Travelblog LA#26: Nightmare Border Crossing at Peñas Blancas – Nicaragua

25th August, 2023

 

When I posted my last blog I thought that it would be the last account of my time in Nicaragua but that turned out to be wrong, as I met a bit of trouble as I was leaving the country which I will cover here.

I mentioned previously that entering Nicaragua was a weird experience. Their border control system was pointlessly clunky and inefficient, which made it way longer than it should have been and an altogether frustrating experience. Well, it turned out that leaving was even more of an ordeal.

I suspect one of the reasons that their border control is so slow – besides the lack of streamlining – is that the software the immigration officers use is outdated, and they need to input a lot of data manually. Just as it seemed that my turn was about to finally come, a man jumped in front of the queue. And he was not just any man; he was a man with an entire folder of documents with him and bearing a confrontational expression. He began making a long speech to the officer, and I immediately know that my wait had just got much, much longer.

This was just the beginning of my ordeal. It was after I got my passport stamped that the problems truly began.

One thing that I mentioned during my account of entering the country from Honduras was that – despite how much time they spent faffing – they didn’t do what you would think to be an essential and checked our luggage. They let us keep them on the bus, and even the vehicle didn’t get an inspection.

Well, for some reason I still don’t understand, it was only when I was leaving the country that they finally felt this urgent need to scan my bag. Weird, I thought, but whatever. You do you, Nicaragua. This is not something I was concerned about. It is not like I am a drug mule. A part of me thought that, perhaps, they might have a problem with the cheese sandwich I had brought with me for lunch and make me throw it away. That was the only thing I anticipated being an issue.

But, after my stuff went through the conveyor belt, a woman confronted me. She said it was over something electronic and my first instinct was to go through my daypack (which has all my valuables) but it was my main backpack that she was gesturing to. It took me a while to figure out what she could be talking about – as I couldn’t remember anything of that nature being in there – but eventually, after some thinking, I asked her if she meant my case of electronic cigarettes.

What followed was an infuriating amount of drama that I will try to not make it too long-winded.

At first, I was just in disbelief. I just kept repeating to her that it was an e-cigarette. You’ve surely seen one of these before, right? They’ve been around for over a decade now. I have seen them being used by other people in Nicaragua. I have seen then being sold in Nicaragua. I have travelled dozens of countries with mine and it has never been a problem. After a while, I wondered if it was because she suspected it might contain illegal substances, so I reassured her the liquid contained a tiny bit of nicotine and some flavouring, that’s all. But, weirdly, she seemed much more concerned about the batteries and the device itself, than the liquid.

Anyway, she made me fill out a brand-new form – the same one I had filled before getting my passport stamped – but this time declaring my e-cigarettes, and I naively thought that this would be the end of the problem, but, after I completed it, she then led me to the other side of the building to speak with another department.

By this point, I was getting annoyed at how tedious this was all becoming, and I was also worried the bus that was waiting would leave without me. When I spoke to the next representative I told them I was happy to just throw the electronic cigarette away if it meant I could get on with my day and they would not waste any more of my time. To which he told me that they indeed are going to throw my electronic cigarette away – that much was certain – but they were going to add insult to injury and waste even more of my time preparing an official document to record the destruction of my property.

And from there, things just got increasingly ridiculous. I then had to be escorted to yet another department which was in a building on the other side of the car park. He walked me there very slowly and I told him about the bus. “Don’t worry,” he replied dismissively (in Spanish). “It will wait for you”. Which was a stupid thing to say because – unless he was telepathic – he had no way of knowing such a thing.

I then had to give my details to another official so that they could prepare this ever-so-important document, and he did so languidly. I was really angry and frustrated by this point and – as he typed away at his keyboard – I just kept thinking about my bus. I knew that I had to temper myself to limit the risk of further complications but I didn’t get it. I was leaving the country, not entering. They had already stamped me out. Why did they care? Why are they wasting all this time and energy over an e-cigarette? Everything about it was so infuriating.

