Sanctuary

One of Layne’s friends in Marathon, a native of Venezuela keeps sending her cryptic messages to ‘be careful’ as Latin America is dangerous. We were pondering her latest missive yesterday evening wondering what she is worried about, or what had set her off. She has reason to be resentful as she was kicked out of a comfortable middle class life by Venezuela’s descent into chaos but she and her Austrian husband landed on their feet in Marathon in the Keys living in a vast canal front mansion in a lifestyle any Venezuelan might envy. And here we are rolling around in a tin box having the time of our lives. I wish her well but she seems to think we are on the edge of disaster. Very odd as we are quite comfortable and this isn’t Venezuela at all. Playa Popoyo:

Nicaragua has been a trial in some respects I grant you but it feels neither dangerous nor, just at the moment, a terrible hardship. We have landed on our feet in the surfing beach town of Playa Popoyo. We feel like we’ve earned it too, a bright airy campground, a huge swimming pool, an apparently reliable source of electricity and toilets and cold showers that will need sprucing up to be eminently acceptable; however we are not too proud to refuse to stoop to some janitoring to make our situation comfortable and to our liking. The cost? Not sure really as we’ve met no one in charge but the travelers’ iOverlander app suggests ten bucks to park and five bucks to use the pool.  We’ll happily pay to plug in if we have to.  

The absence of cell service is covered by Starlink of course and with electricity we can charge our 600 amp battery bank by day to sleep at night under our rooftop air conditioning. Luxury. Our sole neighbors are a Canadian couple in a Land Rover with a pop top shell on the back which is very rugged and manly compared to our effete suburban home on wheels. We have chatted a little and they enjoy Nicaragua too. 

I joked cheerfully when we arrived that they could tow us back to the PanAmerican Highway as the mostly dirt road here had its moments. He looked a bit startled but I think he understood I was joking. 

We had been looking for a place to rest a while and enjoy some facilities but until we arrived here at the beach around Hotel Paraiso we hadn’t quite found the spot that we felt answered our needs. The Rancho Los Alpes was a gloomy damp spot and I couldn’t wait to get out of there. We paid the very sweet owner Alma fifty bucks for two nights…

…and left the Swiss and French travelers to their extended meals noisy children and rather snobbish attitudes toward Americans.  I got a free pass as I speak Italian (“You haven’t lost your native accent” they marveled) and French but my unfortunate wife was ignored as she only speaks Spanish and they wouldn’t descend to speak English to her. Nice crowd! 

It was 6:30 when we drove to Leon and parked downtown to take Rusty for a walk. Leon is a university town and a former capital of the country. The revolt against the Somoza family dictatorship installed by the US at the beginning of the 20th century started here. City hall with an unlabeled statue: 

The famous cathedral is huge and you can take a walk on the roof if you come at a civilized hour but we were there too early. 

The city is the second largest in Nicaragua with 220,000 inhabitants and it was founded nearby in 1524. Earthquakes forced the city to be rebuilt a few miles away in 1610 and archeologists excavated León Viejo, the original city only 60 years ago. 

The Federation of Central America broke up in 1839 and Leon was the first capital of an independent Nicaragua (San Salvador had been selected as the federation’s capital for its twenty year life) but Nicaragua’s leaders in the 19th century went back and forth between Liberals based in Leon and conservatives based in Granada a magnificent colonial city we will visit in a few days. 

We saw quite a few gringos in Leon which is one of those cities that attracts foreigners and becomes an expatriate hub. Just like the surfers where we are camped now they pretend not to notice us as they are here to soak up Nicaragua not a couple of old farts from Florida with all the negative stereotypes attached! One guy waved and smiled but he was of our generation. 

I have no desire to settle far from home in a different culture but I would like some insight into the expatriate way of life here. Nicaragua seen as a tourist is heavy with bureaucracy and daily aggravations but apparently it appeals to some people as a place to settle at least for a while. 

Breakfast of gallo pinto - white rice and red beans. Much is made of it as a national dish but like so many iconic foods it’s what poor people can afford. It’s okay but made better with hot sauce in our opinion. Not very sweet, delicious fruit juice to wash it down: your Nicaraguan breakfast. 

It was hot and humid like a summers day in Key West so we retreated to GANNET2 parked a couple of blocks away and asked Google Maps for the route out of Leon to Popoyo Beach where Layne had read of a delightful campground. 

Nicaraguans are very law abiding.  They stop at stop signs and don’t ride bicycles in pedestrian zones. 

On the highway I saw a pick up truck, the ubiquitous Toyota Hilux get pulled over by a cop with a radar gun. I observe the speed limits scrupulously and the police check points wave us through unmolested. Nicaragua has a reputation for corrupt cops so far totally undeserved in our experience. 

I admit as we drove away I held no great hopes for our destination. We had not been scoring so very well lately and while we enjoyed exploring the highlands we should have liked a few days in a comfortable simple campground. So far no luck. 

Either a a one horsepower furniture delivery vehicle or a Nicaraguan take on a camper van: 

After our brief whirl through Leon looking very spruced up and touristy since our last visit 25 years ago we got on the PanAmerican Highway and drove south looking for breakfast. Note the cult of personality as Daniel Ortega the former revolutionary and his wife sell themselves as the anti democratic saviors of one party Nicaragua: 

Roadside advertising is sketchy around here and if we spot a place to pull over it usually involves some complex u-turn maneuvers. I joked it’s not like Buc-ees which advertises on billboards for miles ahead of each location in the US. 

I hate seeing hungry dogs or dogs on chains and I can’t enjoy a meal unless I share the wealth do I gave the dogs our back done of Rusty’s cookies which seemed to puzzle them more than anything and then, conscience assuaged a little I went and had a damned good $4 breakfast. 

The idea was to drive south on the PanAmerican toward Costa Rica and turn off about thirty five miles before the border. Nicaragua Highway 62 led to the beach and a surf community called Popoyo. The blue on the right of the map is Lake Nicaragua and Managua the largest city and capital is off the map to the north.  

Check out the iOverlander listing.  It sounds pretty good, right? 

On the full page from which I took the screenshot there was no mention of the 20 miles of Nicaragua Highway 62 and its condition. When Google Maps estimates an hour to drive that distance you better pay attention. From the PanAmerican thus:

To Highway 62, thus which looks not too bad, paved with the funny little interlocking tiles Nicaragua likes to use. They cause some slight vibration but overall it’s a smooth carefree ride aboard GANNET2. Cool!

Except it didn’t stay that way. It was never too terrible or difficult especially because there hadn’t been any rain for twenty four hours so the mud was hard packed. But we drove slowly on this stuff. 

I tried to snag a few pictures as we drove through the villages.

I see this and I am grateful for the choices I’ve had in my life. 

Sections of the road pacing have been completed but we’ve learned not to get our hopes up. Soon enough it’s dirt again! 

The main bridges are finished so the drive was actually quite easy with no steep hills climbing in and out of river beds. It just took a while…

Encountering oncoming traffic, construction vehicles mostly, required using your initiative in a way that would get you a ticket in the US. Pull over where you can and don’t get stuck as there are no flashers and luckily not much traffic. 

Wait for oncoming truck (of course!):

Lunch break. You have to remember labor is unfortunately cheap here and the manual work required to lay the tiles is inexpensive and yields a long lasting paved surface. So they tile the roads by hand. Pretty amazing. 

And after this very long post is done you are back where we started: Popoyo Beach. 

Whose mysteries will be revealed tomorrow.