I slept ok during the night - in the morning I feeling a little better but still not 100%. Kat brought me some fruit and tea to the room. We didn't have to leave for the airport until 11 so I just hung out in the room until it was time to go. Once at the airport we were quickly checked in and went through security to the terminal. At the Managua airport almost all the restaurants are located before you go through security. once in the terminal there is one restaurant which is also the smoking lounge along with a bunch of overpriced gift shops and duty free stores. By this time I was pretty hungry so I got a crappy chicken salad sandwich that seemed to be mostly mayonnaise from the restaurant. Kat found us some yummy empanadas from a booth way at the end of the terminal. Our fight boadred on time and our trip home was pretty uneventful.
Arriving in San Francisco we had to endure the shock of 36 degree weather and rain - of course we didn't have any long pants or a jacket.
Showing posts with label Managua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Managua. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Day 17 - Managua
We woke up early since we had to be at the airport at 7am. We had arranged for a taxi to pick us at 7 but he showed up at 7:20. We checked our bags, got some orange juice at the snack bar, and were on our plane at 8:30. This time it was a much smaller plane and I sat right behind the co-pilot. We didn't stop in Bluefields and instead flew direct to Managua.
Video of landing at Managua
Once in Managua we were met by Manfred from La Pyramide Hotel. When we got closer to the Hotel he pointed out some nearby restaurants that we might like to go have lunch and how it was safe to walk around as the neighborhood pays for security guards to be stationed on almost every block. Once at the hotel we got our nice room and were brought some glasses of fruit juice. We walked over the main street and had some beers and Quesadillas at Hippo's which is a totally American style trendy restaurant - even the menu had everything in dollars instead of cordobas. Next we took a walk to the Metro Centro Mall which was pretty similar to any Mall in America except with armed guards at most store entrances. The mall was pretty packed as everybody had just received their x-mas bonus money and were out doing x-mas shopping.
We then walked to the Supermercado to get our favorite Chilero hot sauce, some Flor de Cana, and coffee to take back home. After we checked out of the supermarket $80 poorer but now loaded down with 10 pounds, or coffee, 2 liters of rum, and 12 bottles of hot sauce I realised that I only had a $20 bill on me and no taxi driver was going to have change for that! We started the long walk in the hot sun back to the hotel taking a wrong turn along the way. Fortunately we found our way and finally made it back. I was feeling pretty tired and my stomach was a little funky so I took a nap. When I woke up I was really feeling crappy (no pun intended) and took some imodium. Kat had dinner at the hotel and brought me back some soup and tea which I ate and then went back to sleep.
Video of landing at Managua
Once in Managua we were met by Manfred from La Pyramide Hotel. When we got closer to the Hotel he pointed out some nearby restaurants that we might like to go have lunch and how it was safe to walk around as the neighborhood pays for security guards to be stationed on almost every block. Once at the hotel we got our nice room and were brought some glasses of fruit juice. We walked over the main street and had some beers and Quesadillas at Hippo's which is a totally American style trendy restaurant - even the menu had everything in dollars instead of cordobas. Next we took a walk to the Metro Centro Mall which was pretty similar to any Mall in America except with armed guards at most store entrances. The mall was pretty packed as everybody had just received their x-mas bonus money and were out doing x-mas shopping.
