Today I got up at 6AM in order to catch our plane on-time. The restaurant was nice enough to take our breakfast orders the night before so our breakfast was soon ready. I had some pancakes and yes I put peanut butter all over them! Then it was off to the airport to head to Managua and then drive to Leon. This airport was very quick and we had no problem with weight at all. I did have to pay another $2 fee which they charge for using the airport, but security was very minimal. There was only one security woman, one metal detector and one terminal. The process went very fast compared to Corn Islands airport. There was no stipulation on how much could be brought in as a carry-on so I carried three different bag and they asked no questions. Weight only for the checked luggage mattered. I even carried on all my toiletries and they said nothing!
The flight was about an hour long and I even got a cookie and a drink on it! The cookie I thought was good---it was a thick, dry ginger-like cookie. The flight went very smooth and we were landing before I knew it. Once landed, we waited about 15 minutes for our suitcases (they ticket all the suitcases with a claim number and that claim number must be shown to even touch the bag) and then boarded a bus which was waiting for us. This bus was more like a small coach bus with air conditioning, big windows, and our own seats! We travelled in Managua a little bit. Managua is the capital of Nicaragua. This city is more developed than other parts of Nicaragua—had paved roads, stop lights, many factories, more established stores than small shops, and block structured streets. There were a lot more cars and traffic was actually building up.
We stopped at some government buildings/church in a park and jumped out of the bus to walk around. These building were parts of Congress (now a museum), a cathedral, and the “house of the people.” Something I noticed right away is the amount of trash that was on the ground—there were just plastic everywhere, floating in the wind, and accumulating all over the streets. Even driving there was jus heaps of trash all over—plastic bottles and wrappers everywhere. We also stopped to see two of the volcanoes—Momotombo and Momotombito (mother and baby).
It took about 1.5 hours to get to the hotel (Hotel Austria) in Leon. The structure of the hotel was a square and in the middle was a courtyard/garden. I stayed in a room with Lorien and Karen. The room was very small, three beds, a bathroom (I don’t think there has been a room with a phone or alarm clock. After dropping our things off we went to lunch—the chicken that I got was still sizzling on the plate but it was delicious, along with mashed potatoes, rice, and a piece of goat cheese. It was very flavorful and the best prepared chicken I have had so far.
After lunch we started our tour of Leon. There are 15 departments (what we would refer to as states) making up Nicaragua. Leon was the first capital of Nicaragua. The indigenous community culture is trying to be rescued in this town. We toured on the bus for the first half and this included churches and a legends museum (jail where many Nicaraguans were tortured and executed). The city was well organized into blocks and it made me feel a bit more at home (suburban –like). The town also maintained its cultural environment with horse and carts. We were dropped in the town to complete the tour on foot---we climbed to the top of this church (77 steps) where we could see 10 volcanoes, 5 of which are active. This was probably my favorite place for far---just beautiful to see for miles, rooftops of the homes, and the volcanoes in the distance.
After climbing back down, we walked through a small market, getting some water (water is sold in little plastic bags since the water is not good to drink in this country—its like a pouch of water, just bite off a corner and you got water costs about 1-2 cordobas/pouch (22.48 cordobas= $1) ). We continued on to see a few murals along the walls of the town---the town’s history was portrayed on the walls of the town and our guide share the detailed story which he possess. The art was just beautiful, very colorful and shared significant historical events right in the middle of town—it was great to see such an appreciation for their history and to bee how important it was to the community to have their cultural right on the wall displayed in the middle of the town.
Then we went to a famous Nicaragua author’s house and saw his living quarters/lifestyle. After the tour we were allowed to explore on our own, but I had to return for an interview. After my interview, it was almost time for dinner. Karen, Lorien, and I went to explore the town a little bit and walked over to the market (sold lots of jewelry, souvenirs, and clothing). We only had maybe 20 minutes so we just looked around and then had to head back for dinner. For dinner, I had a small salad and veggie pizza (big mushrooms, peppers and onions) which was really good. Thin crust but big veggies! After dinner, we all went back to the hotel and crashed!
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