Ham pizza without the ham.

  Jinotega, Nicaragua
Thursday, June 7, 2007

Thursday June 7, 2007 brought another beautiful morning.  The sky was a brilliant blue and massive white puffy clouds floated by sporadically.  The first order of the day was to hit the pool and relax.  We swam for nearly an hour before both of us were feeling a little water logged.   Showering up and packing the van, we were ready to hit town a few hours earlier today. We made a quick stop at the internet café to finish a few more website updates and then we were off for a tour of Esteli.  We were still having trouble with getting money from an ATM and finally we called Royal Bank to check up on things.  According to the bank, our card had been frozen and voided as the wrong password was used three consecutive times.  Not sure how that could happen, we asked what alternatives we had.  The answer was none.  The card is now useless until we return to Canada to reset the pin.  Luckily for us, we both brought our cards and we will be able to manage, otherwise that would have made travels a bit more interesting without access to cash.  To all our family and friends, this is forewarning that if our other bankcard becomes void from some reason we will calling for Western Union wire transfers.
 
 
A short tour of Esteli followed the internet café and we took some snap shots of the wall murals that depict revolutionary scenes.  The image is of common men turned soldiers all armed with pistols and rifles standing in a mass behind the red and black Sandinista flag.  Although some time has passed since the revolution, the people of the towns and villages are not soon to forget or let their sons and daughters be forgotten.  Esteli also includes a quaint central park, and as always in Spanish founded communities, the main town Cathedral is situated as the main focal point across the street. The church was all locked up when we rolled by, but we nabbed some quick snapshots of the impressive structure anyway.  About a block down the street we rolled by a pizza shop.  White House Pizza was a small clean restaurant with red and white checked table clothes complimented by bright red and white plastic chairs.  It was so charming that we had to stop and check out the menu.  For only a few dollars we were able to get a medium pizza that would easily fill the two of us.  We scoured the menu and finally settled on the Jalapeno Ham Pizza.  The toppings were to include jalapenos, onions, peppers and ham.  Sounded good to us.  We left the parlour and agreed to return in 20 minutes.  We had a few groceries to pick up so we were able to knock that off the list while waiting.  At the pizza shop, we were both so anxious to get back on the road that we paid and ran out the door with our hot and steamy pizza box.  It was not until sometime on the highway that we actually opened the box to find that the ham was mysteriously missing from our pizza.  It is not the worst thing to happen, but we were craving it.  The pizza came with small wrappings of fresh oregano and once there was a nice sprinkling over the cheese we dug in.  The pizza was absolutely amazing.  This may be due to the fact that we have not had pizza in eight months or so, but we both wholeheartedly believe it was just a darn good pizza.
 
 
Back on CA Highway 1 we rolled toward Sebaco on route to the mountains of northern Nicaragua.  Within less than fifty kilometres we reached a stop in traffic.  There were police everywhere directing traffic and onlookers from the nearby village lined the road.  We were motioned to stop and being the first vehicle in line we were able to see that there was an accident between a semi tractor and a bicycle.  The bicycle was still lying on the road in a twisted and decrepit state; however we were hard pressed to find a mark on the front of the rig aside from multiple splattered bugs.  There was no-one lying on the ground, so we assumed that the cyclist was able to get up and walk away or was thrown into an ambulance before we arrived.  The officer waved us on and we rolled forward and found nothing more to see as we passed the actual accident site.
 
 
The highway passed local farms and through small villages.  The one common theme that we saw was that the cattle and horses in Nicaragua seemed very malnourished.  The ribcage was clearly visible on every animal and their bodies were littered with scabs and open wounds.  It was a sad sight.  The town of Sebaco was not far from Esteli and we reached the turnoff in short order.  From Sebaco we headed up into the mountains toward Matagalpa.  The entire road was undergoing major construction between Sebaco and Matagalpa.  It was a nightmare of a road and thankfully it only lasted for 40km or so.  Traffic was frequently stopped to allow vehicles from each direction a turn to cross the single lane sections of road.  It took us over an hour to get to Matagalpa, but we continually tell ourselves it is better in 'Nilla than on a sweaty chicken bus.  Just before arriving in Matagalpa there is a cemetery on the east side of town built into the side of a mountain.  The grave plots were brightly painted in a variety of colours.  The entire area stood out enormously from the surrounding green and brown landscape.
 
