Off to Nicaragua

We made our first journey to Nicaragua last Friday to renew visa for driving privileges.  We left around 3:30 am with our friends, Julio and Yesenia.  We arrived at the Peñas Blancas border crossing around 7:30 and began the inexplicable  process of getting into Nicaragua.  First, we were greeted by the money exchangers in the parking lot carrying wads of different currency.  We soon realized thar we would probably need some U.S. Dollars and decided it was better to use the ATM machine rather than accept the exchange rate offered by the money changers.  We also were surrounded by men trying to offer to help fill out documents for the crossing.  We accepted the services of one dude and then headed into the Costa Rica immigration building to get our exit visa stamped.  Next stop for me was the Aduana to get the papers cleared to cross the vehicle into Nicaragua.  We then drove to a checkpoint in between the Costa Rica and Nicaraguan immigration buildings to show our passports...we handed them to the same guy who had filled out our papers and he took all of the passports to the man sitting behind a desk under a makeshift checkpoint.  Next stop was to pay $1.00 each for some stamp which is then handed over to Nicaraguan immigration with $12.00 US dollars...no Colones or Cordobas (official Nicaraguan currency) accepted...go figure.  After about 15 minutes of haggling with the officer who insisted we had to stay in Nicaragua for a minimum of three days, we managed to convince him we were only going for the day....he insisted Nicaraguan law mandated a minimum of three days, but I suspect after he realized there was not going to be a forthcoming bribe, he relented and stamped our passports with the entry stamp.   We also had to get permission and pay $27.00 for one day of car insurance before having all our papers in hand to proceed to the next stop which was to show all the papers to another dude.  Finally, we drove through the dreaded, but compulsory spraying of the car...not sure what the spray is for, but we made sure the a/c was off and all windows closed.

After a 45 minute drive north on very nice roads we arrived in Rivas.  Since Julio and Yesenia had to go to the bank and Costa Rican Consul for some business, the hubby and I went in search of food.  On the way into Rivas, Julio had hired the services of a taxi, which is actually a rickshaw driver on a bike, to bike ahead of us and escort us to the Consul building.  We then left the car at the park and went with the rickshaw driver to tour the backstreets in search of food.  An old man on a bench said he would "watch our car for us" while we were gone.  

Our driver asked if wanted "simple food" to which my hubby responded too quickly, "si."  Little did he know that meant just beans, rice, and fried eggs.  The driver stopped at three holes in the wall and would shout to the cook if the food was ready.  After two "no's" we ended up on a side street at a joint with three tables and hundreds of flies!  The food was surely simple, and very cheap...less than $5.00 for both of us.  We headed back to the park and the car.  When we arrived at the park, the car guard was fast asleep on the bench so we took off smiling at the "guard!"  Must have been siesta time.

We were on our way back to Costa Rica two hours later and went through the whole process in reverse with a couple of extra bribes since the Nicaraguan agent insisted we did not stay in Nicaragua the mandated minimum of three hours...three days, three hours...what is it with threes?  Anyway, an $11.00 bribe which was the exact change we should of received from our $50 US dollar bill seem to meet the requirement of the officer to place the exit stamp on our passports...funny how that works!

On our way home we stopped in at the Three Hermanas Restaurant about two hours from home to enjoy a delicious meal.  While dining we saw three beautiful macaws fly overhead.  The waiter told us the macaws roost at the restaurant across the road where they were raised and released.

On our final stretch home the traffic came to a stop.  A bus had been involved in an accident which caused delays each way.  While we were stopped we noticed a bunch of loud howler monkeys in the trees next to the highway.  It was quite special to see them all along a stretch of road.  They really are loud, hence their names!

We finally made it home around 7:30 pm and could only think of falling into bed and sleeping.  

 I was really touched by the evident poverty as soon as you enter Nicaragua and the irony of how nice the roads were, but very few cars traveling them.  I also realized how lucky so many of us are not to have to stand in long lines outside the consul in the hot sun waiting for paperwork to be stamped.  Our rickshaw driver, like many others I saw were young men who clearly have very few employment and education opportunities in an impoverished country.