What were we thinking?!

We just returned from a five day trip to Nicaragua that was completely and totally unforgettable. And if you had told me a year ago all of the things we would experience in five short days, I would have laughed uncontrollably. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that Greg and I would make so many absurd decisions for our family. And yet... well, perhaps I should just tell you the story.

First of all, this is how we prepared for the trip:
1. Find out that we have to leave Costa Rica at 90 days to renew our visa
2. Talk to a few other non-Costa Ricans and figure out that we should either go to Nicaragua or Panama.
3. Use the internet to find a cool house in Granada, Nicaragua that we can rent for cheap. Decide to go to Nicaragua.
4. Stop thinking about it until the week before, then buy bus tickets.

Our deserted street.

The Pollo Rico agency across the street.

So on Wednesday, April 6 we took a taxi to the bus station in Turrialba, then rode the bus to San Jose. Then we took another taxi across San Jose to a different bus station. Then we rode the bus to the Nicaraguan border where we got off and followed some people around who had our passports and some of our money. Eventually we got back on the bus (with our passports, thank you) and drove to Granada, where we were let off the bus on a deserted road in the dark. Here a friendly taxi driver was willing to charge us an arm and leg to drive us to the address we had for our house (across the street from the Pollo Rico agency). Again, we were left on a deserted street in the dark. Luckily the house had a guard who was able to call someone else who had keys and could let us into the house. But of course we are a hungry family, so the guard then walked us to a great little street vendor where we got some dinner - and then we all walked back, through many deserted streets in the dark, to our rental house.

The next morning, when the sun came up, we decided to go in search of coffee and breakfast. We found a chocolate museum with an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet and decided that Granada was much better in the light of the day (that is until James ate too many chocolate covered pancakes and drank too much guava juice and had to throw up on the bathroom - yes on, not in). So we trundled back to the rental house and chose to lay low. Greg and I took turns venturing out. I found a grocery store and some food that would not cause major digestive distress. He found a cool tourism agency offering some exciting opportunities. We both discovered that if we went in the opposite direction from where the guard had taken us for dinner, we would find the heart of downtown Granada, a fabulously historic spot. The kids had rallied by then (a quick dip in the cold pool at the rental house helped enormously), so we all ventured out to check out the big cathedral and the main square in town. The promise of a return trip to buy souvenirs allowed us to drag the kids away before we were forced to walk through the streets in the dark one more time.

Inside the house - cool pool in the background.

Cathedral in the main square.

Friday morning we started what can only be described as the biggest day in Maggie's whole life. We ate a small, safe breakfast at home, then walked back to the Cathedral to go up in the bell tower. Greg was disappointed that he was not allowed to ring the bells, but we all enjoyed the amazing view of the city of Granada. Next we took a guided tour of the oldest city in Central America in a horse drawn carriage. The highlight of the tour was seeing the house where William Walker had spent some time (William Walker being the American despot who raped and pillaged most of Central America - and was played by Gracie in the recent 3rd grade re-enactment of the Battle of Santa Rosa in which Costa Rican citizens formed a militia and ousted Walker to prevent his establishing a slave economy). And then we got to buy souvenirs. Lunch was a simple meal at a simple restaurant so we could go back to the house and rest during the hottest part of the day. At 2:00 we were picked up by the wonderful folks from LeoTours and headed to Masaya and the artisan market. More souvenirs! Definitely ask Greg about his Nicaraguan baseball jersey. Gracie and I could have spent all day there, but we were forced to get back in the tour van and head to Masaya Volcano National Park. What a great decision. We did a quick tour of the museum and then headed up to see the real thing. This is one of the few volcanoes in the world where you can drive right up to the crater's edge. It is considered one of the six gates to Hell in the world, and has been used for human sacrifices for centuries. We looked over the edge until the poison gas being belched forth started making the kids cough - then we walked up the 180+ stairs to get an even better look. As I said to a young woman who was also at the top while hugging my children close to me, "Ah, the fears I never knew I had until becoming a parent." We hurried down the stairs and back into the van so we could get to the next lookout point by sunset. Getting to this lookout point involved climbing up the side of a different peak within the same volcano. And while Maggie has gotten pretty darn tough since leaving Minnesota, this was asking a bit too much. I was much relieved when I made it to the top of the climb and was able to set her down to watch the sun set.

Old cathedral once burned by William Walker.

Buying souvenirs

Looking down into the volcano.

Carrying Maggie up the side of the volcano.

But wait, there's so much more. We went back down the hill and received helmets and flashlights so we could go in one of the caves. If you ever need a five-year-old to find her second wind, give her a costume and props and let her go hiking in the dark! We walked down into a cave that was originally used by the leaders of the indigenous tribes to decide who would be sacrificed in the volcano. In more recent history, the same cave was used as a hide out by young boys who did not want to be forced to fight in the war in the 80s. The cave itself was amazing with tree roots as pillars, stalactites and lots of bats - but knowing the history of its uses made it even more powerful. At the exit we were able to sit at the mouth of another cave and watch hundreds of bats make their night time exit to go eat. It was unbelievable. The walk back up to the main road from the mouth of the cave was probably the longest walk of the day - Maggie's second wind had expired and we were all exhausted. The only thing that kept us going was the promise of seeing the glow of the lava. So we returned to the edge of the crater and looked down in to the center of the Earth. The glow was absolutely incredible, and the subtle, subterranean explosions that we heard were something out of a science documentary. I barely remember the drive back to Granada and getting the children all tucked into bed.

Ready to go spelunking!

The steps down into the cave.

Day four was a well-earned lazy day. We let the kids sleep in and then play in the pool. I snuck out at one point to go back to LeoTours and book us on another adventure for the afternoon. When we got hungry, we ventured out to the center of town again and found a great hot dog spot. Our afternoon adventure was a boat tour of some of the islands in Lake Nicaragua. The disparity between the privately owned islands with enormous homes and the ones occupied by the indigenous families was startling. We also saw monkeys on Isla de los Monos (you really can never see too many monkeys), and another beautiful sunset over the water. Dinner that evening was at a restaurant we had passed every day on our walks to and from the center of town - but we took a taxi home because our tour guide informed us that we should definitely not be walking through that part of town after dark (a great thing to find out on day four!).

One of the islands in Lake Nicaragua.

Isla de los Monos

The sun setting over Granada.

Day five - the journey home. We arranged to have someone pick us up at the house at 6:00 am and deliver us to the bus station (for about a quarter of what we paid the guy on the first night). We then loaded onto the bus to start the eight hour drive back to San Jose. We were almost congratulating ourselves on having survived the trip when we got to the border. (Parents/teachers/guardians - you may not want to read this next part out loud to kids) Things seemed to be going smoothly on the Nicaraguan side of the border - we all got out of the bus and were hanging around outside in the open-air food court/market/waiting area when we heard a loud POP! I looked over at Greg and said, "I really hope that wasn't one of our tires." Greg was as white as a sheet and told the kids to look the other way, then pointed out that a man had just been shot by border patrol agents - less than 2 bus lengths away from where we were standing with the kids. I know that gun violence is commonplace - more in the States than in most other places - but I was not prepared for the fear that an actual shooting can evoke. Evidently the man who got shot was the one who brought the gun into the area in the first place, and it appeared that he did not receive any life-threatening injuries, but it was still just plain scary.

The open-air area on the Nicaraguan side of the border.

We made it into San Jose a little early, knew exactly how much to pay the taxi driver to get to the other bus station, and got on the familiar bus back to Turrialba. And while the ride was hardly a walk in the park (we had to drive past what looked like a car that had driven off the side of the mountain), it was a feeling of utter relief to be back home.