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.