We then walked to the Supermercado to get our favorite Chilero hot sauce, some Flor de Cana, and coffee to take back home. After we checked out of the supermarket $80 poorer but now loaded down with 10 pounds, or coffee, 2 liters of rum, and 12 bottles of hot sauce I realised that I only had a $20 bill on me and no taxi driver was going to have change for that! We started the long walk in the hot sun back to the hotel taking a wrong turn along the way. Fortunately we found our way and finally made it back. I was feeling pretty tired and my stomach was a little funky so I took a nap. When I woke up I was really feeling crappy (no pun intended) and took some imodium. Kat had dinner at the hotel and brought me back some soup and tea which I ate and then went back to sleep.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Day 12 - Corn Island
Woke up at 4am and we took the hotel shuttle across the street at were first in line at the La Costena terminal at 5am. We checked our luggage with was a few pounds overweight (30# limit per person), normally they charge if it's too heavy but they let us slide. Next we paid a $2/person airport tax and went through security into the terminal. There was a snack bar so I got us some cold Victorias (breakfast of champions). The terminal started filling up with people going to Puerto Cabesas, Bluefields, and Corn Island. Or flight was the last to board - it was a twin propeller plane that looked pretty old
We took off about about 7am and had an uneventful flight, making a quick stop in Bluefields and then arriving on Corn Island at about 8:30am. We collected our baggage, gave the officials our passport information, and took a taxi (they are collectives and cost $1/person to anywhere on the island)to where we were staying at Sunrise Hotel. We got checked in and since we were the only guests at the hotel we were "upgraded" to an ocean view room. The room was nice with a/c, hot water, and cable tv. Outside there were hammocks and chairs on the balcony. The hotel has a restaurant so we had some breakfast before taking a taxi into the town on the other side of the island where we w looked for the islands only internet cafe. We couldn't find it and it was pretty hot so we stopped for some beers at Fisherman's Cave by the docks. We wanted to take a day trip to Little Corn so I went to the docks and found out the the boats to LCI leaves daily at 9am.
I had read about some beach side bars on Picnic Center Beach so we took a walk along the beach seeing lots of kids playing in the water. Finally we made it to Picnic Center which is drop dead gorgeous with white sands and turquoise clear water. We passed Arenas Hotel which was unfortunately close for remodeling - they had a sweet spot right on the beach with chairs and a "boat bar". The only other place was Picnic Center Hotel which had a beach side restaurant which was going to be our daily hangout for the next few days. We got a table that was about 20 feet from the water, ordered some beers, put on sunscreen and hit the water. No waves, clear warm water, you could still be standing about 150' off shore.
We got a little hungry so we ordered some "chili" cheese fries which consisted of french fries with unmerited american cheese draped on top and no chili!
We took at taxi back to our hotel to shower and then went to the restaurant where we met A few locals and Tony from Florida who lives on the island part time. We ordered a bottle of rum with a coke and some limes. Since I had been up since before dawn and hadn't eaten much I was getting pretty drunk and needed to eat. Tony recommended the fish - normally I don't like fish too much but had eaten it a few times in Costa Rica and was never disappointed since its caught the same day. I ordered the Yellowtail and it was delicious!
After finishing dinenr we went back to our room and I passed out at 8pm
We took off about about 7am and had an uneventful flight, making a quick stop in Bluefields and then arriving on Corn Island at about 8:30am. We collected our baggage, gave the officials our passport information, and took a taxi (they are collectives and cost $1/person to anywhere on the island)to where we were staying at Sunrise Hotel. We got checked in and since we were the only guests at the hotel we were "upgraded" to an ocean view room. The room was nice with a/c, hot water, and cable tv. Outside there were hammocks and chairs on the balcony. The hotel has a restaurant so we had some breakfast before taking a taxi into the town on the other side of the island where we w looked for the islands only internet cafe. We couldn't find it and it was pretty hot so we stopped for some beers at Fisherman's Cave by the docks. We wanted to take a day trip to Little Corn so I went to the docks and found out the the boats to LCI leaves daily at 9am.
I had read about some beach side bars on Picnic Center Beach so we took a walk along the beach seeing lots of kids playing in the water. Finally we made it to Picnic Center which is drop dead gorgeous with white sands and turquoise clear water. We passed Arenas Hotel which was unfortunately close for remodeling - they had a sweet spot right on the beach with chairs and a "boat bar". The only other place was Picnic Center Hotel which had a beach side restaurant which was going to be our daily hangout for the next few days. We got a table that was about 20 feet from the water, ordered some beers, put on sunscreen and hit the water. No waves, clear warm water, you could still be standing about 150' off shore.
We got a little hungry so we ordered some "chili" cheese fries which consisted of french fries with unmerited american cheese draped on top and no chili!
