ryanrowe.com * so, what's nicaragua like?

Hey hey hey to all of you out there! And a Happy Birthday to David V, with whom I just spent an adventure-filled 20 days in Costa Rica and Panama!

ryanrowe comin' at you from Panama City. On Monday I'm headed into Colombia to start 5 months of studying as an exchange student! Mucho thanks to Isabelle at Concordia (by the way, I'm travelling right now with Sasha Herman)! Geraldine and Fred, thanks to the both of you for some wicked advice!

While I may be in Panama City right now, this update covers only my time in Nicaragua. It's long because I don't want to skip telling you about what Nicaragua is like. If you want more real-time updates, just check out my website www.ryanrowe.com which has news every 3-4 days. You can also scroll backward or check the archives to see the updates from the period of time I was in each country. The style there is also a lot different from what you'll find in these emails!

This email is dedicated to XIOMARA S., a friend of mine in Montreal, who is originally from Nicaragua. She provided me some great advice on places to visit and gave me contact information for some family she has still living there. Unfortunately, time and money constraints left me with only 4 days to visit Nicaragua. That's not going to stop me from telling you about it though, as well what there is to see there, what I managed to do, and what I want to do if I head back through Nicaragua again.

It was also Xio who answered a question in my last email about how Honduras got its name.

..."Honduras - the word suggests deepness because if you look at the word in fractions, the 1st part "HONDU" seems to include a part of the word "hondo", Castillian for "deep". Therefore, the word, as words often have been, was modified to suggest deepness for the remaining part of the word. Honduras then is depths (plural for deep) and in spanish it must have been changed to Honduras to illustrate those prominent images of that country (in plural) ..."

So...first of all... What do you think of when you hear NICARAGUA? Guns? Dennis Martinez? Iran-Contra? I'll tell you what I think of these and more.

In fact, I saw fewer guns in Nicaragua than any of the other Central American countries I've visited (I missed only El Salvador). In Honduras, and some parts of Mexico (specifically Chiapas), I saw armed guns on every street corner, in front of every bank, pharmacy, and supermarket. Why so much security? Perhaps crime is high, or police-response is slow and apathetical. Or maybe both? In fact, this is probably true. Underfunded and undertrained police forces are often supplemented with public security. These security guards are allowed to carry sidearms, AK-47's, and rifles. Another confusing thing I have noticed is the TYPES of police forces. There are tourist police, transit police, national police, municipal police, and military police.

I am not going to sit here and say this is wrong. This may be the solution they've come up with to protect their citizens. I've spent about a month and a half in Central America and I'm in no position to pass judgement on what is effective and what isn't. I haven't even questioned the police force about how their hierarchy works (maybe the question would be insulting to them!). So, of course it's confusing to me. I would like to learn more about Latin-American social structure and culture, but the trouble is, as a tourist, you miss the local events, the news that's passing around town, and the fights on the street corner. I hope to avoid this in Cartagena.

It is interesting to note that many of the post-conflict Central American countries have a high amount of gun ownership among civilians. Check out this website:

Central America: Civilians Armed to the Teeth

What do you think of gun control?
The Right to Bear Arms
The second article presents an argument for gun ownership, saying that first and foremost, guns allow citizens to protect themselves. From criminals, and from a tyrannical government. Maybe this explains why so many CA citizens own firearms, given the tumultuous history in their governments.

Nicaragua, in particular, has had an extremely turbulent past. I'm not going to rehash the Spanish colonial period, but if you've been reading my emails, you'll remember that after the Central American Federation dissolved in the beginning of the 19th century, the Central American countries achieved independence as separate nations. This was 1838. Around this time, Britain and the USA became interested in Nicaragua as a strategic point of passage from the Atlantic/Caribbean to the Pacific. Initially, Nicaragua was pinpointed to be the location of a canal to connect the two oceans. The California Gold Rush of 1848 strengthened the desire for an easier route across to reach the West Coast of the United States.

