Granada

January 20. After a very long day we arrived in Managua. Bizarre, but we had to fly over Cuba twice to get here. From PV to Miami then we turned around and flew back to Nicaragua. It' just one of those traveling things i.e. it was cheaper to fly indirect than to go from PV to Managua. After taking a taxi to Granada we met up with Catherine and John. We are now in the land of hot and humid, but no hot water in the rooms. Nothing like a brisk shower to wake you up just before jumping into bed.

Granada reminds us of Cuba, minus all the neat cars. The people are kind, the cigars and rum are superb, especially when enjoyed from a beautifully handcrafted rocking chair. The casas are hidden behind 10 foot wooden doors, the inside of the casa's are beautiful, clean and usually have gardens with flowers and trees growing in an open court yard. Yes, Sheila is back to her old habit of smoking cigars. We could blame it on her recent retirement except that she started smoking in Cuba two years ago.

Like Cuba, the Russians left their mark in Nicaragua. The most obvious is a dry docked hydrofoil on the fresh water lake(the largest in central America) next to Granada. The Russians could have been testing them out here in preparation to invade the US, or to defend their interests here (I made that up as I really don't have any idea). I did google the boat and it is true they cruised at close to 60 km/hr. Now it is rusting away, like the Russian empire.

Tonight there are a lot of fire crackers going off in the streets. Something to do with chasing away the bad spirits. Whatever it takes is fine with me!

We have spent the last two days making arrangements to travel to a remote part of the Nicaraguan jungle. I should clarify that Catherine has done most of the work. Such a great organizer! It helps that she speaks Spanish fluently. The process is made easier with Skype and Wi Fi.

We took a boat tour of a complex of small islands close to Granada. Saw lots of cool birds but the most unique island was called monkey island. I was pretty excited to see the island, maybe even walk around it and see monkeys in their natural habitat. What they don't tell you is that the island is about the size of a semi truck habituated with 4 monkeys and 3 mango trees. That's it. Having said that, the monkeys are pretty entertaining as they try to get as close to the boat as possible. Obviously they have been fed by the tourists. One on the monkeys jumps onto the boats and try's to get whatever it can put it's paws on. I'm pretty sure it's trying to escape from the island. Maybe it was voted off the island by the other monkeys. They were put there by some deranged veterinarian 4 years ago, just to see if they would survive. People never seem to learn. After getting back, our host at the casa took us up to an ancient crater for rum. Eight of us jumped in the back of a pickup for the 20 minute ride. No seat belts! Felt pretty weird.