I finally made it to Central America! My flights on Tuesday went without a hitch. Also, the shuttle from the airport in Managua to Granada couldn't have been better. The man was waiting for me with a sign at the airport and I was his only passenger.
The hotel here, Kekoldi Hotel, in Granada is okay. (see pic) Although the pictures on its website were accurate, what it didn't portray was the size of the rooms. Now I know they are tiny! Almost as small as some I've been in NYC.
I was rather exhausted the first night here. So after I walked and walked about the city and used the ATM to get some local currency (I was charged a 10% fee!), I had dinner and went to bed early.
Today, after breakfast here in the hotel (big bowl of fresh fruit, juice - combination of mango a
nd orange?, toast, cereal and tea), I went out and booked an afternoon tour of the Masaya Volcano. Then I rented a bike to look around the city in the mean time. (see pics)
Well, the bike adventure was fine but the eventual tour wasn't so good. The tour was to have a English speaking guide and in addition to the volcano, we were to tour lava tube caves and a museum. I was teamed up with a nice couple from Germany - more or less in my same age bracket. Any way, what happened is that we got a new guy who was supposed to drive to the volcano and turn us over to a park ranger there. Unfortunately, this driver did everything wrong. All he did was drive us to the volcano and then back again. (see pics) Since he spoke no English, I was at a loss. However the German lady spoke enough Spanish to tell him this is not what we bargained for. So instead of a 5 hour tour, we were back to the tour office in 2 hours. Needless to say, we were 3 very unhappy campers. But to my total surprise, the tour manager was on our side. He was very apologetic. He refunded 70% of the tour monies and offered us free bikes for a future day.
So although the to
ur was a bit of fiasco, at least it wasn't a ripoff. Both the German couple and I took the money and proceeded to the nearest pub for a beer and to trade travel stories. Since this is my first stop, I didn't have any fresh stories. However such wasn't thr case for my German friends. It seems they had quite an experience in Livington, Guatemala. A local thief stole their expensive camera while they ate. But lo and behold, their waiter recognized the thief. So believe it or not, with the waiter's report, the police assured them they would get the camera back. This couple then went with the police on the initial trips interrogating the usual suspects with the police all wearing two guns each. A long story made short, this couple told the police they would stay in Livingston as long as necessary. Two days later, the camera was returned to them in perfect order. They gave the supposed finder a $50 'reward'. This couple said the police were very friendly with them and they took lots of pictures of them with the returned camera.
If nothing else, this story makes me more confident of the police there. I don't think you would have such a good outcome in the USA or many other places.
The hotel here, Kekoldi Hotel, in Granada is okay. (see pic) Although the pictures on its website were accurate, what it didn't portray was the size of the rooms. Now I know they are tiny! Almost as small as some I've been in NYC.
I was rather exhausted the first night here. So after I walked and walked about the city and used the ATM to get some local currency (I was charged a 10% fee!), I had dinner and went to bed early.
Today, after breakfast here in the hotel (big bowl of fresh fruit, juice - combination of mango a
nd orange?, toast, cereal and tea), I went out and booked an afternoon tour of the Masaya Volcano. Then I rented a bike to look around the city in the mean time. (see pics)
Well, the bike adventure was fine but the eventual tour wasn't so good. The tour was to have a English speaking guide and in addition to the volcano, we were to tour lava tube caves and a museum. I was teamed up with a nice couple from Germany - more or less in my same age bracket. Any way, what happened is that we got a new guy who was supposed to drive to the volcano and turn us over to a park ranger there. Unfortunately, this driver did everything wrong. All he did was drive us to the volcano and then back again. (see pics) Since he spoke no English, I was at a loss. However the German lady spoke enough Spanish to tell him this is not what we bargained for. So instead of a 5 hour tour, we were back to the tour office in 2 hours. Needless to say, we were 3 very unhappy campers. But to my total surprise, the tour manager was on our side. He was very apologetic. He refunded 70% of the tour monies and offered us free bikes for a future day.
So although the to
ur was a bit of fiasco, at least it wasn't a ripoff. Both the German couple and I took the money and proceeded to the nearest pub for a beer and to trade travel stories. Since this is my first stop, I didn't have any fresh stories. However such wasn't thr case for my German friends. It seems they had quite an experience in Livington, Guatemala. A local thief stole their expensive camera while they ate. But lo and behold, their waiter recognized the thief. So believe it or not, with the waiter's report, the police assured them they would get the camera back. This couple then went with the police on the initial trips interrogating the usual suspects with the police all wearing two guns each. A long story made short, this couple told the police they would stay in Livingston as long as necessary. Two days later, the camera was returned to them in perfect order. They gave the supposed finder a $50 'reward'. This couple said the police were very friendly with them and they took lots of pictures of them with the returned camera.
If nothing else, this story makes me more confident of the police there. I don't think you would have such a good outcome in the USA or many other places.
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