Adios, Nicaragua

Adios, Nicaragua. We said our goodbyes to the Terans and their enchanting country of lakes and volcanoes. Valeria could not have been a better guide. We spent Friday in Managua, where the scars of this nation's history are most evident in its near-abandoned main plaza. The ruins of the old cathedral, abandoned after a devastating earthquake in 1972, stand eerily between Sandinista shrines and disused government buildings. We later got the chance to tour the stately national theater, named for Ruben Diario. For good reason, I think, Nicaragua loves her poets better than her politicians.

Today we again woke at 3:30 to take the Tica Bus back to San Pedro Sula. The clerk at the Managua station tried to swindle an extra 100 cordobas from Rodrigo and I (about $5) but was thwarted not by our shrewdness at 4AM, but because we spent our last cords on a hammock dyed UVA-colors and Sandinista paraphernalia.

We had been warned that the situation back in Honduras was especially tense. While we were in Nicaragua the president, Zelaya, sacked the head of the joint chiefs in a bid for control of the army. This was condemned as unconstitutional by the country's congress and supreme court. Sr. Teran told us that soldiers were leaving their posts, and we might find unrest in the ramshackle capital.

We were twice detained at police checkpoints and had to submit our passports, although despite this we made better time between Managua and Tegucigalpa. Fortunately, our worst problems stemmed not from the tense political situation in the capital, but torrential downpours that washed out the road to the port of La Ceiba. So instead of heading straight out to the islands, we came back to El Progreso to spend the night with a suspicious-looking taxi driver angry that we had argued him down to a cut-rate fare. At one point during the trip he rummaged through the glove compartment, giving Rodrigo and I the same impression that he was about to pull his gun on us.

It was a long day, especially when you're running on a glass of milk at 4AM and a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies. Time for another vacation. So tomorrow will be another early morning, setting out to join our friends on the coast.