 50 percent and 20,000 people finding themselves homeless every year in the capital, it does not have a safe feel to it. Dave and I noticed that the streets of Managua were deserted, it was quite unsettling. To move around the city, people drive everywhere, either using known and trusted taxi drivers or 4x4s with tinted windows. The houses that we passed looked like prisons, surrounded by high walls, gates and barbed wire. Many also had 24 hour armed security guards posted outside their house.Both of us felt incredibly oppressed there and we were stunned how it stood in stark contrast to the countryside that we had just been in.
We took Marta and her taxi drivers advice to leave the city as early as possible and not to stop for anyone, including ignoring all the red traffic lights, until we had left the city way behind. I can honestly say that it is not a city I wish to return to.
From Managua, we cycled to Leon, another old colonial city which was much more weathered than Granada and then we pressed onwards towards Honduras.The border crossing was straight forward and on our way through, we reflected upon our experience of Nicaragua. Overall we really enjoyed it, the people (outside of Managua) were friendly but we found it sad to see such poverty, especially in the city of Managua where we drove past people living in bamboo and plastic structures beside the road. Apparently many workers at the height of the Banana Republic descended onto the city to protest about the working conditions and adverse effects of the chemicals being used on the banana and sugar cane plantations. Their protests fell on dead government and multi-national ears, and with no other place to go, their shacks were absorbed into the sad city landscape.
For a tourist however, it is a small enough country to be able to explore quite a lot of it and have a really diverse time, from experiencing volcano boarding near to Leon to snorkeling around the Corn Islands. However, I would say that if you are visiting Nicaragua, then don't forget to try and give a little bit back to the country through some of the organisations that are working out here to help to alleviate the extreme poverty that exists.
