Sugarcane and Volcanoes

I bet you guys all thought we had fallen into a volcano or something! Well, we are alive and well and having a great time. Sorry for the huge gap again, but it has been an eventful week to say the least! From sad farewells, peering into the smoking depths of the gates of hell, stumbling through pitch dark bat caves, battling a deadly yellow-bellied sea snake, sleeping at the foot of an active lava-spewing volcano, to truly hellish border crossings, we have been very busy! A bit more than a week ago (and after a goodbye celebration that involved lots of drinking and musical instruments and lasted until the wee hours of the morning) we finally managed to pile ourselves and our stuff back into the westy (after a tearful goodbye to our number one fan, Edgardo!) and take off for Jose’s family’s place in the mountain village of San Lorenzo. It was a beautiful drive up through the hills, with volcanoes popping up here and there. When we got there, after taking a stroll through the village, we had a delicious chicken soup that Jose’s mom, Alicia, had prepared especially for us. That night we all walked over to the local trapiche, which is the sugar cane processing machine, to watch the fascinating process of chewing up the cane, running the sap into these huge vats that are heated with big fires underneath. As the sap boils, this white foam called espuma forms and the people from the village come with buckets and spoons and help themselves to the sweet, sticky treat. Once the liquid boils down to a certain point they beat it with huge sticks until it hardens a bit, and then they pour it into moulds and wait for it to harden and then whack them out with big sledgehammers. Then the older guys sit around wrapping these panales up into pretty little packages with dried corn husks. This is the raw sugar (kind of like maple sugar candy) that the people use to cook with and grind into their morning coffee. The kids enjoyed just sucking on big sticks of raw, sinuous sugarcane! The next morning, after trying Alicia’s delicious Atol de Pinuela (another edible flower/fruit), we took off for the border with Honduras: we wanted to get an early start because we knew that we were going to try to get to Nicaragua the same day. It is a good thing we did, because it took us an unpleasant 2 hours (and a lot of money) to get across the border, and in the 3 hours that it took us to cross the country we got stopped 6 times by police! They always let us go without a hassle, but we were still relieved to cross the border ocne again (this time faster and cheaper) to Nicaragua. By the time we got there it was already getting dark, so we spent the night at a weird truck stop place close to the Volcan San Cristobal with bathrooms, showers, and back-to-back Jean Claude Van Damme movies playing all night long. The next day we got an early start again and stopped in the colonial city of Leon. This used to be Nicaragua’s capital city, so it is quite beautiful with some really old cathedrals. After an early lunch, we were back on the road again headed for Granada. The route had us pass by Managua, on the impressive Lago Managua that sits at the foot of the Mombotombo volcano (with the smaller Mombotombito sitting quietly beside it in the lake itself). As we drove on, the kids were horrified to see people selling beautiful big iguanas on the side of the road (to eat!). The worst part is that they rip off their claws to pull out their tendons and use them to tie up their legs and mouths, so the poor creatures are really suffering. By mid-afternoon we got to the Volcan Masaya National Park, where we decided to go up and peer into the smoking depths of an active volcano. When they arrived, the Spanish called it “the gates of hell,” and if you look at the photos you can see why. The indigenous people in this area used to make offerings of food (and sometimes even human sacrifices) to this volcano, and in an effort to exorcise these heathen practices, Spanish monks erected a huge cross on it (they also used to hang people by a rope into the smoking depths in order to “encourage” them to convert to Christianity…)