And, it turned out they were indeed lying about the bus; by the time they finally let me go, it had given up waiting. I was merely lucky enough to catch the moment that turned a corner and I had to race to catch up with it, whilst carrying all my things.

So, yeah, that is the bulk of the story. I know that as far as travel stories go it is not exactly the most dramatic, and I wasn’t – to my knowledge – in any danger. Just thought I would share as I try to cover both the good and the bad of my journey in this blog, and perhaps sharing this experience might help someone who plans to travel to Nicaragua.

Out of all my years of travelling, this was certainly the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened to me at a border (and that includes the absolute clown I once had to deal with at Kuala Lumpur airport), and I would be lying if I said it didn’t leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth when I now think about Nicaragua. This sentiment is not directed at the people of Nicaragua – most of the ones I interacted with during my stay were lovely – but the immigration control at Peñas Blancas clearly needs to grow up. When I posted about it on social media many of my Latin American friends told me that they were not surprised; the Nicaraguan dictatorship is famously inefficient as much as it is corrupt.

In all honesty, Nicaragua’s political situation isn’t something that I knew too much about. Regular readers will know that I usually do some research into the countries that I visit but Nicaragua was a last-minute decision for me so I was going in blind on this occasion. I did notice that some of the people I met during my short time there spoke to me quite scathingly about the dictatorship they were under – always with a hushed tone as if they were scared of the repercussions of doing so too loudly.

And I just want to also say that this is not me saying I regret coming here. Like many places in the world, Nicaragua is full of wonderful people who deserve a much better ruling class. If you are a Gringo reading this and thinking of coming; don’t let this put you off, but I would certainly advise people to maybe do a bit more research than I did, and be particularly careful when crossing the borders here.

When I reached Costa Rican side it was – like all over immigration services in Latin America, besides Nicaragua – a breeze. I handed over my passport, they scanned it, asked me a few questions and then stamped me in. They also scanned my bag but saw nothing in there to have reason to hold me up. This was especially satisfying because, you know what I will take as a small victory?

The case of e-cigarettes they confiscated was just my in-use one. They missed my backup supply. So here’s to you, Nicaraguan Immigration. You weird, creepy, control freak.

 

Travelblog LA#25: Granada (Part 2) – Nicaragua

20th – 24th August, 2023

 

For those of you who are not regular readers; the first two days of my time in Granada were covered in my previous blog – where I visited places within the city – whilst this blog is going to be an account of the time spent afterwards; when I used it as a base to explore other attractions just a stone’s throw away.

 

Laguna Apoyo

This was the first place that I visited and I did so with a friend I made who had a car. Our first stop that morning was to a village called Catalina that overlooks the lake.

As you are probably beginning to suspect; yes, this is an extinct crater. That is not the only thing that is interesting about this lake, however; it also happens to be almost two hundred meters deep – despite being only four miles in diameter – and has thermal vents at its base which keeps the waters comfortably warm.

We spent most of the day relaxing at one of the beaches there. I read a book, ate some lunch, and went for an occasional swim. Due to the authorities having strict rules on development and a ban on motorised boats on the lake, the waters are crystal clear. I have read that there are some scuba diving and snorkelling opportunities, but I am not exactly sure where they are. I didn’t see many fish in the spot we were in. I was happy to have a day to relax.

 

Mombacho Volcano

This is a feature that overlooks Granada, but I never got to see its entire outline because it is almost constantly shrouded by clouds. Getting there was relatively easy; I just caught a chicken bus to a village called Guanacaste, and from there a tuk-tuk to the entrance. Note for travellers; the drivers will try to charge you an outrageous amount of Gringo Tax but at the time of writing this it should cost no more than thirty cordobas.

Speaking of Gringo Tax; I was surprised to find that the paved road did not end where the tuk-tuk driver dropped me off (which was at a car park). It goes on much further. Almost goes all the way to the top of the volcano. But, the authorities have created a system that goes something like this.

When you speak to the tuk-tuk driver, they will ask you where you are going. If you say you want to do the Miravalle Canopy Tour for ziplining (which is about two-thirds of the way up the mountain). That is fine. The tuk-tuk will take you there.

