BLOG 18: Let's go to Nicaragua!

Today we have to wake up early, at 5:00 AM – shortly after midnight – we will be picked up in the cold, rain, and fog at the Volcano Lodge. We quickly head down to the valley, where the sun is “naturally” shining again. We are ahead of schedule. Check-in, departure, and security control go very smoothly. The Copa Lounge is allegedly overcrowded, so we have to wait about half an hour on the waiting list. The lounge is at most 2/3 full, but at least it's manageable.

The flight is short and painless – a last look at the Poás Volcano shows us that it is again tucked under clouds today. On the descent into Managua, we have a beautiful view of the huge Lake Xolotlán and the Momombo Volcano – probably the most famous in Nicaragua.

At the “Aeroporto Internacional Augusto Sandino” there isn’t much happening; besides our COPA Boeing 737, there are only two Antonov-26 aircraft of Soviet origin on the tarmac – this aircraft was already very old about 35 years ago during Gerhard's Russia times – I made a few legendary flights with it: Perm – Moscow or Magnitogorsk – Ufa – Kazan; but those are other stories.

The immigration and customs clearance are rather relaxed; every foreigner has to pay a tourist fee of 10 US-$ in cash. During the obligatory baggage inspection, my carry-on backpack attracts attention – I am asked to step aside by an official. At the destination, at a simple table, the official there tells me to pick my form from the stack of entry papers that everyone had to fill out – fortunately, mine was near the top, the required opening of the backpack revealed the corpus delicti – our Swarovski Habicht binoculars. I had to write it on the slip, which then landed back in the stack. I never heard anything more on this topic, even upon departure. Probably a job creation in the Sandinista system.

Our pickup goes perfectly; our guide Huascar and driver Alan with his Toyota are ready.

We head straight to the city of Leon - we will also visit the capital, Managua, later after our stay in Leon. The traffic is surprisingly heavy, many US-built trucks and also Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cars. We quickly get to know three specialties of Nicaragua:

Firstly, the maximum speed has been limited to generally 50 km/h for several months – even on rural roads. The Sandinista government wants to reduce the number of traffic accidents with this measure.

The second new thing for us are the so-called “Trees of Life” – oversized steel flower monuments – practically at every roundabout. These are meant to commemorate the “salvation” of Nicaragua from the energy crisis after 2005 by the then President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. After the electoral victory of Daniel Ortega – a leftist Sandinista – in 2007, Venezuela supplied oil at “friendship prices” and Chávez financed the construction of several oil-fired power plants to alleviate the chronic power outages in Nicaragua at that time.

And thirdly, the frequent statues – often as silhouettes – of Augusto Sandino are hard to miss.

More about the history and current situation of Nicaragua will be found in the blog about Managua.

During the roughly two-hour journey – that's how long it takes in Nicaragua for about 100 km – we not only stop at a viewpoint with a beautiful view of Lake Xolotlán and the Momombo Volcano, but we also stop at one of the numerous “brick factories” at Gerhard's request. Here, craftsmanship is still valued...

In Leon, we find the hotel 'La Perla 1858' with a beautiful, typical courtyard; dinner is romantic and quite enjoyable. It is clearly noticeable that Nicaragua is by far not as touristically developed as Costa Rica; the staff is sometimes a bit “clumsy,” and it would help if we spoke Spanish. But the people are friendly and eager, and we feel quite comfortable.