Nicaragua In Person

This journal gives an honest look at a third world county and the hardships of daily living.  None of these adventures would be found in general published information. Money is described using Cordoba, the Nicaragua currency, designated as C$.  736 C$ is worth only $20.  Air travel within the country was made through the La Costena airline, a national service using propeller planes.  The airline is generally safe but was never on time and had some organizational issues.

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DAY 1 (TUESDAY) – TRAVEL DAY

Today was all travel.  I went from Philadelphia to Houston, had a four-hour layover.  Then, I went from Houston to Managua (1) and arrived late in the evening.

DAY 2 (WEDNESDAY) – SAN CARLOS (7)

More travel was accomplished today.  I spent three hours at the airline desk trying to get my ticket correct.   Sometimes they put the baggage on the wrong plane, so I did not check my bags. The airline hand writes the  tickets and gives out cardboard cards as boarding passes.  Finally, I left on a 2:30 flight to San Carlos.  The plane held only twelve passengers and had two pilots.

For one day I slept in a one room home with a bug net like a resident within a ten-minute walk from the business center.  Many homes lacked the basic necessities.  In this home, even though there was indoor plumbing including a toilet and a shower, they were not operating because water was not available in the street.  Bathing was done by dumping a bucket of water over a person’s head.  This is called a bucket shower.  The toilet did not flush but could be used by dumping water down it, which really gave out a bad odor. Some streets had open trenches where waste is pumped or thrown.  In some areas a strong odor was present.   Business owners were getting together and were working on making improvements to the situation.

The center of the town is a courtyard by the lake where kids gather to play soccer, people gather to eat and generally socialize.  It is a very special place for families.  It is very safe and clean.  There are many small family restaurants on the street.  Every one of them had great food reflecting the cultural tradition of the area.

I took a taxi for 40 cords to see all parts of the city.  The roads were gravel, and the roofs of the huts were made from straw.  There were projects developed to build latrines and there were areas of subsidized housing.

DAY 3 (THURSDAY AM) – SCHOOL OBSERVATION (6 & 7)
I visited two schools in Nicaragua.  One was in city of San Carlos.   I visited a high school class in business planning.  There were fifty in the class but at the present time, only 30 attended.  Students were learning how to  speak in front of others in the class and were generating their ideas. At recess, Kids usually just hung out on the courtyard playing soccer. A rural school/community that was visited was on the main road to Managua about twenty miles away.  It was called Nueva Jerusalen.  It was a 45 minute bus ride with busses running every two to three hours or so. It was located on a gravel road, just off the newly paved main highway.  When I arrived, everyone was out in the courtyard singing the national anthem to start the day.   There was also a community meeting at 11:00 a.m. where everyone in area attended.  There was a hot lunch that was available for purchase.  It was available in the courtyard and was run by one of the parents of the community.  There was an English teacher who could speak both fluent English and Spanish who really wanted to learn about the culture in the United States and had me speak to one of his classes with a Spanish interpreter.

DAY 3 (THURSDAY PM) – THE HIKE TO THE FALLS
The afternoon class was held by a waterfall away from the school called Las Neves which is translated as the clouds.   It was 22 meters (100 feet) high.  It was a hike 1 ½ miles on a main road and through several fields and up several steep trails in 96-degree heat.  All of the kids were in school uniforms with long pants, yet no one was affected by the walk.  I got dehydrated from the hike and ending up drinking the water in the falls.   I got a bacterial infection from the water, but it was treated by taking an antibiotic without a prescription.

DAY 4-5
(FRIDAY/SATURDAY) – EL CASTILLO (8)
.      Today we took a three-hour boat ride to a place called El Castillo.  We were packed in tight with no place to move.  There were no facilities on the boat.  There is La Fortaleza (fort) located on top of a huge hill.  Fortaleza is a Spanish word meaning strength.  It is a place where the Spanish army defended the area from pirates.  We stayed overnight at a great resort overlooking the river.   They had beautiful wood carvings of the castle which I purchased. We took the boat back to San Carlos.  This time we took the fast boat which only took 90 minutes.  It was a nice ride back with a lot of interesting scenery.

DAY 6 (SUNDAY) – GRANADA (3)
The morning was travel time to Granada.  We took a flight from San Carlos to Managua.  We then took a bus to Granada.  We spent the evening on the main street looking at all the shops, restaurants, and events.  It was like one big boardwalk.  We stayed overnight in a very old small quaint hotel with a lot of charm.

DAY 7 (MONDAY) GRANADA AND SAN JUAN DE ORIENTE (3)
We stayed in a unique historical hotel in Granada.  The morning was spent in a horse and carriage touring the city which is very rich in ancient history. There we a lot of fancy shops.  Granada had a lot of colorful buildings with unique architecture.   This area was discovered about one hundred years before the United States was developed.  We enjoyed the great music and nightlife in this well-developed tourist attraction.

