My mom has just informed my via text message that she and my dad arrived safely in Miami after being upgraded to Business class on their first of 3 flights home today. I’m sure that made their long day of travel a little easier!
Last week my parents arrived on Wednesday in Managua, and I surprised them by meeting them at the airport! It was so great to finally see them face to face after such a long time. The hotel that we stayed in seemed like an absolute palace compared to what I’m now used to. I took advantage of the pool, the hair dryer and the air conditioning. (Although a group of American teenagers at the pool made me embarrassed to be from the same nation. Moving on…)
The next morning, after a delicious buffet breakfast, we headed to the Masaya handicraft market, the Masaya Volcano, Masatepe, Catarina and Laguna de Apoyo, and then Granada. I had never been to Granada, so I was excited to check it out. We started our evening with a drink at the cute boutique hotel, and before we left to explore the city we felt an aftershock of an earthquake. My mom and I were up in the hotel room and the lights when out right before I had a sensation as if we were in a treehouse that just slightly swayed with the wind. I quickly realized that that feeling must have been an earthquake. We stepped outside to see if my dad had felt it and he said that he had thought he was already dizzy from the beer he just drank. My parents have lived in California and Portugal, and have been through a few earthquakes in their time. My dad said that this was the most drastic single movement he’s ever experienced. Turns out it was a 6.2 earthquake that was centered in a town in Leon. Apparently people could feel this one as far away as El Salvador and Honduras.
Not knowing any of this information yet, we went about our business and walked down to a spot where you can see Lake Nicaragua. Although our tour guide had pointed down the street earlier and told us we could walk to the lake, I started to get nervous as we realized that this was a regular neighborhood street. Now, most of Nicaragua is very safe, but while wearing a dress and walking with my parents down this neighborhood street I just felt like we stuck out like sore thumbs. Of course we had no problems, and people were helpful when I stopped to ask directions a couple of times. I still kept a spur to our horse, however, since I am not familiar with Granada and its neighborhoods. Lake Nicaragua is so huge. Hard to believe that you’re not looking at an ocean!
We walked around quite a bit, and eventually settled on eating at a little café called Café de los Suenos. I had a glass of wine and a Panini and it was perfect!
The next day we headed to Mombacho Volcano Natural Reserve, where we were taken up to the top in a big truck. At the top it’s a cloud forest, so it was foggy, windy, and much cooler. Our very knowledgeable tour guide took us through the forest where we saw and heard a lot of birds, but unfortunately no sloths! On the way down, we sampled some of the coffee that is grown on the lower parts of the volcano.
Next, we took a boat tour of the isletas. These are 365 tiny islands that we created in Lake Nicaragua by a volcano eruption. We saw all kinds of birds, monkeys, and beautiful homes on the islands. That evening we took a dip in the pool and ate at a Mediterranean restaurant that was great. Apparently there was another earthquake that day that was actually centered in Granada that day, but since it was when we were on the water we didn’t even feel it. I had all kinds of text messages from my Nicaraguan friends asking how we were doing, and I hadn’t even realized that it happened!
The next morning we took a little walk around Granada and enjoyed an iced coffee before being picked up to head to Ometepe Island. Unfortunately, the ferry that we were supposed to take had a mechanical problem, so we ended up spending a few hours on the dock in Rivas. We took that time to take a quick walk on the beach, eat a tamarind snow cone, and enjoy the fine dining of Tip Top fried chicken (inside joke….this is like the KFC of Nicaragua). The next ferry finally arrived, and we loaded our luggage up for the hour ride to Ometepe. It was pretty bumpy, and I was just relieved to get there after all of that waiting.
Once in Ometepe, we found out that we had another hour ride to our hotel. It was interesting to see the country side of Ometepe, however much I just wanted to be drinking a beer next to a pool. When we finally turned off the main road, we were driving down a curved dirt road through plantain trees. I wondered where the f$@k we could possibly be going, but it turned out to be an eco-lodge of sorts right on the beach. We stayed in a cabin that had a magnificent view of Volcan Concepcion with the farm laid out in front of it. It was just a short walk to the other side of the hotel to the completely empty and beautiful beach. After our long day of traveling, beer was our first stop. (So nice to be on vacation with my parents!)
