Managua, Nicaragua: A Pleasant Surprise

By far, I think one of the coolest things about traveling is that your plans are always changing and you never really know what to expect. As I rode into Managua on the bus, the area seemed less and less like a big capital city, and more like one big barrio in which the poverty had been laid bare. I was totally stunned as we passed an area that I could only describe as a “tent city” where people lived in homes completely constructed out of garbage. There was a fire burning in the middle of the tent city, and it definitely looked like a place that if you walked into, you would not be walking out of. The bus pulled up to the Tica station in Barrio Martha Quezada and it was starting to get dark, so I knew that I had to find a place to stay FAST; because the absolute last thing I wanted to do was to be walking around in the barrio at dark looking for a room.

So I grabbed my gear and headed down the street to a hostel that was in my guide book. I managed to get about ½ way down the block when a guy from the street came up to me and started badgering me about a place to stay that he knew about, that was safe, and really cheap. Now normally I would not stop and listen to some guy from the street who was obviously stoned out of his mind when it’s getting dark in the middle of the absolute worst neighborhood I have ever been in my life, but what the hell. As it turns out, the hostel he was talking about was right next door to the one I was going to anyway, so I decided to check it out. Apparently, for every person these street guys refer from the bus stations the hostels give them a dollar, so I could see why he was so eager to help me.

It tuned out to be Hostel Dulce Suenos and it was absolutely fantastic. The hostel had a really nice common area with a TV, a bar, and little kitchen, and stairs that lead up to a roof deck with hammock and a little table and chairs. I also had a really comfortable room, so I was happy. I settled in, and as it turns out there were some really cool people staying there too. So, we all introduced ourselves and I found out that 2 of the girls at the hostel were working in Nicaragua on various projects to help the people in this country, and another one was an anthropologist doing research and was going to be living in a remote village for a couple of months with the indigenous people, which I thought was really cool.

As our little group headed out for dinner a few blocks away, to what would become my favorite place to eat in Managua “Café Sara”(she makes the most amazing fresh juice smoothies, and curry chicken…OMG), I had asked one of the girls if it was safe where we were going and if we should maybe take a taxi to the restaurant. Now, I know everyone has encountered at least one person in their life who “always has to be right” or who always “has to know everything” because I have encountered several in my time; and why people are like this I have no idea. Anyway, after I asked if we should take a taxi to the restaurant because the area appeared to me to be super dangerous, the girl snapped back at me “are you kidding me!? Its only 3 blocks and you want to take a taxi?! Blah blah blah” like I’m some sort of imbecile or something, and I’m thinking, “given the fact that this place looks like a hell hole and the streets are pitch black…YES, I would like to take a taxi!”. But I figured that she must know the area, and that she probably knows what she’s talking about as far as safety goes, so I just said, “Ok, just asking because I’m not familiar with this place yet, tranqillo”. Well, half a block later she made the most interesting remark, “Hey did you guys know that a few months ago I was kidndnapped from here”.

“RED ALERT”, “RED ALERT”….ALL CREDIBILITY HAS BEEN LOST!!!!

So needless to say, after I heard that I managed to defy millions of years of evolution with in that half block, and became the first human being ever on the plant to actually grow eyeballs in the back of his head.

After dinner the 4 of us ended up buying a bottle of “Flor de Cana”, which is a damn fine bottle of Nicaraguan rum, and went back to the hostel for a few drinks. A few of us sat around until the early hours of the morning on the roof deck sipping on rum, joking about the “safety expert” in the group, and trading stories of our travels and experiences while enjoying the nice cool Nicaraguan breeze. It was really great, and just what I needed.

When I had arrived in Managua from San Salvador earlier that night, I had planned on leaving the next day for Costa Rica, but it’s funny when you open up and talk to people and start to find out what their all about, sometimes you get some really good insight on life. Sitting around that table that night with the rum I guess one of my new friends must have noticed that I had been rushing through my trip in Central America trying to make it down to Colombia and she gave me some really good, simple advice, and that was “to just take it easy”. She was right, after days on the bus, and days of traveling down from Belize, and back through Guatemala, through El Salvador and Honduras, I just needed to settle down and relax for a while. And that’s exactly what I did. I found some great people to hang out with and wouldn’t you believe it, ended up settling down for a few days and having a great time in a place that I would never have believed it possible to…