Then we decided to take a guided tour (with flashlights and hard hats) of the deep dark bat cave of Tzinancanosto, which is one of the tunnels formed by lava and rocks under pressure when the volcano exploded many years ago. By the time we made our way to Granada it was getting dark and we were getting tired, but Mateo was lucky along the way to see a citroline trogon sitting on a fence by the side of the road. Granada is a beautiful colonial city that reminded us of Antigua or San Cristobal de las Casas, but a bit less touristy. It is actually an amazing setting, right at the foot of Volcan Mombacho and on Lake Nicaragua, a huge freshwater lake that boasts the privilege of housing the only completely fresh-water shark in the world! We looked around for a hotel, but many of them were full and the others were just too expensive, so we ended up sleeping at the Red Cross for the night! Luckily it was right downtown (beside the Guadalupe Cathedral, one of the oldest in the Americas) and so after we cleaned ourselves up with our solar shower we walked around the town and had some great pizza (only because we couldn’t find what we were really looking for, nacatamales). We chatted to the people of the town, who pull their chairs out to the front of their houses in the evening to catch and shoot the breeze. People in Nicaragua are generally really nice and very well-educated, although there is still a lot of poverty here. We also noticed that they treat dogs really well, and that even the street dogs are in better shape here than anywhere else we’ve been so far. The next day we walked around the market and main plaza for a while, before heading to the Isla de Ometepe (two impressive-looking volcanoes sticking out of the middle of the lake) a bit further south. Of course, we forgot that it was Sunday, so there were tons of people around and we decided not to cross over in the ferry and continued driving a bit further south to the beach town of San Juan del Sur on the Pacific Ocean. 7 km north of there, on a bumpy road, we found a beautiful beach called Playa Marcella, with a natural estuary and cliffs on either side. After enjoying the (freezing) water, we decided to spend the night right there on the beach and saw the most beautiful sunset we have ever seen. There was a lot of wind and we felt like we were going to get swept away in the westy, so the next day we went back to San Juan del Sur and found a little guest house to stay in (mostly because we really needed showers!) and then spent the afternoon hanging out on the beach. That afternoon we met and hung out with Wayne, a retired guy from Minnesota who told us some horror stories about his experiences driving all the way to Costa Rica and spending about $3000 in “fees” at the various borders and police checks. He is a white haired guy in a floral shirt driving a brand new truck, and doesn’t speak a word of Spanish, so I guess people saw him coming a mile away. He is living in Cost Rica, but had to cross the border for a few days to renew his visa. At the beach, a family who had come from Managua for the day found a live “eel” in the shallow water along the shore and brought it out to look at. We spent quite a long time examining it and taking close up photos and videos before letting it go back in the water. We then found another longer one dead on the beach. Ariel recognized it from a David Attenborough nature book he got out of the library one time, and was pretty sure that it was not an eel. When we got back to our room we looked it up online and discovered that it was a deadly pacific yellow bellied sea snake, 20 times more venomous than an Egyptian cobra! Oops. Apparently they rarely bite humans, only if extremely provoked (which this one had been). After an evening of hanging out on our little balcony looking out over the market street of San Juan, we had a good night’s sleep and got up early to make the 20 minute trip to the border. Wayne wanted to tag along, as he figured that hanging out with us might make it easier for him. We got to the border by 9:30 am, and if you can believe it we did not set foot in Costa Rica until 3:30 pm: it was the hardest border we have crossed so far, not in terms of having to pay anything, but it was extremely busy with trucks, buses, tourists, etc. and you had to go here, make a photocopy there, then take it over there…..and in all of this there were swarms of “helpers” coming up to you to make the process go “faster.” We noticed that the people who used the helpers sometimes got it done faster, but usually not. There were a few people around who obviously used bribes to speed up their paperwork. Poor Wayne had trouble bringing his truck back in the country, as his 90 day vehicle permit had already expired and they were not going to renew it. When we left him, he was still there at the border trying to decide what to do (and he might be there still, for all we know….)
