Saturday I got up around 9 to find people working already. I
had a really hard getting going since I had a little too much fun after the
family dinner and was feeling a little sick to my stomach. Of course everyone
in the office found it amusing, especially since women in Nicaragua do not
drink. People also don’t drink socially here. It is only for the purpose of
getting drunk, so only alcoholics drink essentially. The culture is very
different here. However, our night was definitely a social event on our front
porch.
Around 2:30, Greg, Chris, and I caught a bus to head south
to go to Masaya for the weekend. The bus was packed when we got on it. It was a
2 hour ride. A man ended up offering me a seat about halfway to Masaya, but the
other two guys had to stand the whole way. I guess it pays to be female
sometimes.
When we arrived in Masaya, we went to the Artisenal market.
It is a huge flea market near the bus station with nearly every homemade item
known to man. It is renowned in Nicaragua. I bought a few things and practiced
my bartering even. Then, we grabbed a taxi to head to our hostel, which was
located inside the crater of an extinct volcano. The crater is now filled with
water.
Our hostel was actually overbooked, but they honored our
reservations. Therefore, I ended up with a private room instead of sleeping in the
dormitory for the same price ($10 per night). It has its own oscillating fan!
Our hostel was right on the lake front. It had a floating dock, so we decided
to go swimming before it got dark. The water was crystal clear, really deep,
and hot. It was awesome. We watched the sun go down over the crater from the floating
dock and then swam back to get some dinner. The hostel was so relaxing that I
went to bed at 9pm.
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| Floating dock in the crater |
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| Our hostel |
Sunday
Since everyone went to bed so early, we all got up really
early to go kayaking on the lake, which was included in the price of our rooms.
Greg and I shared a double and Chris had a single because the hostel didn’t
have 3 singles. It was really difficult to get into the swing of paddling
without hitting each other or going sideways. We kayaked for a good hour and
felt that we had made it to the middle of the crater before deciding to head
back.
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| After kayaking |
We then had some breakfast and relaxed on the beach. We had
plans to meet up with Salvador, an EOS technician, in Masaya later during the
day. We left around 11 to head back to town. We grabbed lunch at a really
delicious pizza place near the square where Salvador eventually met us. It
turns out he was with his nephew on a school trip. Its intention was to raise
money for his 6th grade graduation. We walked back to the market
downtown, which is geared more toward foreigners and is therefore more
expensive than the “real” one from Saturday.
While we were waiting for the rest of the group to finish
their shopping, we took a horse drawn carriage taxi around downtown for a mini
tour. It was really great until we went to pay him. Before we got into the
carriage, we had agreed upon 50Cordobas total, which equals 10Cordobas per
person. However, at the end of the ride, the driver claimed it was 50Cordobas
per person. This happens quite a bit, especially with foreigners. Salvador
argued with him a little bit, but there wasn’t much we could do but pay it.
Granted, it equals only about $2 USD, but in Nicaragua is quite a bit and it’s
the principle of the matter.
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| Horse drawn carriage |
After the market, we took a bus to a mirador near Masaya. It
is basically a vantage point. It showed the Laguna de Apoyo, which is the lake
and crater that our hostel was located on. It was great to actually see the
whole thing and realize how large it is. Greg and I now think we did not make
it to the middle of the lake in the kayak. We walked around took in everything.
It was great. We then rode with the group back to San Isidro. It was a great,
relaxing weekend.
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| View of crater and lake from the mirador |
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