Leon, Nicaragua, and Tegucigalpa Redux

Sunday February 28. Woke up to the sound of surf. What an idyllic way to start the day! Washed up in the surf. We ate a light breakfast with the intent to get an early start driving, but beach culture had taken hold, and every action was unhurried. We eventually made it to town, bought ice, and turned tail on that little bit of paradise.

We rejoined the Pan American Highway and crossed the border into Nicaragua at Peñas Blancas. Our memory banks were not entirely erased, so we were able to navigate the two sides of the border more easily this time: just under an hour. Lake Nicaragua was even windier than the last time. Sharman was on the windward side, and had the window dilemma: closed it was too hot, and open it was too windy, and kept blowing her hat off. We turned off the PanAm highway just before Managua, west on the highway to Leon.

Leon is an old colonial city surrounded by volcanoes. It has a bit of the Old Havana flavor of faded glory. It is also a university town and a former hotbed for the Sandinista revolutionaries. It has been

A mural in Leon commemorating student militants and martyrs

discovered by the back-packer tourist set, but does not yet cater to high-end tourists. The first three lodgings we tried were all full, but the fourth hostel had a room for us. We walked around town looking for a Claro store, but found instead the family night life in full swing in the square in front of the cathedral, where mass was in progress. And we found our ceviche: delicious! Sea bass, marinated in just the right mix of lime, onion, red pepper and chilies, piquant, tender and succulent, served with the best plantain chips yet. Served in the front room of an old casa with a 20-foot ceiling, open to the street on one side and a central garden courtyard on the other. And with two beers, it was under US$10.

Back at the hostel we cooked curry for dinner in the shared kitchen.

Monday February 29. Stopped at the market on our way out of town to load up on lunch food and ice. We discovered a new fruit: cocotones: the size of a lychee, with a thick, glossy skin, a mango-lime pulp and a large seed. Jeny had to show us how to eat it: just chew it off the seed.

The highway crosses the border to Honduras near the Gulf of Fonseca. The coast and the estuary look very interesting on the map, but the guide book didn’t say anything enticing and our priority was to make it to Tegucigalpa, so we didn’t explore. It took three hours to cross the border. There was a bus-full of people ahead of us on the Nicaraguan side, and on the Honduran side a bossy French tour leader who insisted that everyone in her group cut in line ahead of us at immigration. Honduran customs said we had to get a new permit for the car--we couldn’t renew the old one—pay another US$35, and although we were the only ones there, it took him nearly an hour in the back room to prepare the paperwork.

We arrived in Tegucigalpa after dark but had no trouble navigating to Rosel’s house. (We are learning!) Jeny greeted us at the door, and Gina arrived soon after. We opened a bottle of red wine and heated up the leftover curry for dinner, and feasted on watermelon, cocotones and small mango madura for dessert. Gina’s boyfriend Ramon joined us and went to work by phone researching a place to take our car to get the windows polarized (tinted).

Police action in Tegucigalpa

Tuesday March 1. It was a treat to have a real toaster and raisin walnut toast with our sunny-side up eggs and OJ. (I later discovered that all the juice in the store has added sugar. Sigh.)

Gina and Jeny navigated our magic bus down to the window-tinting business Ramon’s friend had recommended. We chose a light tint, semi-mirrored on the outside to help reduce the solar heating in the van. What excellent service! Not only did the guy install the tint in a couple hours and charge L3,000 lempiras, but he gave us a ride downtown and washed the windows inside and out and whole car too!

We spent a couple hours exploring downtown, looking at the cathedrals, the pedestrian paseo, and the history museum, which also had a temporary exhibit on origami. Unfortunately, the art museum

Art installation over the paseo in Tegucigalpa Centro

—which is reputedly one of the best in Central America—was closed for renovations. The coolest thing we saw was a sunshade over the street made out of recycled soda bottles, each with an inch of colored water in the bottom. Because the bottom is fluted, the dye creates a flower shape. So it was like walking under an upside-down garden radiating light.

We were sorely disappointed to not find anything other than chain fast-food restaurants for lunch. We passed up Pizza Hut in favor of Mexitacos. Boy was that a mistake. The only vegetarian item on the menu was (lousy) French fries. There wasn’t even any rice or beans. It was hands down the worst meal of the trip, and in the running for the worst meal ever. But the pozol drink (like horchata) was quite good. Do all the Honduran downtown workers just eat fast food?

I should have brought my recorder, because the cacophony in the street was astounding. The horns honking, the engines revving, the hawkers calling, the store speakers blaring...

We picked up the van and drove out to the University where Gina studies. We walked around a bit, checked out the bookstore and food stalls and the college of arts and sciences. The students looked like university students everywhere, young, talking on cell phones, sleeping in hallways, and greeting friends. Gina introduced us to three of her professors: professors of French, Italian and English.

Home again for supper: red lentil soup and iceberg salad. The highlight was meeting Gina’s mother

Gina, Sharman, Didia and Jeny

Didia, who is very animated with lots of stories to tell, both personal and political. She told us that she grew up near the border of El Salvador, and they processed their own cacao. She likes to eat the whole beans, though they are bitter. When she told us about her favorite beverage made from powdered cacao, maize and cinnamon, we realized we had bought some in Gracias. We fetched it and everyone enjoyed a cup, made up with hot milk.