Almost as soon as we crossed over into Costa Rica we noticed a difference from the rest of Central America: it is very green, very clean, and people seem to have a generally high standard of living. There are also many, many rivers that are full of life, when the rivers in Nicaragua (all donated by Japan) were almost completely dry at this time of year. In our first couple of hours driving east we saw lots of new types of wildlife including a couple of roseate spoonbills, and a small bright blue bird that we have not been able to identify yet: we have to get Mateo a book specifically on the birds of Costa Rica! A truck driver we met in Nicaragua gave us a great route to the Caribbean coast to avoid the mountains and the traffic of San Jose, so the first night we stayed in a small farming town in north central Costa Rica called Upala. It was a relatively short drive the next day to the town of La Fortuna in the Volcan Arenal area, and when we got there we thought we had stumbled onto the set Jurassic Park (actually, it was filmed very close to here). It took us a while to see the top of the volcano itself as it was covered in clouds for most of the day, but when we did it was impressive, steaming smoke out of the top. Apparently it is one of the most active volcanoes in the country and people have been killed by explosions while trying to climb it. But the best part of this area are the many hot springs that are more like hot rivers/waterfalls through the rain forest! Unfortunately, Costa Rica is really touristy and the only places with hot springs access seemed to be really expensive spas, but by asking around we discovered that right beside one of the more ritzy ones there is a public access path. On the road to it we saw 2 coatis walking along, and once we got to the springs we watched many basilisk lizards running on their back legs across the surface of the water! Besides seeing lots of butterflies (including bright blue Morpho butterflies) we discovered that we were sitting under a tree filled with Moctezuma Orependola and their hanging nests, who shared the tree with a huge green iguana that was hanging out on a branch overhead. After our baths, we headed over towards the Volcan Arenal National Park and found a great spot hidden away beside a river (and close to a lake) to camp out at the foot of the volcano. We had heard that this was a good spot to see lava bubbling out of the top of the volcano at night. We took a few walks and observed the wildlife: again, lots of birds including 6 toucans and some chachalacas, blue tanagers, magpie jays, spotted rails, and great kiskadees, a big white hawk and some crazy looking vultures. We also saw some neat frogs by the river, and a big black animal that looked like a cross between a panther and a river otter. We still haven’t figured out what that was. At night, we saw the lava glowing orangey red at the top of the volcano! It was not spewing out like it does in some postcard pictures of the volcano, but it was still pretty impressive. The next day we drove all day to get to the place where Quique and Suzanne have been staying for the past couple of months, about 5 km south of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. On the way we stopped to make some sandwiches and have the muffler welded back on (the back roads here are pretty bumpy and we were getting pretty noisy!). As we drove, we made our way through vast pineapple plantations, which eventually gave way to mass fields of bananas, the fruit covered in blue plastic bags. We stopped to buy a big bunch of bananas and marveled at all the different kinds there are: big ones, little ones, purple ones, green ones, yellow ones. Closer to the coast, we were staggered by the stacks of refrigerated shipping containers at the sides of the highway – straight from here to a supermarket near you! We made it to the beach by dusk, happy to see our friends and to once again be on the shores of the Carribbean Sea.
Sigh.
This place is total paradise.
Imagine this: blue water, soft sand, a snorkel reef right outside your door, and a body surfing spot further down the beach. Three-toad sloths hanging in the outside your back door. Primary forests and all the creatures you can imagine (including boa constrictors and howler monkeys). We are in heaven!
