After striking out with Volcan Arenal, Shay and I took the advice of
Tato, Erick's friend, and headed for Playa Hermosa, north of Playa Coco,
to spend the night and wait out May 1st, Labor Day, since we were warned
that everything at the border would cost us double on overtime.
We stayed at Aqua Sports, a complex run by a couple of American expats
from Montana. Twenty years ago, Sydney Mac Intyre upped and moved to
Costa Rica, along with her then 10 year old daughter. They, with Janet's
husband, now run a beach complex with boat rentals, fishing excursions,
a bed and breakfast, etc. They graciously allowed us to park in their
guarded parking lot and opened the bathrooms for us. It was boiling
hot on the beach but Shay made the most of it and tried kayaking for
the first time. He discovered a solitary little beach on his first excursion
out and returned this morning with his snorkel gear and said they were
eels right on the surface.
We headed for the border about 10 and arrived around lunch time. Fortunately
we managed to get all the tramites done within a couple of hours.
It's really clear to me that border crossings in Central America are
much more difficult and expensive than they were in South America. There
were no border fees at all in SA and both of the crossings here have
cost us in excess of $50 and more than 2 hours of time. What a drag.
We drove north to Granada on Lake Nicaragua, one of
the largest lakes in Central America. It's very
interesting that a navigable river runs from the
Caribbean to Lake Nicaragua and that, prior to the
Panama Canal, was a viable shortcut to California
during the gold rush. From the port in Lake
Nicaragua, a 49er could take a 20 km ride to the
Pacific Ocean and be on their way to California. I
have to believe that only the unsettled political
situation in Nicaragua kept it from being the chosen
spot for the Panama Canal. The US, of course,
interferred mightily in the affairs of Nicaragua,
right up to the Iran-Contra affair. It's only been 8
years since the end of the last war here and the
people are still very poor. In fact, according to the
last census in Costa Rica, 800,000 Nicaraguans now
live there - some 25% of the population of Costa Rica.
Nevertheless, in the brief time we've been here, I
have to say that the people are charming and we really
feel quite safe. We're a little grungy from about a
week of sleeping in the van so have decided to splurge
on a little creature comfort tonight. We're staying
in Hotel Alhambra on the main plaza, a very old hotel
across from the cathedral, which is, as usual, being
remodeled, but has a very nice little pool and an
interior courtyard lush with greenery. Tomorrow we'll
be heading toward Leon, the oldest, I think, capital
city in Central America, though Managua is now the
capital city of Nicaragua. We'll drive through
Managua but not spend the night there.
Jeanne
