Nicaragua: Give me silence, water, hope. Give me struggle, iron, volcanoes.
~ Pablo Neruda
Before entering Central America we were doubtful if we should ride through all countries. Especially Nicaragua had some red flags after the political turmoil that started last year. But after our good experiences in Guatemala and El Salvador we decided to go for it. This turned out to be a good choice, although we would be faced with some of the consequences of the unrest.
After arriving into the country by boat from El Salvador, the Whikes were carried ashore and we got to the shed that functioned as a customs office. After the quick and smooth experiences in other countries we were in for an unpleasant surprise. We were not getting into Nica that easy. After a couple of hours of form filling, random questions and, most of all, waiting outside we finally got our stamp. Perhaps it was the power outage in the office or the mood of the officer, or both. Hearing previous stories of drones being confiscated as they are illegal in Nicaragua, we were delighted that our baggage was not searched. That lasted only 2 minutes until we drove up to another military post to check our baggage. After a few nerve wrenching minutes the officers checked all the bags except for the backpack with our drone and let us pass. That was close! However our start in the new country had some more challenges for us. The first 15 kilometres were unpaved and full of rocks, definitely the worst road thus far. Luckily this changed after a while but we did not feel like doing a long stretch. After 30km we looked for a place to sleep. We had a place in mind but it was just another dirt road and no signage when we got there. Luckily after some 100 meters of uphill and pushing our bikes we were in for a nice surprise. Although the dust and leaves in the room told us that we were the first guest in a while, the place was great! We arrived in an artist’s hacienda with art and handmade wooden furniture everywhere and an amazing wooden veranda that overlooked the forest. Our thirst was quenched with delicious pineapple-grapefruit juice and we refreshed for the evening meal on the deck. In the shower we had a close encounter with a tarantula however. Having no previous experience with these animals in the Netherlands before, we ran out to the staff. Completely unimpressed he walked with us and caught the spider in a jar, assuring us it was not dangerous. We were not planning to find out!
The next day we were aiming for the city Leon, but new challenges awaited us in the morning. Jakoba’s luggage rack broke off and temporarily had to be fixed with some tie-wraps. The ride was quite nice, passing a few of Nicaragua’s many volcanoes. We nearly got a heart attack though when we heard a big bang. Behind us a tire blew off a truck and rolled passed us off the road. The driver managed to control the truck and stop alongside the road. But these kind of near misses definitely make you doubt the whole endeavour. After checking in our hostel in Leon and a beer we were ok again.
We noticed that ‘Nica’ has much more of a backpacker hostel culture than the previous countries. And Leon is one of the hubs to do activities from. On the one hand it is nice to meet people form different countries, on the other hand we kind of liked meeting more local people before. We catch-up with our boat buddies Tara and Joey and have some cocktails in their hostel. Afterwards we go for some street food and have a good night out drinking Toñas (the local beer) in the club while dancing to the Latin rhythms. After cycling so many miles the beers hit twice as hard and a little hungover we start looking for a welder to fix Jakoba’s luggage rack on Sunday. We are being sent ‘from the closet to the wall’ (as we say in Dutch) and after walking across town for some time we find a welder that can fix it. Meanwhile we remain active on our days off the bike and go for some ‘volcano boarding’. After a ride in the 4×4 and a nice and easy hike we get to the alien looking top of the black ‘Cerro Negro’ volcano. The view is impressive and we can see all of Nicaragua’s other volcanoes. We are dressed in overalls in colours not unworthy of the Jamaican bobsleigh team. To top it off we cover our heads with a bandana. The ride down on the board looks more scary from the top and is over before you know it. But definitely well worth doing. The guide tells us that business is slow because of the uproar and he himself had to flee the city for a while as he was noticed by the police’s face recognition cameras when he joined his fellow patriots in the barricades. When we come back to Leon the bicycle is fixed and after a pasta dinner we call it an early night.
The next day the ride is very tough with strong headwinds. Usually a good lunch can make the difference than. But all we get is a dry fried chicken and fries at a gas station. The volcanoes in and around the Lago Xolotlán (Momotomba, Momotombito and Chiltepe) give a stunning view later in the day though. Managua is basically a cobweb of ugly streets and it is difficult to navigate to our goal for the day: La Bicicleta Hostel! It is very new, with nice rooms and good cycling quotes on the wall. After freshening up we get a meal that makes up for the horrible lunch: in the luxurious Intercontinental hotel we treat ourselves to sumptuous portions of sushi overlooking the beautiful courtyard. All’s well that ends well.
Without seeing much else of the capital we decide to relax a bit in the morning with some reading and yoga. It is only 45km to Granada. However, the hostel receptionist warns us that we better get out of town before 2pm: a regular protest will be held close to our place. We pack up our stuff and leave hurried and with good reason: on every roundabout are tens of determined looking riot police with large shields and big guns waiting for the protesters. We pass them without problems and are happy to leave Managua. After a short ride and a nice lunch on a square in Masaya we get to the historic town of Granada. What a difference from Managua! We park our bike in the Oasis Hostel and after a dip in the pool head for the town. Granada has some hip spots and we have a nice healthy meal at The Garden Cafe. Granada offers a lot of history, old colonial buildings and churches and a view of the grand lake. We take a walking tour and learn more about its history; most notably about the American William Walker who conquered the city with a private army of mercenaries and burned it down when he was expelled. Different times. After the walking tour we go to a bar with two Dutchies to watch the Dutch soccer match. Unfortunately a last minute loss (not again!) against the Germans.
The next day is a special day! Some kilometres into our day we reach the 10,000km mark! We are very happy and proud we made it this far. We make a nice picture with our whikes, a wind park and the volcanoes in the background. With a good vibe we reach a lunch spot and are surprised to see three other bikepackers. Good fun to exchange stories and one of them was going in the same direction as us: Ometepe island. We take the small ferry packed with cars and dangerously swaying in the wind. On the other end we look for our homestay on the island which proves difficult to find in the twilight. The Puesta del Sol is a great place though. Ran by women living around the area who take turns in hosting tourists. Rosa is a teacher and a great host and we have fun playing games with her daughters Rosselyne and Maylin.
Another day, another volcano! Ometepe island consists of two large volcanoes, Concepcion and Madera. We are going to hike to the top of the larger one, Concepcion. It is a beautiful hike with an elevation of 1400 meters and quite technical. On the way our camera is getting soaked as the water bladder in our backpack starts leaking. It is not working, and a little bit worried we leave it behind on the slope to dry out. The way to the top is steep with a lot of hands and feet climbing. The views are definitely worth it. It is usually cloudy around the top but between the clouds and roaring winds we get a good view. The way down however was less fun. We only took three energy bars each and might have overestimated our ability to ascent and descent faster than average. After spending ten hours on the volcano it is getting dark when we reach the foot and we still have to cycle back to our homestay. In the dark Matthijs’ sail rope gets stuck in the chain and needs to be cut loose in the dark. Fed up with it we finally reach home and have a good meal. The next day our muscles are so soar, we walk like grandpa and grandma! We decide to chill and take another rest day. We have a great meal at a Mexican restaurant run by a Rwandan man, who has roamed the earth and ended up on this tiny island.
The ferry takes us back to the mainland with some fellow bikepackers: a German couple, an American and a Hungarian. It is already time to leave this beautiful country behind and cycle into the lush and green Costa Rica all together. In the guest book we signed at the homestay we discovered that we were their first guests of the year. While the previous year they hosted people every thre e or four days. It was sad to notice this and how the tourism industry has suffered in Nicaragua. Despite the situation in Managua, we thought it was safe to travel the country if you are a bit (street) smart about it. And well worth it too!
