Lazy and not so Lazy days in the department of Chinandega

Looking for a new place to visit and having three days to dedicate we decided to head to Chinandega. Really want to go to Corn Island and Pearl Lagoon, but they will have to wait for when we have more time. What swayed our vacation towards Chinandega was primarily the Padre Ramos Estuary and it didn't disappoint.

Lodging:

We considered staying at the beach but wanted to have at least some connection to the city. We choose Hotel Los Portales as our home base, and it didn't disappoint. It was a cool little retreat within an incredible hot city, I had heard how hot it was, and we chose about the worst time of the year to go. March and April being among the hottest months of the year. The hotel has a wonderful pool, and we were the only ones ever in it during our stay. We were very lucky to get rooms 101 & 102 connecting rooms and right in front of the pool. Getting to the city of Chinandega is easy and any country map will show you the way. The hotel was right off the main road, off the rotunda.

Cool, refreshing pool

Activities:

Chilling by the pool: Initially simply hanging out by the pool and surviving the heat. We ventured into the city of Chinandega on our way to Jiquilillo, the city is nice, confusing one ways to get out of town, had to loop around a couple of times. Our GPS wasn't very helpful as to which streets were one way, and we got plenty of funny looks from folks in town. Quick tour of Chinandega City: We got out in the required Cathedral and Town Square, every city in Nicaragua has one. The park was nice, but what we were more impressed with was the playground area. Beautiful equipment and clean. When we passed it at night we noticed how well light and well used it was. No surprise there weren't many kids out during the day, the heat makes everyone hide out. To get out of town we ended up following a bus headed to Jiquilillo and found a fun, Nicaraguan, helpful graffiti  to demonstrate that this street, indeed was two ways.

Helpful Nicaraguan graffiti

We take any help we can get. The drive to Jiquilillo was filled with majestic volcanoes and constant sugar cane production, most if not all destined to the Flor de Caña factory in nearby Chichigalpa. We opted not to do the tour, although Don does enjoy Flor de Caña and I'm sure it is an impressive production, didn't think the kids would enjoy it. The turn off the Jiquilillo is a nicer than usual Nicaraguan dirt road, still rough going, but a very good road. 

Horses also cooling off

Enjoying a cool break running on the waves

Rancho Esperanza: In Juquilillo we first went to Rancho Esperanza to hang out at the beach and have lunch with them. Great lunch, wonderful set up, impressive social efforts and awesome beach. We had a great 3-4 hours of peaceful beach hangout activities before continuing to the highlight of the day, kayaking the Padre Ramos Estuary. Padre Ramos Estuary Kayaking: We hired a guide, David, from Ibin Kayaking www.ibiskayaking.com 505-8961-8548. We met David in front of a pulperia in the following community of Los Zorros, he joined us in our truck and showed us the way to the Ibis Kayaking location and the entrance to the estuary. Although tourism is yet to breakthrough here, he says they do 3-4 kayak tours a week, and in the busy season (Jan/Feb) he has tours everyday, with multiple on a single day. They also offer overnight camping trips where you kayak for 3 hours, set up camp, kayak around the island, sleep, break down camp and make your way slowly back. When we arrived, I was planning when we could return to do that, but at the end I was glad we were only paddling for 3 hours in total. It was hard work!

Serene, beautiful

Crazy, tight, difficult, fun, silly

Hard, beautiful work. I think this was the cleanest spot in all of Nicaragua. Of course, there are very few communities polluting it, tourism hasn't really reached it, and it is far away from the typical, popular route. I kinda hope it stays that way. The tour around the estuary was fabulous, peaceful and complete silly all at the same time. We got to spots that were so tight to paddle we used the roots of the mangroves to pull ourselves along. Quick tour of Puerto Corinto: As we (Selva Negra) export coffee through Puerto Corinto, we wanted to take a look at the city and check out the port. The next morning, after a refreshing play in the pool and lazy breakfast, we headed to Puerto Corinto. We had studied Ruben Dario and how was inspired by the lovely islands around Puerto Corinto to write "Margarita" It is my favorite poem from childhood. I remember my dad reciting it to me and could associate with the lighthouse in the distance and the beauty of the infinity of union between sky and ocean. I know, a silly emotional personal moment, but true. I had Henry and Hanna recite the poem with me as we hung out by the beach in Corinto, but the moment was totally lost to the brutal heat. We rather quickly jumped back in the back and the refuge of the air conditioning but never really recovered. We drove around the road in front of the port, but of course everything is fenced off. We probably could have asked if there were any tours we could do, but none of us were convinced we wanted to get out of the car. We also nixed the idea of having lunch in town and headed back to Leon, and then back to Matagalpa, dreaming of cooler air that didn't burn our lungs. In Leon we stopped to eat lunch and get ice cream but it was also brutal hot.