 
We did not stop in Matagalpa and pressed on to Jinotega which is both a city and a province in Nicaragua.  It is the third largest land region in the country and borders with Honduras.  Jinotega is suitably named the 'misty city' as it is set in a high valley in the mountainous northern region of Nicaragua.  The lands around are filled with wildlife refuges and eco-friendly farms called 'fincas'.  The drive from Matagalpa was literally straight up hill and passed through the odd rural village.  Along one stretch of the road we had to stop as a cowboy in full garb was leading a train of cattle across the main highway.  Interesting!  The remainder of the drive winds around several curves where we were actually in the clouds.  Wisps of white clouds hung in the trees along the side of the road and would often trail out into our path.  We were both awestruck.   Jinotega is nestled in the valley surrounded by mountains on three sides and the Lago de Apanas to the northeast.  The area has one of the most pleasant atmospheres in Nicaragua and the savannah climate has an average temperature of 19°C to 21°C.  The main economic activity is coffee; however there are a variety of other crops.  The roadside stands are filled with colourful vegetables including sweet carrots, massive beets, lush heads of broccoli, and fresh crunchy lettuce along with staple crops of onions, tomatoes and peppers.  After eyeing the fruit and vegetable stands along the highway, we rounded one final bend in the road and the city of Jinotega came into full view.  We rambled down the mountainside and were in town in no time flat.  There was not much in the way of camping or even hostels listed our guidebook, however we were told that an internet café in the middle of town housed a small tourist office.  Again faced with no road signs, we indiscriminately picked a road to take toward town centre from the highway.  The choice was a poor one as the road was under construction a few blocks ahead of us.  In an attempt to avoid turning around, we turned left at the first side street.  It was another poor decision.  A small bridge in the road that crossed a storm sewer was partially heaved up out of the ground and 'Nilla took a solid impact to the rear section of the passenger side running board.  Nothing fell off, but the loud crash did arouse the locals who stared at us as we continued on down the road.  We inspected the damage and found only a small crinkle in the running board, but now it does wiggle as we drive.  No big deal...it is still attached.  The roads in Jinotega are constructed with large bricks and over the years with flooding and settlement of the land, the road now resembles flowing water.  There is nothing even about any stretch of any road.  We were tossed from side to side and up and down just driving the three blocks to the city centre.   It was insane.  Taxi drivers avoid the larger depressions and drive rapidly into oncoming traffic before shiftily cutting back into their own lane.  We just moved down our own lane at about 10km per hour and let the locals drive as they saw fit.  It was easier than trying to compete with them.
 
 
We found parking on the street and continued our search for the tourist information on foot.  Literally, we had to walk about a block and we ran right into it.  Obviously, we possess better navigational skills on foot than we do while driving.  The only options we received from the locals were to park at the fancy hotel for $20 USD or park down the street at the Esso Gas Station.  We opted to check out the Esso.  The friendly station worker named Oliver was quick to spot us trying to park and motioned us to a different area.  The charge to camp for the night was C$20, which is about $1.20USD.  That was more our style.  We had full use of the bathrooms and were right in the heart of the action.  The only downfall was that we needed to move the van out of the Esso lot by 6:00am to allow room for the garage workers to complete oil changes and other vehicle services.  Luckily we are early risers, well at least Michael is, and getting up to move would not be a huge inconvenience.
 