The conflict that most people think about when they think of Nicaragua is the Sandinista revolution, and then the Iran-Contra Affair. Both are intertwined, and are very lengthy to report in one of my updates. The issues are also highly controversial, and I have friends in the audience who might be offended by my interpretation of history, website articles, or newspaper clippings. Therefore, I'll refrain from you giving details on it. Instead, follow the links below if you want to learn more. I might take the time at a later date to bring to you an interesting, easy-to-read account of Nicaragua's political history in the 20th century.

Lonely Planet - History of Nicaragua http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/central_america/nicaragua/history.htm

The Rise of the FSLN

Iran-Contra Affair
I did promise you in my last email to clarify what provoked World War I. A couple of people wrote to me and provided concise and easy explanations for the event, which was in fact, the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria/Hungary in 1914. Thanks to Alexa, and Robert & Joanne. In fact, the stage was set for WWI in the first decade of the 1900's when Francis Joseph (Francis Ferdinand's uncle) suffered a number of personal losses (his wife, his brother, and his son). At this time, Francis Joseph was the emperor of Austria, and the king of Hungary. His rule included an alliance with Germany. This empire was very prosperous but for certain reasons alienated the Slavic minority. These people aligned with Russia, who had a relationship with Serbia. When Bosnia & Herzegovina was annexed by the Austrian-Hungarian empire in 1908, the Serbs became very unhappy. 6 years later, a non-government sponsored SERBIAN assassin killed the Archduke (who was Francis Joseph's nephew), and so began WWI.

An independent and reliable link on World War I can be found below if you'd like to get more information on the background and context of of World War I.

Encyclopedia.com
And who's Dennis Martinez? He is the only Latin pitcher to throw a perfect game. The 13th one, in fact, while pitching for the Montreal Expos against the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 28th, 1991. I remember that day, planes were flying over downtown Montreal proclaiming Dennis Martinez as "El Presidente". Nicaragua is extremely proud of this hero. :) Dennis Martinez no longer plays, having retired from pro baseball in 1998.

Coming thru Nicaragua from Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, I took buses from town to town to save a few bucks. I crossed the Nicaraguan border at Gausaule on foot over a bridge with my heavy backpack. Locals came up to me in rickshaws and told me the border station is 5km down the road. They offered me a ride for $2. I refused, and glad I did. Don't believe them, it took me about 10 minutes to walk there. By the way, I've been keeping track of bus fares, and entry/exit fees for each country. I'll also talk about what each border crossing was like. Those will be posted on the site once I get an opportunity to do so in Colombia. So... though I wanted to spend my first night in Managua, by 8pm I was still only in Leon (about a 2 hour drive from the capital). I didn't want to arrive at night in the big city, so I stopped off in Leon.

While I was planning to leave the next morning, the atmosphere of the town when I arrived convinced me to stay for two nights! In a stroll about town around 10 in the evening, I noticed the front doors of many homes opened wide, and family and friends rocking in wicker chairs chatting, watching TV, or listening to music. I was also lucky in my choice of accomodations. A private home two blocks from the central plaza, they rent out beds in a large room to people for 50 cordobas a night (that's a little more than US$3, or CDN$4.60). They call it La Casona, and they serve a delicious breakfast, fresh orange juice, and other snacks at good prices. It's not listed in any guidebook, so get in touch with me if you want Sidney's email address.

Leon is not only the former capital of this country, it is also the birthplace of the famed Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Dario. I visited the home he lived in as a child and discovered that he is world-reknowned for his poems, one of which I will post on my website in addendum to this email. He has been recognized as a literary genius by countries such as Chile, Argentina, Colombia, the United States, and others.

I walked around town for hours and hours, checking out the architecture, the old colorful churches, and the HUGE local market, where they sell everything you can think of for rock-bottom prices. I bought some advocado-based shampoo which KILLED my hair. It cost 40 cents. My hair is only now recovering, thanks to Pantene Pro-V. The streets in this town are charming, with a colonial style to them, and high sidewalks. Men ride horse-drawn carts up and down the roads carrying people and potatoes. Make a stop in Leon if you visit Nicaragua, and don't make a specific itinerary. Just walk around...

