Day 9 (February 4, 2017): Transfer Day

If yesterday was the day of relaxation and adventure, today in the itinerary was tagged as a transfer day back to Managua, to position ourselves for our flights home early Sunday morning.  I was at breakfast at 8AM and left to explore the town at 8:30AM.  A lot of the team members left at 7AM to hike up to see the statue of Christ.  But, having been up there yesterday on my mo-ped and not having an ankle that could sustain such a hike, I decided just to make it a morning walking the beach.

After my beach walk, I ducked into a café to have a java, while taking in the beach scene.  Then I returned to the hotel to do a final swim, pack, and meet the team for lunch at noon.  Our bus departed for Managua at 1:15PM, arriving at the Hilton 4:15PM.  We said farewell to Felix, another of our cherished translators, and then a number of us went off in search of Nicaraguan coffee, tea, and other products to take back to Canada.

The day wrapped up with a team dinner at 6:30PM, featuring a buffet of Nicaraguan dishes prepared by the Hilton.  It was delicious!  It will be an early rise with an airport departure at 4:30AM.

The photos below capture some moments from today, and the captions explain the key points.

At breakfast at the hotel this morning, about six monkeys were hanging out in a tree next to the restaurant, sometimes making very loud noises, as if to say, "Hey, toss up a banana, will you?!"

There was some great wave action on the beach in San Juan del Sur this morning!  It took about half an hour to walk the length of the beach.

This shows the scale of the statue of Christo de la Misericordia, which sits atop the hill on the north end of the bay.

I saw this man and his son in the streets of San Juan del Sur this morning.  They were selling firewood from a cart pulled by two oxen.  It has been amazing to see that, even in 2017, most households still cook over wooden fires.  And that the use of horse (or oxen)-drawn carts is still in prevalent use.

In the middle of Lake Nicaragua (the largest lake in Central America), is Ometepe Island containing two volcanoes.  Enroute back to Managua, we stopped in the town of Rivas to have a look at them from the edge of the lake.  The most northerly is Concepcion Volcano, which has been active for the past 100 years with almost constant small-to-medium ash explosions.

The more southerly volcano on Ometepe Island is Madera Volcano, which has not been active.

The wind off Lake Nicaragua can be strong - hence the location of these wind turbines.

The bus ride from San Juan del Sur back to Managua took three hours.  There were a lot of sleepy heads!

Daniel Ortega of the Sandinista National Liberation Front has been President of Nicaragua since 2007, winning again in the 2016 election.  He made his wife Vice-President.  These billboards are all over the country - showing Ortega and his wife, they speak of "victorious times" and thank Nicaraguans.  Most Nicaraguans, however, seem to have a strong hatred for Ortega who, by the way, is apparently knocking at death's door.

Yesterday, the maid put a bouquet of wild flowers in my room.  I walked into my hotel room in Managua this afternoon, only to find this creation!

We are all used to the warnings not to use elevators in case of fire.  But to see earthquakes added to the list is a tad sobering!  One has to remember that Managua was flattened by an earthquake in 1972.

Our last meal as a group was a Nicaraguan dinner.  Fried cheese, tortillas, guacamole, salsa, shredded beef, shredded chicken, chunks of pork, and plantain -- all examples of the traditional dishes of Nicaragua.