Rivas, Nicaragua

Rested and reinspired from watching ¨James Bond; Casino Royale¨ on TV, Max and I were up at 4am and again walking with our packs over the sidewalked beach to the bus stop. Turns out headrests are really underappreciated. I found my appreciation for them on the cramped ride to Liberia, our last hiccup before transfering to a bus to reach the Nicaraguan border.

Imagine Disneyland. Now strip away the fun, the laughter, and Mickey Mouse. Whats left? basically, the Nicaraguan border with its long lines and hysteria. Leaving Costa Rica was relatively easy. Our only dilemmas were dodging the locals who were trying to sell us the free identification forms or change our colones into cordobas. The Nicaraguan side was not near as efficient. only a little luck (it seems the last of it) would help us get by.

On the Nicaraguan side I hustled a taxi driver whose brother would drive us to Rivas. We settled on a price and he then began to do some hustling of his own. Turns out he cut a deal with a friend of his who has a border stamp that appears to be official. In order to bypass the long lines, literally consisting of 100+ people, he suggested we just use his friend. I sternly relayed the message that we had to cross officially and we queued up at the tail of the human snake. Chaos would follow.

All of a sudden three new border officials opened stations at the far end of the border area. My driver yelled at me to get in line. People began running like a scene out of ¨War of the Worlds.¨ With my travel bag on my back and backpack in hand I sprinted past the smaller Costarriceneses. My adrenaline was still pumping when I realized I was now holding a place only 5 people from the front of a new line. I had shaved 2 hours off our wait.

The pace of the puebla of Rivas was alot different than our initial welcome to Nicaragua. It is a small town that caters to travelers heading to or from Costa Rica. This place resembled Mexico more than any other place so far on our journey. When I had the opportunity to see the town I sat in the plaza and watched the kids play on bikes, skates, and swings. A beautiful pigtailed toddler in an oversized church dress sat down next to me to watch the ongoings. There is a beautiful charm to the people of Rivas. I had no idea upon arrival how thankful I would become for the local charm and hospitality.

Max got sick. After a chicken meal and some internet it hit him, and it hit him hard. The event was not without its drama, as that night a huge rainstorm hit our hotel. I slept in 2 hour intervals checking his vitals intermittently as only a good doctor would. The following day the older ladies who ran our hotel helped me to convince a restaurant owner to concoct a special chicken soup for him. The illness passed. It was a tough fight, not self-inflicted like my own, but he fought it like Ali did Frazier and he ended up knocking it out in 24 hours. We lost a day and San Juan del Sur. No big deal.

The following day we caught a ferry to Isla de Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.