 
With time to spare before sundown, we headed out to take in some sights of Jinotega.  Seeing how the main attractions are landscape and wilderness there is not much to see or do in the actual town.  We walked to the Central Plaza; however it was a tad to dark to get any decent photographs.  Interestingly, the park was filled with a mix of palm trees and evergreens.  It was odd to see the two types of trees standing side by side.  The San Juan Cathedral across the street is painted white and stood out against the dark and cloudy sky.  We ventured into the cathedral to look around and not minutes later we began to hear singing coming from outside.  Sitting near the front of the cathedral we were a tad surprised when the singing voices slowly began to rise in volume and echo inside the church.  Looking back we saw a white clad priest surrounded by altar boys coming down a side aisle of the church, while the parishioners were filling up the seats from every direction.  We were officially part of Thursday night mass.  A bit befuddled, we slowly backed ourselves out of church through the steady inflow of parishioners and were not a disruption at all.  Phew!   Outside, we laughed at ourselves for having such luck.
 
 
Originally, the church in Jinotega was a simple building for a simple people, surrounded by rural green mountains enveloped in misty white fog.  The San Juan de Jinotega Cathedral was originally built in 1805, however has been rebuilt over the years; once in 1882, and again between 1952 to 1958.  The building was given the status of cathedral in 1983.  The cathedral houses splendid religious art and its claim to fame is the "Flagellated Christ" below the pulpit in the main sanctuary.  There are only three in the world and this is the only one in the Americas.   It is definitely worth a look.
 
 
Deciding that walking the streets was a safer bet, we rambled up and down the small brick stone roads and poked our heads into some of the small shops that were still open.  One of our favourite signs was for a dollar store that read: "Todo Por Un Dollar - Mas ...O Menos", which means "Everything For One Dollar - More or Less".  It cracked us up.  We were walking around between 6:00pm and 8:00pm and most stores were getting ready to close for the night.  As the shops dragged in their storefront displays and pulled the steel doors down, there were others setting up grills and loading tables with food along the sidewalk.  The street vendors were getting well prepared for the nightlife.  After walking around some more dimly lit streets, we finally found our way back to the main street that was home to most of the restaurants and bars.  It was still too early for any of the bars to be hopping; however the pool hall was filled.  The barbeque in front of the pool hall was spewing out smoke and the grill was loaded with all sorts of goodies including tacos, empanadas, enchiladas, and other assortments we did not recognize.  We decided to sample some local food and walked closer to get a better look.  The woman working the grill was very helpful and explained all the foodstuffs she was preparing.  We tried a round ball of dough filled with chicken, rice and potatoes.  Essentially, it was a massive chicken ball that had been fried and was now grilled to warm it up.  It was served on a banana leaf and topped with the typical salad of cabbage, tomatoes and onions.  In Jinotega, they also top there food with a hot pickled salad of cabbage and carrots along with hot sauce and fresh cream.  It may not have been the healthiest choice, but it sure was tasty.
 
 
Walking around some more we found ourselves eying yet another grill. This time Geraldine decided to try the fried cheese and was not disappointed.  The cheese here is quite salty and mixed with batter, and some dressing, was a wonderful snack.  Michael grabbed a beef and rice enchilada that again was fried then grilled.  Topped with salad, sauce and cream, he devoured the little treat in no time.  The sidewalk grills charge about 40 cents for one of these snacks.  It is a wonder how they even make money.  All snacked up we continued to walk around town as there was not much to do sitting inside 'Nilla at the Esso station.  We did not want to have all our lights on and draw attention to ourselves, so we avoided going home until bedtime.  Tired of walking, we ducked into the small cantina across the road from Esso.  We ordered some drinks and passed some time watching a horrible European movie dubbed in Spanish.  Even without understanding all of the words, the acting was horrific.  We nearly fell into hysterics when the fake blood used in the movie resembled 'Kool-aid' fruit punch.  How budget!  We decided to order a proper dinner as our snack food had slowly worn off.  We split a typical plate of barbeque beef, served with cabbage salad, and grilled plantains along with rice and beans.   One meal was certainly enough for the both of us.  The total cost including drinks was just over $2.  We watched a bit more of the movie before walking across the street to our campsite to retire for the evening.

A few more photos... http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=16xvaj2z.bxi6xwtz&Uy=-oe5dpq
&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0