I’ve been in Nicaragua for a week now and I’m happy to report that despite all this family time, no one has killed anyone. The first full day in Nicaragua was spent at a beach town, Pochomil. We didn’t do much other than swim in the pool and eat fresh seafood.
Last Saturday we found ourselves in Managua. We ate raspados, which are similar to a shaved ice, and we spent time visiting our family. I’d like to let everyone know that sibling rivalry never ends. My soon to be 90 year old grandfather and his 88 year old sister spent quite a bit of time arguing. If they were just a few years younger they would wrestled over whether or not a particular radio station is international or just national. They each also, had to inform everyone of their opinion the moment the other sibling left the room. It was hilarious watching how upset they each were over something so trivial.
Our small, 50 passenger, propeller plane to Corn Island
The Caribbean from the dive shop window.
Sunday we toured Managua with family that joined us from home. They have never been and we spent the day driving around the capital.
Monday we awoke at 3am! We had a 6:30am flight from Managua to Corn Island. The propellor plane was an easy ride and the beaches on the other side of that ride were beautiful. We landed on the island at 8am and by 9am I was putting on a wet suit and getting ready for day one of scuba diving.
Over two days, I dove 5 times. I went about 25m deep on my first dive. We played with an egg on the bottom. The pressure turns the yolk into a chalk like consistency. I saw barracudas, queen trigger fish and trump fish.
Dive two we worked on my buoyancy and played games on the bottom. We also floated upside down.
Dive three was the night dive. We took the boat out into the water as the sun was setting. It was me, my instructor and four other guys that work at the dive shop. I was nervous and they told me that they had greased up one of the guys so should a shark come along it would leave me alone for him. The jokes were just what I needed to get into the water. We saw lion fish, trumpet fish, more barracuda, and a sunken statue of the Virgin Mary.
Dives 4 and 5 happened the next day and I saw a nurse shark and a massive grouper. After my last dive, I surfaced and was told that I was almost officially Advance Open Water Certified. I only had one more test to pass. I climbed back on the boat and we headed back to the shop. My last test was to chug a beer. After all the beer I drank in Southeast Asia and the years of drinking in college, this was an easy test. I finished quickly and was officially done! I was also starving and exhausted. I had a big lunch and a very long nap.
Yesterday my dad and I rented scooters and rode the entire island in an hour. We got back on a plane and flew to Managua and hit the road to Granada. Today we went zip lining down the volcano Mombacho and toured the small islands in Lake Nicaragua. We had lunch at Kathy’s Waffle House, and as random as that choice was today, it was delicious. Tomorrow we are headed to the market and I plan on getting a massage. In other words, life isn’t very hard these days.
Strange Trails 