We took at taxi back to our hotel to shower and then went to the restaurant where we met A few locals and Tony from Florida who lives on the island part time. We ordered a bottle of rum with a coke and some limes. Since I had been up since before dawn and hadn't eaten much I was getting pretty drunk and needed to eat. Tony recommended the fish - normally I don't like fish too much but had eaten it a few times in Costa Rica and was never disappointed since its caught the same day. I ordered the Yellowtail and it was delicious!
After finishing dinenr we went back to our room and I passed out at 8pm
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Day 11 - Managua
Had breakfast at La Perla and checked out and loaded up the car. We drove over to Via Via to drop off some books for someone we had met the night before. We made it out of Leon and were headed down the highway when we came across a really bad accident. The police and medics were there working on some victims - a car looked like it had rolled over a few times and was about 10 meters off the road. After waiting a few minutes where they got traffic diverted we were once again on our way. This time we took the good highway to the north - nice and smooth with no potholes! Closer to Managua we say people selling iguanas alongside the road. I think they were being sold for food. Once in Managua we were in the wrong lane as the highway enters the city and got headed the wrong way but were able to eventually get turned back around and headed in the direction of the airport.
We got to the airport and checked into the Best Western Las Mercedes (we were told later to refer to it just as Las Mercedes since thats sounds better than saying you stayed at the Best Western). Next we returned the rental car to the Budget office at the airport. Initially I had trouble finding their office, I saw a guard shack and went inside and found a soldier with an AK-47 on his lap - he pointed me in the right direction and we returned the car and then walked over to the La Costeniaoffice to see about changing our flight to Corn Island from tomorrow afternoon to the morning flight. That wasn't a problem but we were told to be at the airport at 5am!
We then walked across the road to the hotel and had some BBQ chicken sandwiches and beers at the hotel restaurant. While we were eating a cat joined us so we gave him some chicken from our lunch. Next we went swimming in the hotel pool and had some more beers at the poolside bar and talked with some other people who were going back home the next morning. Since we had to get up super early we were back at our room and watched some tv before crashing out early
We got to the airport and checked into the Best Western Las Mercedes (we were told later to refer to it just as Las Mercedes since thats sounds better than saying you stayed at the Best Western). Next we returned the rental car to the Budget office at the airport. Initially I had trouble finding their office, I saw a guard shack and went inside and found a soldier with an AK-47 on his lap - he pointed me in the right direction and we returned the car and then walked over to the La Costeniaoffice to see about changing our flight to Corn Island from tomorrow afternoon to the morning flight. That wasn't a problem but we were told to be at the airport at 5am!
We then walked across the road to the hotel and had some BBQ chicken sandwiches and beers at the hotel restaurant. While we were eating a cat joined us so we gave him some chicken from our lunch. Next we went swimming in the hotel pool and had some more beers at the poolside bar and talked with some other people who were going back home the next morning. Since we had to get up super early we were back at our room and watched some tv before crashing out early
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Day 7 – Drive to Las Penitas
I woke up early – the power was out so I took a walk to get some cash from an ATM. There are several in town but none of my cards seemed to work in any of them. Now I was getting seriously worried since we were low on cash. Finally I spotted an ATM at the Hotel Casa Blanca and fortunately I was able to get 4000 cordobas ($200) as a cash advance on my credit card.
We had breakfast and checked out of our hotel and were on the road by 8:30. We stopped at La Virgen to take some pictures of Ometepe – the wind was blowing pretty hard across the lake.
The drive to Managua was pretty uneventful – once on the outskirts of Managua we filled up the gas tank and turned onto the old highway towards Leon which was in pretty bad shape with lots of rough patches and potholes (we found out later that the new highway is just to the north and is much smoother). Every now and then there would be some kids in the road filling up the potholes with dirt in hopes that drivers would give them some coins for their work. I had a pocket full of change and each time I’d given them a few cordobas and they would be really appreciative. A Cordoba is worth about a nickel and I thought to myself that these kids were excited because “the rich Americans are handing out nickels!”