But, if you are going to the crater for hiking, the tuk-tuk is only permitted to take you to the ‘car park’ (which is one-fifth of the way up the mountain). But don’t worry the park has its own ‘Mombacho Express’ service which will take you the rest of the way for a whopping $22.

Which is… hmmm. What word shall I use here?… Convenient? Yeah, let’s go with ‘convenient’.

Suffice to say, what this means is that the people who are on short holidays – and have money to splurge – use the ‘express’ service whilst budget backpackers like myself end up walking.

(I do wonder what would happen if someone claimed they wanted to go zipline but *cough* ‘changed their mind’ when they arrived? There might be a way to cheat the system, perhaps.)

After a couple of miles of walking uphill, I was pleasantly surprised when a truck that was passing me by stopped and offered me a ride. It was some of the rangers who worked in the park.

It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? No matter where you go in the world a lot of things remain the same. The people who invented this ‘system’ at Mombacho are probably just some miserly white-collars sitting at a desk somewhere miles away. The people who actually work here day to day are kind and happy to help.

When we reached the top of the crater, the change was dramatic. I had only been sitting in the truck for a few minutes and it was like I was in a different world. I went from hot humid air and sunshine to it being cool. Mist wafted all around us, the sky was grey and cold gusts of wind kept blowing through all the trees. The rangers told me to go into their office where I paid a small fee and they told me a bit about its park and its trails.

A few minutes later I was walking along a trail around the crater.

Although, you wouldn’t have known it with the air being so foggy. Very early in I came across a mirador that overlooked the crater, and here was the view.

Which I think is the rule rather than the exception. I wasn’t disappointed because the cloud forest was one of the most beautiful I have ever been to, full of colourful bromeliads and mossy trees.

And when I first entered, I thought it was raining but it wasn’t. The trees were wet and it was the wind disturbing them. I was by myself the entire walk and it was a very eerie experience.

This trail also has a few other features beyond the cloud forest. There is a little canyon that leads you closer to the crater edge.

And towards the end, there is a secondary trail that you can divert for a while that leads you to some geothermal vents. During the journey, you eventually leave behind the trees and enter a moor.

And once you arrive, you can get up very close to one of the vents and feel the warm air belching from it.

On my way back down, another ranger passed me and also offered me a lift but I decided to walk, which allowed me to see lots of birds, including this cuckoo.

 

Masaya Volcano

This was something that I did as a tour one evening. The bus picked me up from my hostel at 4 pm and it was less than an hour away.

When we reached the car park I was surprised to discover that it was not just one crater that we would be visiting but several. Our first stop was to look into one called Santiago which is still active.

And from there it was just a short walk away to another crater called San Fernando, which is much bigger but dormant. It is now filled with a forest.

Whilst walking along its crater you can see more views of Santiago Volcano.

As well as Laguna Apoyo.

Towards the end of the tour, you return to Santiago just as the sun is going down so that you can see the lava roiling as the sky darkens.

 

A Change of Plans

I have been forced to make another alteration to my itinerary, but this time it is a bit unfortunate. My daypack is broken. I heard it crack when the truck I caught a lift up Momacho Volanco went over a bump, and didn’t think much of it at the time but then a couple of days later – whilst on the tour at Masaya – the back support snapped. This isn’t something that can be fixed, and Granada doesn’t have the kind of shops where I will be able to find a suitable replacement.

Originally, I was planning to head to Ometepe Island on Lake Cocibolca for a few days but my main plans there involved some strenuous hikes to the summits of volcanoes. This is not something I can realistically do without a functioning day pack – to carry my water as well as other gear. Also, my daypack is what I use to carry my valuables when I am in transit and I don’t want to make a complicated journey – involving a least four buses and a boat – with it flopping around.

So, I will now be heading to Costa Rica earlier. Its capital city – San Jose – is my first stop and it should have what I need. It is very disappointing that I won’t be able to see as much of Nicaragua as I originally intended but – as far as travelling hitches go – it could be much, much worse. I wasn’t going to see any of this country originally so I am going to think of the little of it I have seen as a bonus and not dwell.

