Our first trip to this Central American country was a modified eight-day “flexidrive” package from gotmyfare.com that included the round-trip airfares (at the best prices we could find anywhere for our desired dates), a Budget rental car and accommodations at any of 22 hotels in destinations we already had planned, which included Granada, Léon, the Selva Negra resort near Matagalpa and the Pacific coast resort town of San Juan del Sur.
Our first night was spent at El Almirante in Granada, a pleasant colonial-style hotel with rooms around a central open courtyard, which was probably the best feature. It made a perfect location for a great breakfast, probably the best of our trip. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, fried plantains, rice and beans , fresh corn tortillas and the terrific Nicaraguan coffee, rich and delicious, served in a clear glass pitcher.
• Car rental and driving: It’s doable but challenging. You must be constantly aware of not only motor vehicles but bicyclists, ciclo taxis, pedestrians, small children, animals from loose cows and horses to goats and chickens. Everything is in the road. Expect it, and don’t hit it. And if you manage to avoid that, watch out for the national police. There’s a good chance you’ll get stopped and coerced into coughing up a little cash for the privilege of driving on Nica roads. That happened just once to us, on our first day out, which put a damper on our enthusiasm for a little while, but it never happened again and we chalked it up to experience.
• We have traveled in Costa Rica and Panama, and I’d say that — minus the traffic cop incident — our Nica week was the best of them. Why? The beautiful country, the friendly people, the good food and the affordability. Oh yes, the good roads, too. Yes, when you get off the pavement the dirt roads are as bad as those anywhere, but the mostly paved highways are very good indeed. Here are some highlights, should you consider a trip there yourself, and I would strongly recommend it:
• Volcan Masaya: Near Managua and Granda, you can drive right up to the lip of a still-smoldering volcano. In fact, there’s enough potential danger that you must turn around and park with your car facing the exit for a quick getaway if needed. And the sulfurous smells are so strong that visitors are advised to limit their stays for 20 minutes. In the daytime, you get to view steamy clouds rising. Nighttime offers a much better show, when the molten lava pool glows.
CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW GALLERY
• People: Trace Sanders at Hotel Convento, the most widely traveled person we’d ever met. This L.A. guy has been on the go for four years. And his stops have included Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. His web site tells (almost) all. Adam, the gentlest and best old-guy waiter we’ve ever encountered, has worked 14 years at the restaurant at Selva Negra. Oregonians Scott and Katy McCullaum and their Bonnie Lassie Luxury Spa in San Juan del Sur — where Katy gives terrific and reasonably priced massages. Dr. Julius Hellenthal of Austria and his young Nica girlfriend we met at the Timon beachfront restaurant in San Juan del Sure. He operates the Curismo clinic there that focuses on “umbilical cord stem cell treatment and bio electric cancer therapy.” And the young male Nicaraguans who gave us reason enough to return — Juan Carlos, our guide to Las Isletas, Salvatore our horse-drawn carriage driver, Enoch at the Mombacho cigar store and the guy who resembled Seth at the Doña Elba cigar store. And finally, expat Teri Schroeder whom we met at the big Hotel Granada pool. She’s a nurse from the Seattle area who lives nearby the hotel and whose husband does volunteer work.
• Selva Negra: the “black forest” area of Nicaragua in the north. Hearing the barks of howler monkeys and finding an elusive resplendent quetzal. Lakeside dining. Great steak and old Adam, the perfect waiter.
• Food and drink. Fish like dorado and guapote and seafood from shrimp to lobster. Plantains and fried cheese. Rice and beans and salads with thin slices of cabbage and beets. Toña beer, the most popular brew — a light, fizzy lager best served as cold as possible.
• San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua’s coastal playground. The town is inviting, but rough by U.S. standards. There are good places to eat on the beachfront, but even the best hotels leave something to be desired. We stayed a night each at the Hotel Colonial and Hotel Gran Oceano. Both were nicely situated, but at the first we had to put up with barking dogs and a powerful scent of insecticide that ruined our breakfast, and the shower at the second didn’t work. Incidentally, both offered “suicide showers” — an electrical gizmo that heats the water at the shower head. You adjust the temp, if you can, by turning a switch while you’re in the shower. Suicide, get it? We wanted to explore the coastline around there, but it wasn’t what we expected. The road north from SJDS was a rough-and-tumble 4-wheeler-only dirt route that only gave us a taste of the wrenching poverty of back-country Nicaragua.
• Full circle, and rediscovery in Granada. For our last night before returning to Managua and the airport, we took the advice of our MP Travel rep Cézar Ramirez, and booked into the Hotel Granada. What a find. By far the best place we’d stayed. A huge Olympic-sized pool we had virtually to ourselves. From that base, we enjoyed a wonderful $20 tour of Las Isletas in Lake Nicaragua, a couple of rides in a horse-drawn carriage, visited a couple of cigar factories and had two great meals at one of the best restaurants, El Zaguán.
Seems like you were really able to make the most of your time. You took some really beautiful people photos! Would have loved to have been there for the big traditional breakfast and Nicaguaran coffee experience. Also seeing the volcano sounds appealing, but scary!
Nice job! Way to get stopped by the shady cops! Beautiful pictures!