DAY 8 (TUESDAY) – SAN JUAN DE ORIENTE VILLAGE (2)
It was an hour bus ride to the village of San Juan De Oriente.  The bus was an adventure.  It was standing room only for most of the way.  Toward the end of the trip, the bus became disabled..  The axel broke and forced us to walk.  We ended up getting a ride in a small scooter the rest of the way.   We went to several homes of natives.  In one home, we watched bread being made for sale.  In this home, they only had water every other day, but they had a satellite dish and a big screen television.  Pottery was plentiful in this town.  I bought a clay tea set with six settings, a cream pitcher and pot for 600 Cords.   The challenge was taking it back on all the public transportation.  Getting back to San Carlos, I took the easy way.  I rode in the back of a pickup truck for 600 cords, a deal considering I got back in 45 minutes, and it was cool and not crowded.

DAY 9 (WEDNESDAY) – TRAVEL TO THE CORN ISLANDS (11 & 12)

Today’s journey started out by taking an hour flight from San Carlos to Managua.  Then, after a one-hour layover, we took a three-hour flight from Managua to Big Corn Island.  However, the plane took one hour to board once it arrived; all the reservations were done by hand.  It took another 35 minutes to get our bags at the end of the trip.  It took over 7 hours just to get to Big Corn Island.  The afternoon was spent taking a ten-minute taxi ride from the Big Corn Airport to a Little Corn Island Boat Launch on the other side of the island.  We then boarded an open-air boat called a Panga in order to make the 8-mile open water trip to Little Corn Island. This boat ride was only about 35 minutes.  Once we got to Little Corn Island, we were met by a Bellhop with a wheelbarrow to carry our luggage.  It was a five-minute walk through the jungle on a dirt patch to reach our cottage at Casa iguana.

DAY 10 (THURSDAY) – LITTLE CORN ISLAND (12)

Little Corn Island was set up with the village on the south side of the island next to the Panga dock and all the cabins on the east side where sea breezes were common.  Electricity was available on the island from 2 PM to 6 AM each day.  t was a very primitive island.  We got a cabin at Casa Iguana which was right on the eastern beach of the island.  Our facility had a one room open air living area, a bathroom and an outdoor shower.  It every had electricity twenty-four hours a day because it had its own generator.  There was a nice front porch with a hammock overlooking the ocean on tip of a huge clipff.

DAY 11 (FRIDAY) – SCUBA DIVING FROM THE LITTLE CORN VILLAGE (12)

I got trained in Scuba for the very first time in the morning right from the Little Corn Village on the south side of the island.  By the afternoon, we actually went out in a boat to a coral reef for an actual forty-five-minute dive. The small boat made me seasick as soon as it set anchor.  However, once in the water, it was fine.   The dive was incredible.  We came within ten feet of three sharks lying on the bottom.  We also saw a stingray over 10 feet long and a barracuda. My biggest problem with the scuba was getting enough weight on me to keep me sinking.  Doing a back flip off the boat and climbing back in the boat not easy either.  The cost was less than $200 US for the whole training.

I treated six Peace Corp folks to a full course Lobster Dinner when we got back.  The total bill was less than 200 C$.

DAY 12   (SATURDAY)   LITTLE CORN ISLAND

We spent the day on the beach at Casa Iguana and enjoying the 85-degree water.  Food was available within feet of my hammock which was fastened between two trees right on the each. The night involved a Beach Party at the Casa Iguana featuring a pig roast.  The food was good, and the people were wonderful.   It was a nice party atmosphere.

DAY 13  (SUNDAY)   LITTLE CORN ISLAND

We had another beach day.  Every day was beautiful because we did not have to worry about rain or thunderstorms.  We were in the dry season.  We treated six Peace Corp Volunteers to a full course Lobster dinner for a cost of only $50 USA in the middle of the afternoon.  The evening was spent in the village where all the nightlife was.  They gave us head lamps so we could find our way back through the jungle on the trail at night.

DAY 14 (MONDAY)

Our trip back included extensive travel.  We took the Panga  boat trip to Big Corn Island and then got a taxi to go to the Big Corn Airport.  We boarded the La Costena propeller plane to travel to the capital, Managua, The trip ended with the international flight to Miami, before transferring to Philadelph

Adding to the Travel Itinerary:   Add a new attraction to the adventure.  Alaska is a huge state, and this real trip only described part of the state attractions. Read the journal showing all the activities.  Now, an additional activity from the list below.    Modify the trip by adding new activities.  Research and describe the features.  Write an itinerary describing the activities and add pictures.,

1. Trip Down the Rio San Juan River to the Carribean Sea.
2. Visiting Big Corn Island
3. Exploring Lake Nicaragua and its Islands
4. Bus Trip from Managua to San Carlos

Making Raised Relief Maps –    Make a large map of one of the areas shown below showing elevations, towns and scale of miles.  Make the map at least 24 inches wide and long.

1. Road Map showing the whole country of Nicaragua showing rivers, towns, and highways.
2. Big and Little Corn Island Map including all attractions.
3. Nicaragua Trip Map made by Wood Enrichment Services.  Include a key for the map.

Making Quiz Game Questions

Make five different quiz categories based on the website information.  Develop questions at four levels of difficulty for each category.  Assign points for each level of difficulty.   Use this website including the trivia page, pictures, and related links to make the questions. Then try out the game with your classmates.