The girl who worked there told us this was “high season for bugs,” and she was not joking. That evening on my way to the hotel restaurant a bug landed in my eye and practically blinded me for about an hour. It was intense! We could hear howler monkeys in the morning, and to my delight, could actually see them in the trees from our back patio. So cool! My mom and I spent some time on the almost empty beach (only some locals who were fishing for lunch shared it with us), and then headed for a walk to the next town for our lunch. We walked about a half an hour down the beach, and then when we realized that we couldn’t go any further, my parents had the very Nicaraguan experience of walking through someone’s yard to get to the street. A little girl was sitting in the window, and told us to go ahead and come through. What a cutie. We had lunch at a Vegetarian restaurant right on the beach in Santo Domingo. I had a bean and veggie sandwich, my mom had a stir fry and my dad had a fruit plate. It was perfect.
Afterwards, we went on a nature trail where you can see lots of wildlife. We were on it for about an hour, and saw Howler monkeys, Capuchin monkeys, lots of Magpie Jays, Parrots and many other birds. I may have also acquired my very impressive collection of mosquito bites on this outing even though I sprayed up before our walk. Still itching those suckers.
Early the next morning, we headed out to do the reverse trek back out of Ometepe. Luckily this time there were no problems with the ferry and we had a much smoother ride. We headed to Leon, and on the way stopped in La Paz Centro to sample the Quesillo and tiste. Quesillo is a tortilla with cheese, onions, and cream. It’s kind of like a rolled quesadilla. Tiste is a drink made from cacao, milk, and corn. It was served in natural gourds called jicaro. Everything was delicious! On the way out I bought a bag of rosquillas, which are baked corn biscuits, for my parents to try. We finally reached Leon in the afternoon. We stopped at Siembras y Cosechas for smoothies before walking around the city a bit. That evening, we met up with my friend Joanna, who had just moved to Leon from San Rafael del Norte, my site. We had a dinner at a place where the music was too loud and it took forever for the food to come out. Luckily we were in good company and had beers in our hands.
The next day we had a city tour from another very knowledgeable tour guide. We visited the Cathedral, walked around the top, an Art museum, and finally back to the hotel to check out. Our last stop together would be in my site in Jinotega. After a 3 hour drive, we arrived.
We spent a couple of days here visiting with my host family, co-workers, and friends. It was so great to see them and to have them see my new home, but very hard to say goodbye. I knew it would be, and was kind of wishing I could just fast forward through that part. I’m usually very content here in Nicaragua, having this great experience, but this was a big reminder of my family and friends I miss at home. I’ve heard some say that having their parents leave after a first visit to the country is a low point of their service. It was really hard to walk away from the vehicle with my parents going the other direction, but I’m ready to get back into my routine.
Luckily, I only had about 10 minutes of quietly sobbing and walking back to my house before I realized I had locked my key in my room. That knocked me out of my sobby mood and into fix it mode. My host family helped me get the keys, and immediately afterwards, my host mom from training called out of the blue. I think her mommy spidey sense must have been tingling. It was nice to hear from her, as well as to talk to the current trainee and realize how far I’ve already come.
Today I chatted with my friend Andrea, who is thinking of coming to visit in July! Now I have a new adventure to plan!
Love from Nicaragua,
M x
Mariel's Adventure Blog! 
I’m glad you had such a great visit!!! Miss and love you!
We had a wonderful time with you, Mariel, and are so impressed with your language skills–we put them to the test with all our questions! We’re so glad we got to see the beautiful area of the country where you live and meet the wonderful people who are your coworkers, friends, and “family” in Nicaragua. It’s obvious that they respect and care about you! Love you!
Great pictures, Mariel. So glad you this special visit. I sure it was very hard for them to say goodbye to you as well! The Quesillo sounded delish – will have to try to attempt this at home.
Take care.