Silly pose by the port entrance

Food:

The first place we ate on day one was at YaVoy in Leon on our way to the hotel. Better than average food selection, which burritos and quiche on the menu, good natural drinks and a nice courtyard, but still kind of average compared to the great restaurant selection in Leon. For dinner that night we left Chinandega and went back to Leon because we wanted to try Alioli, a tapas restaurant where Selva Negra sells cheeses. It was impressively good, food seasoned amazingly, wonderful, varied selection of tapas and a small front dining terrace where you can escape the heat. Yes, even after dusk the heat is oppressive. Lunch the next day was at Rancho Esperanza and it was an amazingly huge salad with boiled eggs and a giant side order of beautiful sun ripened fruit. Just what we needed in a hot day. After our hot and exhausting adventure in Padre Ramos Estuary we had pizza for dinner next to the hotel Pizza Maria I think it was called. A shared space with Pollo Tropical, the pizza was surprisingly good (compared to Nicaragua pizza) but the service and setting left a lot to be desired. Yet, right next to our hotel, it was nice to get quickly back to the peaceful and refreshing pool. On our way back to Matagalpa we ate at our favorite place in Leon, Pan y Paz. Selva Negra also sells our cheeses here, but that's not why we love it. The food is fresh, the bread amazing, the service quick and friendly. I had an amazing smoked salmon sandwich and a super refreshing melon drink. Yet, the heat made it hard to linger, we quickly rushed around the corner to Besame Ice Cream, originally from our hometown of Matagalpa, and headed back to the cool refreshing North. In Leon/Chinandega it was easily 42C, back at Selva Negra a refreshing 26C.

Our vacation to Chinandega and Leon.

We left Selva Negra Sunday morning to head to Chinandega. It took us a grueling 3 hours to get there. On the way to Chinandega, we stopped in Leon. Leon is the university town of Nicaragua. There was a very well maintained park in the middle of the city. I was impressed by the vibrant colors and playground. 

 There was a "Castle" in the park that was shut, and had boards over the windows. We asked some of the locals about it, and it turned out that it was an arcade that was only open at night. We drove by it later, at night, and saw it open.

We stopped for a picture with the cathedral in the center of Chinandega.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we checked in, and dropped off our luggage. We then got in the pool. 

After having swum in the pool for a while, we left to get dinner in Leon. We went to a Spanish restaurant called Alioli. We had five appetizer plates for the five of us, and it felt fancy because they were taken out one at a time, which gave us time to finish the first one before moving onto the next one.

The second day, we went to Jiquilillo to go kayaking. Jiquilillo is a small town down a dirt road in the northern part of Nicaragua. We went with our guide, David, to where the kayaks were. Again, down a dirt road. Once we got the kayaks to the shore, he gave us a lesson on how to use the rudder in the back of the kayak. He explained that they were sea kayaks, and that was necessary for kayaking here.

There were two types of mangroves, Black and Red. The black mangroves are the ones with the roots sticking out of the ground. The red ones have their roots shoot from the trunk of an already existing tree to the ground.

We paddled from the shore, across the lake, and to the entrance of a good size river. The river slowly thinned, until there was an entrance to a channel that was only one kayak wide. This was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. We almost had to turn our paddles completely vertical just to fit through the gap. this went on for about twenty minutes, us getting more tired all the while. We didn't realize it though, because we were having so much fun. 

Once we made it out of the mangroves, we were getting tired, and Hanna was complaining that she had to go to the bathroom. The row back, was arduous, to say the least. And, even at full speed, me and dad couldn't catch Hanna and Astoria who had the guide's help.

Some of the fishermen of Jiquilillo go out in the evening. I managed to take a picture of one as they hit a wave.

Here is a picture we took next to a sugar cane field.

To conclude, it was a fun and exciting vacation, and we all had a great time. i'm looking forward to the next time we get to do something like this.

Trip to Chocoyero

Me and dad went to Chocoyero Nature reserve on the 20th of February. we went with the boy scouts for a day hike, and not to camp overnight. The road in was horribly bumpy and seemed to go on forever. I think we were on it for about twenty minutes, but it felt like forever. I don't think four wheel drive was necessary for this road, but i'm pretty sure it would be during the rain! Once we arrived, we had a talk about the day trip with Scoutmaster Brian, then we set off to hike.

We hiked for about half an hour, then we came to the waterfall. it was cool, and stood at, by my estimate, over 75 feet tall. The water fall was quite impressive, because the forest seemed to open up, to reveal the cliffs and the waterfall.

 We took a fifteen minute break by a large Matapalo tree, to let the others catch up. Shortly after our break, we continued into this open area, that revealed that we were in a valley, and there were mountains on either side

It was a fun day trip, but i was disappointed that we came at the wrong time, and didn't see the parrots. Apparently, if you are there at dawn or dusk, hundreds of parrots will leave their nests in the cliffs, and fly above your heads. We had a good time and it was a good day, and I would call the hike Easy-Medium, because it was mostly flat, and only took 1 1/2-2 hours.

Chocoyero

The waterfall

I went to Chocoyero on a girl scout trip February 13. The drive there was very confusing and we thought we were lost all the time. In the end we found our way to the wooden building deep in the middle of nowhere. Inside The have snakes (dead ones of course) in jars with liquid to keep them from rooting. They also have animal skulls and bugs in glass cases. Then when the whole group was there we started hiking the guide pointed out several interesting things. Such as a owl and rubber tree. Then at the highlight of the hike you reach the waterfall it isn't very big but it's in this big dip in the mountain that's beautiful. Tons of beautiful birds live in holes in stone and you can see them fly about. When you walk back there's this big tree that is perfect for photos. All of the girls loved the hike and the scenery.

Our group photo