Hace poco mas de una semana tuvimos la despedida en San Blas y vinieron todos a cantar y tocar los tambores hasta la madrugada. Al otro dia, Mauricio se fue a Santa Ana y nos despedimos de Edgardo una hora mas tarde, despues de ir a la playa por ultima vez. Fue uno de los momentos mas tristes del viaje hasta ahora, despedirse de tan buena gente, pero el camino tiene que seguir. Salimos rumbo a San Lorenzo, que es el pueblo en las montanias donde vive la familia de Jose. Cuando llegamos nos estaban esperando, y despues de salir a caminar por el pueblo, nos tomamos una rica sopa de gallina que nos preparo la mama de Jose, la Ninia Alicia. Despues de noche fuimos caminando hasta el trapiche, el lugar donde procesan la cania de azucar. Nos quedamos impresionados con todo el procedimiento, y como la gente del pueblo participa de este ritual. Llevamos un baldecito y un cucharon y cucharas para degustar la espuma que se forma despues que hierve el jugo de cania, calentado en recipientes muy grandes . Tambien comparmos unos panales de azucar cruda envueltos en hojas de maiz. En la maniana la mama de Jose nos hizo Atol de Pinuela, otra comida tipica de aqui, para probar. La despedida con la familia de Jose fue triste tambien, mas que nada porque Jose salia tambien para Canada y venian todos sus familiares del pueblo a despedirse. El viernes de maniana salimos para la frontera con Honduras. Despues de un par de horas bien incomodas (y caras – es la frontera donde mas nos cobraron para entrar) estabamos en Honduras y la cruzamos en menos de tres horas. Dentro de Honduras la policia nos paro 6 veces! Llegamos a la frontera con Nicaragua a las 5 de la tarde, y fue mas simple y rapido (y barato) que en la frontera anterior. Nos quedamos a dormir a 10 km de la frontera en un parqueo de camiones, y en frente nuestro teniamos el volcan San Cristobal. Al otro dia nos levantamos temprano para llegar a Leon, una ciudad colonial muy linda que por mucho tiempo fue la capital de Nicaragua. En Leon, visitamos varias catedrales antiguas y comimos nuestra primer comida Nica en un comedor, y seguimos camino hacia Granada. En el camino pasamos por el Lago de Managua y vimos los varios volcanes ….. Los nenes se quedaron enojados porque vimos mucha gente vendiendo iguanas vivas amarradas y las venden en la carretera para comer! Lo peor es que cuando las capturan les arrancan las garras y le cortan los tendones que son usados para atarles las patas y la boca, de esta manera los pobres animalitos no pueden moverse (y ni que decir que sufren un monton en el proceso). Antes de llegar a Granada, paramos en el Parque Nacional Volcan Masaya y fuimos a ver la boca del volcan activo que larga un monton de gases toxicos. Fue impresionate ver para adentro del volcan, y dicen que los gases son buenos para los plantaciones de pina. Los espanioles lo nombaron La Puerta del Infierno, y los indigenas del lugar le ofrecian comida y a veces hacian sacrificios humanos. A la llegada, los espanioles, pensaban que estaban posiedos y pusieron una cruz en la cima del volcan. Alli empezaron su campania de conversion – una forma de convertirlos al catolicismo, mediante el metodo de atarlos a una cuerda y bajarlos despacito dentro del volcan hasta que renunciaran a sus costumbres y aceptaran el catolocismo. Tambien fuimos con un guia a conocer unos tuneles de lava que se formaron cuando exploto el volcan. Alli recorrimos unos 180 metros en la oscuridad (con linternas) y vimos murcielagos y diferentes formaciones de lava. Terminamos cansadisimos y alucinados con el paisaje y nuestra primer experiencia volcanica. Llegamos a Granada al atardecer. Como la mayoria de los hoteles estaban llenos o muy caros o eran muy feos, pedimos para dormir en la Cruz Roja y por supuesto nos dijieron que si. Despues de estacionar y pegarnos un banio con nuestra ducha portatil, salimos a comer unas pizzas por la peatonal. Granada es una cuidad colonial muy turistica, que nos hizo acordar a Antigua o San Cristobal de las Casas, con la gran diferencia de que esta al lado de un lago grande, el Lago de Nicaragua (el unico lugar de agua dulce donde hay tiburones) y que se encuentra al pie del Volcan … Es relamente