Private Tours in Spanish!

My original plan was to leave my bag at the hotel, see a few sights in Managua, and then head out to Grenada for a couple of nights. In the meantime, I called a current Suffield student (he is Nicaraguan) to say hello and try to arrange something for either today or later in the trip. His comment was do you still want to see our tobacco farm? "Of course!" "Great, I will pick you up in 20 minutes!"

Wow. What a great afternoon. I quickly left the peir where I was planning to have lunch and met up with him and we went on a great tour of things just around Managua which I would not have gotten to see with out a car and a driver. Francisco's driver was Alberto. It was great. I went to the top of an active volcano, saw some amazing lakes, visited a few markets, tried some local foods, and then even made the trip to Grenada to see the place, get a layout and come all the way back to Managua! Overall, it was great to see him here, great to have him explain the country through his eyes, and great to go to these amazing places.

This morning I saw Huellas de Acahaulinka. These are 6000 year old footprints made by a family of people walking towards the lake. Private tour #1 in Spanish. She asked if I spoke Spanish and I said no not really. But we forged ahead and it was great. I understood a bit, not too much but the tour was included with admission! Next was a taxi ride to the Zona Monumental and the pier. The National Palace was beautiful (it has been rebuilt after the 1972 earthquake) and that is where I got Priave Tour in Spanish #2. This one was much more successful and I actually learned quite a bit. Nicarauga has suffered some pretty major earthquakes which have devasted cities. Managua lies right along a fault line. I guess that is part of the danger with all the volcanos. The other amazing thing is to remember how "young" this land mass is. The land of Central America really formed from volcanic and seismic activity (much like Iceland). Pretty cool. One of the few buildings that survived the 1972 Earthquake was Cathedral, which is a beautiful building, however, due to lack on finances has never been restored. The center of the city has also moved from this location. What a shame.

Next I head to a tobacco farm, getting back to my routes from CT. I wonder if my picking skills are still there and if they will come in handy?