I woke up around 5:40AM. Today would be a day of travelling! We got breakfast to go (pineapple, guava, and watermelon, a ham sandwich, and a pineapple yogurt). Carlos (the driver of our van--by the way 50% of the people are named Carlos---it is a very common name I guess) packed our suitcase on top of the van and we were off to the immigration office and the Frio River. It took about 2 hours to get there. The immigration office was a really small building and looked like a house. I would never have guessed this was the office if I didn’t have our guide. All we had to do here was show our passport, fill out an immigration sheet (just stating where we were coming from, our origin, and where we were going), and sign-up for the boat to Nicaragua. Once we got through immigration we went down to the river and waited to board. Probably waited about 45 minutes, said our good-byes to Carlos (driver), and had our suitcases loaded on to the boats. Then we were called one-by-one by name to board the boat and they checked our passports again as we entered---unfortunately Karen’s was stamped incorrectly with yesterdays date so she had to run with Carlos (guide) back to the immigration office to get it restamped! But they made it back ok and then could leave. The boat was a long slender boat, it fit about 40 people and was very low to the water. The scenery we were passing was mostly trees, but we did see 5-6 monkeys and lots of ingrids. The boat ride was about 45 minutes however about halfway through after just passing into Nicaragua we were stopped at the Nicaragua military check-point. They checked the list of passengers and starred everyone down. We were told in advance to put all cameras away when we approached them but a girl in the back must not have heard that because she went to take a picture and one of the military guys started shouting and they started coming toward out boat---one of the guys got on and went to the girl and took her camera to search it. We were all scared for our lives! He went through every picture on her camera and took many forms of ID from her so we sat there for awhile. When they say no pictures, they mean it! One of the guys even carried a machine gun on him! I was very nervous, but they let us go and we continued on our way.
We arrived in the San Carlos port which looked very much like a city. We had to sit on the boat for another half hour or so until the immigration office cleared out and then they let us off. We filed into a line and one-by-one got put through immigration (took another half hour) where they checked my passport and stamped me clear! It was very hot now—about 95 degrees I would say so this line seemed to take forever—however I can’t complain the sunshine felt really good after being in the rain forest for a week! After we all got through, we boarded a bus and a guide that was waiting for us (this time it was a 25 passenger bus so we got to spread out a bit and have our own seats). The bus had open windows which was refreshing. The driver drove crazy fast though and the roads were hilly, swervy, and had a lot of speed bumps. My first impressions of Nicaragua: San Carlos was very cluttered, filled with markets—clothing hung at shops. As we drove in the bus—I saw a bunch of homes which were all one room pueblos, mostly forestry terrain, dark colored lakes, very hilly, and everyone drying clothes on lines. I felt safe with Carlos, but as a Caucasian American travelling along or without a Spanish speaking guide, I would have felt very uncomfortable.
I slept for a little bit of the ride, we tried to eat and go to the bathroom twice, but found that most restaurants were out of food (the food only came on certain days and when it was out, there was no getting anymore). By the third place we stopped, there was food and a bathroom to use! We all went inside and they were playing 80’s American music on a projector screen. Unfortunately Carlos told us that we didn’t have time to eat after we ordered drinks to make it to the port on time for a boat to Bluefields so we got back in the bus. The bus ride was about 3.5 hours and we ended up at El Rama port. This port was a gated off area and a small building which led down to the water side. We had about 10 minutes before departure so Carlos said we could find some food along the street vendors if we wanted. This was a disaster in my opinion-many of the students just went out on the street and starting going all different directions—I was going crazy! I thought everyone was aware of the buddy system, but apparently not. And Dr. Fernandez and his wife were the worst because they just walked off, not worrying about any of the students just worrying about themselves. I felt very uncomfortable—not having the correct currency, looking at very dirty markets, and not knowing what any of the food items were that I was looking at. I couldn’t take it so I went back to the dock with one other student and just waited there. I couldn’t stand out the students just went out on their own and no one knew the area. The bathrooms here also had to be paid for which was found out only after they were used. We boarded the boat within a few minutes of returning. It was a much smaller boat (12 passengers) this time but also a much faster one too. The ride was about an hour and 45 minutes to Bluefields. The scenery was mostly trees, a few huts along the river. We only saw maybe 3 other boats the entire trip—mostly fishing or transportation boats. There was even 30-40 minutes that we saw absolutely no sign of life and I was praying that nothing would go wrong because no one was there to save us. Most of the huts we saw were up on stilts in case of flooding and I saw a lot of clothing hanging out to dry.
The port we arrived at was very sketchy—it seemed to be a private port—houses right on the dock and people coming out their houses when we arrived. Everyone was starring at us which made me feel really uncomfortable. We had to walk through this special passage which had a gated entrance to the port we just arrive on---really sketchy like I said. Then since the hotel was not very far we just walked down the street---not a calm welcoming to the town. There was a fight breaking out right outside the port with 2 guys swinging and we basically were like a parade---everyone starring (but I mean I guess we were complete strangers so I probably would be starring too). The town seemed very dirty and the streets smelled really bad---we past lots of shops which was much like a chinatown (lots of the same merchandise-mostly stolen—being sold for ridiculous prices.
Bluefields—it is named after the Pirate who discovered the town. 81% are Miskito people (mixed people-African, Creole, Indian). Most people don’t have cars so there are a ton of taxi (hundreds) because that’s how people get around—even short distances.
We had to walk maybe 5-6 blocks or so and then we found the hotel. It was just above a Casino (you would have enjoyed that dad), and there was even a security guard in front (which made me a bit more safe). I was put in a room with Karen and it was a decent room—A/C, leather couch, fridge, bathroom. I even had a queen bed to myself! I felt from all that travel I needed a shower---I jumped in the shower and turned it on to find a thin stream was all the water pressure the hotel had. I struggled to try to wash my hair without hitting my head on the wall and also struggled to wash my body under that. I felt a tad bit cleaner when I got out. Then it was dinner which meant jump into a taxi. I ordered grilled snapper, had a small salad, steamed veggies, and some rice. The fish was a very good size-the flavor wasn’t all that great, I thought it was rather bland honestly. After dinner we all got into another couple taxis and went back to the hotel.
There was a little tension rising within the group between Alex and Lorien—making inconsiderate remarks to each other, due to personality conflicts.
When Karen and I got to our room, we both crashed for the night.
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