We arrived in Leon at about noon and got a little lost as we didn’t know where to make the turn into the city. After driving around for a bit we finally found some landmarks and were able to find the road to Las Penitas. The road to the beach is brand new and in excellent shape – only taking us about 20 minutes from Leon to the beach. Las Penitas only consists of one road that runls along the beach. The road is lined with beach homes for wealthy Nicaraguan families. We checked out a few hotels that I had earmarked in the guide book – They were doing work on the end of the road by the lagoon so La Samaki and Barca del Oro weren’t really accessible. We also checked out Playa Roca but the only room was right next to the restaurant and didn’t have a/c. We decided on Olazul which was nice – right on the beach with nice rooms, a/c, pool, and breakfast included for $45 ($35 if you didn’t want a/c and they also have a dorm room for $10 – one person staying in the dorm said she had it all to herself the entire time she was there). After checking in we had some cold Victorias and some good nachos in the restaurant. We then decided to take a swim in the ocean but the waves were breaking right on shore. When trying to go in the water I would immediately get knocked down and then dragged out by the undertow. It was like getting beat up! We quickly gave up on swimming in the ocean and instead cooled off in the hotel’s swimming pool.
After showering and watching another amazing sunset it started to rain so we drove down to Playa Roca for their happy hour (2x1 drinks) we drank some strong cuba libres and watched an incredible lightning show over the ocean. Since it was raining we decided to stay and eat there having some decent chicken burgers and fries – paying about $20 for all our drinks and food. It had stropped raining so we took a walk to the estuary and then back to Playa Roca to get the car and go back to our hotel where we had a few more drinks at the bar with some of the other people staying at the hotel before hitting the sack.
We had breakfast and checked out of our hotel and were on the road by 8:30. We stopped at La Virgen to take some pictures of Ometepe – the wind was blowing pretty hard across the lake.
The drive to Managua was pretty uneventful – once on the outskirts of Managua we filled up the gas tank and turned onto the old highway towards Leon which was in pretty bad shape with lots of rough patches and potholes (we found out later that the new highway is just to the north and is much smoother). Every now and then there would be some kids in the road filling up the potholes with dirt in hopes that drivers would give them some coins for their work. I had a pocket full of change and each time I’d given them a few cordobas and they would be really appreciative. A Cordoba is worth about a nickel and I thought to myself that these kids were excited because “the rich Americans are handing out nickels!”
We arrived in Leon at about noon and got a little lost as we didn’t know where to make the turn into the city. After driving around for a bit we finally found some landmarks and were able to find the road to Las Penitas. The road to the beach is brand new and in excellent shape – only taking us about 20 minutes from Leon to the beach. Las Penitas only consists of one road that runls along the beach. The road is lined with beach homes for wealthy Nicaraguan families. We checked out a few hotels that I had earmarked in the guide book – They were doing work on the end of the road by the lagoon so La Samaki and Barca del Oro weren’t really accessible. We also checked out Playa Roca but the only room was right next to the restaurant and didn’t have a/c. We decided on Olazul which was nice – right on the beach with nice rooms, a/c, pool, and breakfast included for $45 ($35 if you didn’t want a/c and they also have a dorm room for $10 – one person staying in the dorm said she had it all to herself the entire time she was there). After checking in we had some cold Victorias and some good nachos in the restaurant. We then decided to take a swim in the ocean but the waves were breaking right on shore. When trying to go in the water I would immediately get knocked down and then dragged out by the undertow. It was like getting beat up! We quickly gave up on swimming in the ocean and instead cooled off in the hotel’s swimming pool.
After showering and watching another amazing sunset it started to rain so we drove down to Playa Roca for their happy hour (2x1 drinks) we drank some strong cuba libres and watched an incredible lightning show over the ocean. Since it was raining we decided to stay and eat there having some decent chicken burgers and fries – paying about $20 for all our drinks and food. It had stropped raining so we took a walk to the estuary and then back to Playa Roca to get the car and go back to our hotel where we had a few more drinks at the bar with some of the other people staying at the hotel before hitting the sack.
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