To reach Selva Negra, I boarded a Canadian-made school bus. It puffed along ever-ascending mountain roads at no more than 10km an hour. Selva Negra reminds me of the Morgan Arboretum. Mom, Mickey, you both would have enjoyed it immensely. While it is very touristy, it was worth the nearly 6 hour journey from the city of León. The entrance price of 25 córdobas was fair. I wish I had had more time to visit it. Also, a suggestion to the operators of this estate (they are German), make camping available... it would have been sweet to camp out in that forest for a night... Ever breathe fresh oxygen? :) It's delicious. The trails meander through miles of dense, wet forest. I had to slog through thick piles of mud in my "holy" sandals (I left my running shoes on a bus in Honduras), but it was fun. After my hike, I left the forest to a refreshing drizzle of rain and was greeted by a view of a lagoon shrouded in mist with quacking yellow-beaked white ducks. The lodge is warm and cozy, and the food looks delicious. One waiter brought out a huge sizzling, steaming plate of "something". I didn't ask what it was but it sure smelled fantastic. The cheapest room here costs US$15/CDN$24. If you spend more, you'll get something substantially nicer. It's very romantic. :) By the way, the name Selva Negra translates to "Black Forest", a forest so thick that it would be black if you stayed after the sun goes down. It triggered a memory of the famous Black Forest of southwestern Germany, reputed to be the area where Hansel and Gretel got lost.

The Annotated Hansel & Gretel
Oh yeah, some have been writing and telling me that they would love to be doing what I am doing, but that they can't afford it. I would like to give a boost to the environment in your backyard. How many national parks, provincial parks, or state parks are in your area? Go on a weekend trip, go climb a mountain, go camp out by a lake, go walk your dog in a nature reserve. In the Montreal area, I suggest you visit the Morgan Arboretum, Mount Royal, or Parc d'Oka.

ECOTOURISM IN QUEBEC

Morgan Arboretum

Reserve Faunique - La Verendrye - Wildlife Refuge

Tourisme Québec - A website in English, French, Spanish, German, and Chinese
I guess Parizeau's finally getting the idea...

Societe des etablissments de plein air du Quebec
Remember that on my trip I haven't been eating gourmet meals. I haven't even been eating McDonald's. It's too expensive! The simplest way for a budget traveler to eat is in between bus trips. Don't worry about finding cheap food. People will yell at you from the street through the windows of the bus to try and sell you some watermelon, an apple, or a small bolsita of water. You could also just stop at a street vendor and pick up a cheap plate of tipico, a hot dog, hamburger, or an empanada. This is the cheapest way to eat, unless you have a stove and fridge at your disposal. One such meal I had in Matagalpa, my mid-point between Selva Negra, and Managua. I had just finished hitching a ride down the mountain. I got a ride with a busload of graduate students from the university in Chinandega. When they let me off, I picked up a meal of fried plantains (easier just to say fried bananas), rice, some chewy beef, and black beans). All of this served in a tortilla with a delicious homemade sauce salsa. This cost me a dollar.

My next stop was Managua. To get there, I took a 3.5 hour bus ride from Matagalpa. Let me tell you, they CRAMMED this old bus (similar to the Greyhound buses) so full of people that I couldn't get out of my chair, much less move to the front of bus if I had wanted to get off. One woman was practically sitting on my lap! It was THAT full. Unfortunately, Managua did not turn out so well. I was stuck without money for about a day when I first arrived, and found it difficult to get any money out of the bank machine. I had wanted to visit the famed Volcan Masaya on the Thursday but without any money for transport or food, I was forced to cancel the trip. It was important for me to catch a bus the next day to arrive in Costa Rica to meet David's flight from Montreal on Saturday night, the 14th of December. And so, this set of circumstances sealed the fate of my tour of Managua and the surrounding area.

Xiomara - I never got to see your cousins in Nicaragua, which really bites. I was only able to spend 4 days in your country, and for that I'm really sorry.
Alexa, Robert, Johanne, Xiomara - I need your mailing addresses to send you your postcards :)
Sidney at La Casona - thanks for the cool chats and friendly attitude