un lugar precioso. Al otro dia, despues de tomar un café y caminar por el mercado, fuimos hasta un lugar un poco mas al sur, donde salen los barcos para la Isla de Ometepe (dos volcanes que salen del agua en medio del lago). Otra vez nos olvidamos que era domingo y el lugar estaba repleto de gente, asi que despues de comer unos mangos cambiamos de idea y fuimos hacia San Juan del Sur, que queda para el lado del Pacifico. Cuando llegamos a San Juan, nos metimos en un camino de piedras para llegar a la Playa Marcella, 7 km al norte. Es un lugar paradisiaco, una pequenia bahia natural en el pacifico con rocas y acantilados alrededor. Nos quedamos a dormir alli mismo en la playa, y por supuesto nos baniamos y disfrutamos el atardecer, que fue inolvidable. Esa noche no pudimos dormir debido a las rafagas de viento que movian la camioneta constantemente. Temprano y sin desayunar nos fuimos nuevamente a San Juan, donde tomamos un rico capuchino y unos buenos jugos de naranja. Pensando en que teniamos que cruzar la frontera al otro dia, decidimos buscar un lugar para dormir y ducharnos y estar fresquitos para cruzar a Costa Rica. Pasamos la tarde en la playa, donde (entre otras cosas) nos encontramos con Wayne, un viejo buena onda de Minnesota, y con una “anguila” que mas tarde a la noche en el Internet nos enteramos que era una serpiente de mar muy venenosa (aparentamente 20 veces mas que una cobra!). Nos gusto mucho San Juan del Sur, pero sabiamos que teniamos que seguir el camino, asi que nos levantamos temprano para manejar los 30 km a la frontera de Penias Blancas. Suerte que llegamos temprano (a las 9:30) porque cruzar esa frontera llevo todo el dia – eran las 3:30 de la tarde cuando entramos a Costa Rica. En Penias Blancas tuvimos una experiencia de pelicula. Sin entrar en muchas detalles, nuestro amigo Wayne que no habla nada de espaniol nos pidio ayuda para hacer sus papeles para cruzar la frontera. El nos comento su tristes experiencias en diferentes cruces, donde mas de una vez tuvo que dejar un monton de dolares para poder pasar. Bueno, el asunto es que en medio de hacer los tramites nos dimos cuenta que su permiso del auto habia vencido y para sorpresa nuestra no se lo renovaron. El pobre Wayne todavia debe estar sentado en la frontera sacando billetes para un lado u otro, y tirandose los pelos blancos! Inmediatamente despues de cruzar la frontera notamos la belleza de este pais. A diferencia con el resto de los paises anteriores, aqui los rios abundan y estan llenos de vida (pura vida!). Un camionero nos informo de un camino mas rapido para llegar a la costa del caribe, y la primer noche nos quedamos en Upala en la parte norte del pais.Tempranito, seguimos camino hacia La Fortuna, en la zona del Volcan Arenal. Que lugar! A parte del volcan que es gigante y esta largando humo constantamente, hay varios rios termales (que nacen en la zona del volcan mismo) y cuando fuimos a uno, ahí vimos un monton de lagartos, de esos que corren en el agua, arboles llenos de pajaros, y una iguana gigante sentada en una rama. Para nuestra fortuna encontramos un lugar perfecto para acampar al pie del volcan, al lado de un rio precioso y cerca de un lago. Parecia que estabamos en Jurassic Park – solo faltaban los dinosaurios! Mismo. Alli vimos 6 tucanes, muchas chachalacas, un sapito raro, dos coaties, y muchos otros animalitos y pajaros. Despues fuimos por la selva, todavia mas cerca del volcan, aunque no se puede subir porque se ha muerto gente en explosiones recientes. Encontramos un lugarcito perfecto para acampar al pie del volcan, al lado de un rio y cerca de un lago. Fue impresionante sentarnos al lado del fuego de noche, rodeado de luciernagas, y mirar a la lava roja que salia del volcan! Al otro dia nos levantamos y salimos, para llegar a la playa, donde estan Quique y Suzanne. Solo paramos para hacer unos sandwiches y para soldar el canio de escape, que se rompio en los caminos del volcan. Ahora estamos en Playa Chiquita, a 5 km al sur de Puerto Viejo de Talamanca y es un paraiso total! Playas para hacer snorkel, selva, osos peresosos en los arboles (son divinos!), monos, serpientes, aranias, mariposas, pajaros – esta mas que bueno.