Trip to Nicaragua Sep 2021 – Afternoon Sightseeing and Return (by Cindy)

After we escaped from the Chocolate Factory, it was time for lunch, so we stopped at a small local restaurant.

This is the third and last post about our trip to Nicaragua in September 2021.

Claudio had phoned ahead to give our order, which amounted to our choice of meat in a typical meal. The typical Nico meal consisted of meat, rice, salad, French fries and plantains. Again, this is similar to a typical Costa Rican “Casada” meal. The meat was flavorful, but really dry.

Like many restaurants, it was open to the outside. The restaurant was not very crowded, and the four of us were the only gringos, making us easy targets for the vendors who spotted us through the open door. They didn’t think anything about coming into the restaurant directly to our table to attempt to sell their wares as we tried to eat. We weren’t interested in buying anything.  

While we were eating, Randi and I started to notice that mosquitos were also having a meal – on our arms and legs.  And, of course, the bug spray we’d packed was inconveniently located back in the van in Costa Rica. (Sigh.) We asked if the restaurant had bug spray. In Costa Rica, many restaurants, especially near the beaches, have bug spray available for their patrons. We weren’t in Costa Rica, and we weren’t even near the beach, but there were mosquitos.  The restaurant didn’t have bug spray but did offer to spray us with the bottle of alcohol that they were using for cleaning the tables. We politely declined, but Claudio stepped in and assured us that it would help. We didn’t feel like we could refuse. Although doubtful, we both stood still as the waiter sprayed our outstretched arms and legs from the table cleaning alcohol bottle.

After lunch we loaded ourselves into the van and drove to our next stop – the Nidiri Volcano – Crater Santiago. First, I am going to say that this was my favorite part of the tour.  I have never seen an active volcano before, and it is a very unique experience. Our van entered the park, where our guide paid an entrance fee, before proceeding up the mountain. We finally came to the parking lot, which was practically empty. We wandered over to the wall that overlooked the volcano. Steam was rising from it and we could make out the lava far below.

Claudio casually mentioned that probably this volcano wouldn’t be open to the public in Costa Rica, or other countries, due to the fact that the volcano was active. He also said that this is NOT a good spot to be when it rained. He told us the volcano attracts lightning and the rain mixes with the sulfur from the volcano and makes acid rain.  Good to know. It was later I noticed a sign that suggested that you shouldn’t really stay more than 20 minutes. By the time I saw it, we’d been there much longer than that.

Claudio showed us a trick to get a selfie looking down into the crater.

The view of the countryside was also fantastic.  We got some incredible photos, although they just don’t do it justice. 

The final stop on the tour was the Mirador de Catarina. As we drove to it, I noticed that one of my nails was ragged. Of course, my emery board was in Costa Rica. (Sigh.) I gnawed on it without trying to attract too much attention.

From the Mirador de Catarina we could see a dormant volcano crater and Lake Nicaragua. There are rows of long benches where you can sit and look out at the view.

We were interrupted frequently by vendors walking by. We politely said, “No Gracias” (“No Thank you.”)  Finally, one young guy stopped and said in English, “if you are not going to buy something, say it the right way – no lo necesito.”  The English translation is “I don’t need it.” I do know how to say that in Spanish, but it seemed more impolite. We’ve been told many times from multiple sources, that confrontation is to be avoided, so we thought we were being direct, but still polite. That wasn’t working here, so after that, we started saying what he had suggested, and admittedly, it was more effective.  

The mirador was the last official sightseeing stop on the tour. We got back in the van and started driving back toward the border, which was quite a ways away.  Claudio surprised us with gifts – maracas!  We each took one.  Upon closer examination, we discovered that they were engraved with our names, and none of us had the one that matched who we were. A quick exchange corrected that.

We did stop at a gas station in order to avail ourselves of the services, only to find that they were closed.  This seemed like a regular stop for Claudio and he was surprised by the closure. We loaded ourselves back into the van and drove on a bit further to a grocery store. The grocery store was nearer the border. Like the Nicaraguan roads, we were surprised by how nice it was – well-lit, wide aisles, set up similar to what you would expect from a smaller grocery store in the US.  The bathroom facilities were also decent – probably much better than the gas station would have been. We took advantage of the available groceries and bought a few snacks for the drive back, as dinner was NOT included in the tour.

It was nearing sunset when we arrived back at the “White Penis” border, and not surprisingly, it was rainy there.  Still, Costa Rica welcomed us with a rainbow!

Our exit from Nicaragua was non-eventful. We had all of our paperwork on our phones for our re-entry into Costa Rica.  When we were reunited with our original van we were happy to find that all of our belongings were still there, as well as our original driver. (Sigh … of relief!)

It started to rain hard on the drive from the border back to our homes in Costa Rica. We were thankful we weren’t driving as our driver expertly managed the drive back in the dark and the rain.

We were stopped at a police checkpoint before we hit Liberia. In Costa Rica, you just have to be prepared for police checkpoints. Claudio seemed unconcerned and kept chatting with us, as the driver showed the policeman his driver’s license. I do think the driver was a bit irritated with Claudio, as he had to interrupt him to ask him to please get additional documents from the glove box to present to the policeman.  Claudio did so without a break in whatever he was saying. The policeman looked at the documents, flashed his light in the van at us, seemed satisfied, and let us continue on our way.

As our tour concluded, Claudio was sure to let us know that if we were interested in touring again, either to Nicaragua or other places, we could reach out to him directly and gave us his contact information. (As it turns out, we did reach out to him for a tour – stay tuned for future posts on that trip!)

By the time we were dropped off at our house, it was well past 9 pm and we were exhausted. It had been a long day, but productive, as we had accomplished our requisite border run, and experienced a new country!