I am at the latter stage in my travels now, and am running low on funds and some of my gear is starting to fail on me. The backpack is not the only thing. My shoes and sandals are both almost worn out, and I am currently typing this blog on a keyboard with a few of its keys not working. My digital camera – which was second-hand and kindly given to me by my parents – is also starting to malfunction. The backpack and sandals need replacing immediately, whilst I think the shoes I might be able to get a few more weeks out of them. The keyboard I am just going to live with them, as the specific keys not working are an annoyance but not ones that stop me from being able to blog. I probably won’t replace the digital camera as I am too late into the trip for it to be worth it; I take most of my photos on my smartphone anyway so the only difference you will notice is a lack of my amateur wildlife photography. Perhaps some of you will be relieved.

I am not saying this as a cryout for help. I do have enough money to get through the rest of this trip but I just want this blog to reflect all aspects of this journey. When you are backpacking on a low budget and with no income, finances can get stressful. It feels like a board game; you have a certain amount of money but need to find a way to get to the end, and I have just landed on a few fines that I need to pay. I will get to the end, though.

 

For more photos from my time in Granada, click here.

 

Travelblog LA#24: León & Granada (Part 1) – Nicaragua

16th – 19th August, 2023

 

My time in Honduras was short but memorable; I was there for just under three weeks and yet they were some of the most rewarding of this journey. From the majestic ruins of Copan to the bird-watching paradise of Lake Yojoa, and the island of Utila – where I treated myself to some scuba diving – Honduras was a country that kept surprising me. I will look back on it fondly.

For the next few weeks, I will be travelling fast again. Nicaragua and Costa Rica were not in my original itinerary, but I added them on when I realised that I had extra time to spare and flights from San José to Mexico City are cheap. My last day in Honduras was spent in a minibus, heading south. Mostly, over the last couple of months, I have been using cheap local buses but on this occasion I booked one of the touristy shuttle services. This service was fast, air-conditioned, and for the first eight hours there were just three of us so we got to spread out and it felt very luxurious. When we reached San Lorenzo we picked up a dozen more gringos who had just transferred from another shuttle service from Guatemala.

I have often commented on how swift and easy most border crossings in Latin America have been, but this one was an exception. I will first say that it wasn’t in any way dangerous, and I have certainly endured much worse when I was travelling through Asia, but entering Nicaragua was a strange experience due to how pointlessly inefficient it seemed. First, we all had to hand over our passports and fill out a form, and then wait a while. When we received our passports back they were still not stamped. We were then told to form a queue. When each of us had our turn at the kiosk we were asked a series of questions – mostly ones that we had already answered in the forms we had just filled out but since disappeared – whilst they tapped away at their keyboards for several minutes. Then passports vanished again for several minutes to finally get stamped. It took over an hour for less than twenty of us, and the strangest thing about it all was that – despite all that processing time – they did not do what you would think would be the most important thing and scan/search our bags. Those they trustingly let us keep on the minibus during the whole affair.

I arrived at León at around 11 p.m., where I checked into my hostel, had a shower, and climbed into my bunk. It had been a long day, but that shuttle service had shot me like a bullet across hundreds of miles, saving me two days of slowly trawling my way across the breadth of Honduras in tin can buses that would have stopped every mile or so. It got me to where I wanted to be.

I began exploring León the following. It is Nicaragua’s former capital, but unlike many former capitals in this part of the world, it has endured the relentless earthquakes. By the mid-twentieth century, Managua became Nicaragua’s new capital whilst León has so far managed to cling on to being its second most populous city.

Despite this, Nicaragua isn’t a hugely populus country, so the pace of life feels slow here. It is still small enough for everything to be within walking distance. Many travel guides claim that León’s historic centre makes it a rival for Nicaragua’s primary hotspot; Granada.

Its Cathedral – La Basílica de la Asunción – is the central feature of the city and is a mixture of neo-classical and baroque styles. It is said to be the largest in Central America and is also a UNESCO Heritage Site.

León is home to several other charming churches, which I spent much of the morning wandering between. I also paid a visit to Centro de Arte Fundación Ortíz Gurdián; an impressive art museum that I regard as a must-see for those visiting. It is located in a series of buildings near the plaza, and the paintings – which span across many different styles and periods – are split between several different rooms and courtyards.

The last attraction from León that I would like to mention is the Museum of Traditions and Legends. This place is very quirky and has very mixed reviews if you look at places such as Google or TripAdvisor. I can see why. Many of its displays are tacky or a bit decayed and could do with some love, but I appreciated it. The building is actually a former prison from the Somoza dictatorship, and some of the displays – as well as artwork depicted on the walls – do pay homage to that period, as well as its victims.

But, most of the former cells – as well as the courtyard – are home to a series of paper-mâché mannequins in costumes. Many of them are depictions from Nicaraguan myths and legends.

After visiting this museum, I looked at the map of the city on my phone and realised that – in the space of one day – I had managed to see everything that I wanted to in León.

I am not saying this as a diss. And I hope that the account that I have given here – along with the pictures – does make it clear that it was an enjoyable day for me. I am just mentioning it here because – as I said before – some of the guidebooks are touting this place as a rival to Granada, which perhaps set my expectations higher than they should have been. León is a nice city. It is a place that does have some attractions to see whilst also not being overly touristy, so you can come here and feel like you have visited a ‘real’ Nicaraguan city. But I think that people trying to sell it as a ‘rival’ to Granada is a bit of an oversell. I originally saw myself staying here for longer, but rearranged my plans. If you are not doing any day trips to places outside of it, a day is more than enough time to see León’s sights.

So, the following morning, I went to Granada.

Which, as I have already stated, is much more touristy than León, but I am not one of those purist backpackers who automatically diss such places, as many of them are popular for a reason. Also, ‘Touristy’ in Nicaragua is on a much more low-key level than many other Latin American countries, and it is currently in low season anyway. The place was fairly quiet.

I spent my first two days exploring the town and its immediate attractions. Its cathedral is quite modern but charming. Unembellished yet elegant. I appreciated the murals on its ceiling.

More interesting, perhaps, are some of the churches outside of the plaza, which have endured centuries of earthquakes and are thus much older. Iglesia Nuestra Senora de Las Mercedes has a beautiful exterior.

And for a small fee, you can climb its tower for views of the city.

I think my favourite overall was Iglesia Xalteva, which has its own little plaza filled with stone sculptures.

And beautiful murals on the inside.

A place to certainly not miss if one comes to Granada is the San Francisco Convent Museum. I have a feeling that a lot of people who are either anti-religion or not too interested in history miss this, which is a shame because its name is quite deceptive. Yes, it is within the walls of an old convent, but that is not the primary focus of its exhibits. It is compartmentalised into five different museums. Some are historic in nature, but even a surprising amount of them are non-Christian in theme. It is home to a collection of pre-Colombian sculptures and pottery recovered from the local area, for example.

And as far as art goes; yes, there is a very small section dedicated to religious paintings from colonial times. I personally – despite not being Christian myself – appreciate religious art, but I was also pleased to discover that this place is home to many other forms.

I particularly enjoyed its section on ‘Nicaraguan Primitivism’; a local movement that spawned within the twentieth century, where artists began to focus on nature, folklore, and animism and combined it with fantastical elements and surrealism.

This distinctive style is one that I recognised from my visit to the Centro de Arte Fundación Ortíz Gurdián in León, and it also caught my attention then. It seems to be popular here.

I like it very much, for its bright colours and exquisite detail. It is a style that has made a big impression on me.

And that just about covers my first two days in Granada, but I am not quite done with this place yet because beyond the town itself are many other attractions that are just a stone’s throw away; all of which I will be visiting in a series of daytrips that will be covered in my next blog.

 

Click on these hyperlinks for more photos from León and Granada.