Last night we were the guests of Paul and Ruth at a neat production of show tunes of the USA which was given by the Christian Academy of Guatemala. After the production, they dropped us at the Casa Blanca, a B&B within minutes of La Aurora, the airport for Guatemala City. Since the B&B had no clocks in the rooms, the desk clerk promised us that she would make sure that we were awakened by four this morning and that a taxi would be called at half past four so that we would arrive at the airport in adequate time for our check-in.
We checked into our rooms and were almost immediately asleep. We had the windows open and enjoyed the wonderful night air circulating across our beds. There was no four o'clock wake-up but John had stirred before four and we were more than ready to meet the day.
We waddled down to the reception area and the clerk asked us what we wanted for breakfast. We settled for coffee and tea. Soon she motioned for us to meet our taxi at the door and it was only a two-minute drive to our drop off at the airport.
We checked into COPA where we dropped our luggage and were given our boarding passes. Then downstairs where we paid our $2.40 departure taxes and sped through security. Now I am sitting at a restaurant having pancakes and awaiting the announcement of our flight to Managua, Nicaragua.
Since it is getting near time to report to our gate, I will cease this narrative and add more to it when we reach our destination in Granada, Nicaragua.
We arrived Managua in a short fifty minutes and were soon instructed to fasten our seat belts, put up our tray tables and the backs of our seats. The airplane was an Embryair constructed in Brazil. In the front section there were two seats side by side on the right as one is seated facing the cockpit and one seat on the left. Back in the steerage there were two seats on each side. The aircraft was heading for Panama with an intermediate stop in Managua.
We departed Guatemala City where a t-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt over it felt pretty good. What a contrast when we departed the confines of the Managua airport. Here there were banana and palm trees blowing in the wind and it did not take long before we had pools of sweat on our shirts and bodies.
Customs were a snap and, with the paymend of USD5 to the keepers of the immigration office, we were headed for the customs where we were waved through after we yielded a custom form. We went to Alamo car rental only to find that they had no cars for us. The rental clerk walked about three booths down to Hertz where he negoatiated a rental of one of their cars. This was just fine with me as I do more business with this company than any other one. We found a clerk who opted to use Spanish when she found that I was just fine in that idiom and were soon loaded into a vehicle. We drove just about two blocks where we checked the car carefully for cracks and imperfections. When all these things were noted, we asked for directions to Granada. That having been received, we were on our way. We drove on a two-lane road the majority of fifty minutes and arrived in the city of Granada. The Hertz clerk discouraged us from renting a GPS unit so we were on our own. John did not have the address for the hotel other than that is was located on the Parque Central.
I drove towards the center of the city and took a premature turn to the right on a one-way street. On this street were bikes, pedestrians, taxis, motos and just about any other form of life that one can imagine. It was filled with shops and tiendas where folks were bargaining for goods and services. We continued on for about ten blocks when finally I opened the window and asked directions for the central park. I friendly chap told me it was behind me and that I could take a left at the next intersection and loop back. Alas, there were nothing save pedestrian paths through the markets so we took a right and headed back in the direction we had come. We found the park and again asked directions. We were very close, in fact....one block so I parked and quickly a fine man offered to watch our car. We told him it was unnecessary and went into the hotel to check in. We did that and were told that our room would be ready in one hour. They took our baggage and we headed out to the street where we had been driving. Only three blocks convinced us that we had to change our plans. It was hot, humid and we were mingling with folks with different ideas than ours. You see, we were sight-seers and they were on a mission to purchase and bargain.
We found a bank and took some money out for our use in purchasing incidentals. The exchange rate is twenty Cordobas to one USD so, I suspect you could say that we were rich in numbers only. Our hotel is the Hotel Colonial which sits on one side of the central park. A great location but John and I have decided that we will be doing our walk about in the early morning in an attempt to share with far fewer folks.
The overall impression since we have arrived here is that the residents of at least this city in Nicaragua are far less off than those we had left in Guatemala, especially in La Antigua. I have not been able to find wireless here at the hotel but have been told it is available. Until I do, I will not be posting picture but I am taking them and will be adding them.
John is napping in the room while I am down in the lobby area using one of two PCs. More later!
We arrived Managua in a short fifty minutes and were soon instructed to fasten our seat belts, put up our tray tables and the backs of our seats. The airplane was an Embryair constructed in Brazil. In the front section there were two seats side by side on the right as one is seated facing the cockpit and one seat on the left. Back in the steerage there were two seats on each side. The aircraft was heading for Panama with an intermediate stop in Managua.
We departed Guatemala City where a t-shirt and a long-sleeved shirt over it felt pretty good. What a contrast when we departed the confines of the Managua airport. Here there were banana and palm trees blowing in the wind and it did not take long before we had pools of sweat on our shirts and bodies.
Customs were a snap and, with the paymend of USD5 to the keepers of the immigration office, we were headed for the customs where we were waved through after we yielded a custom form. We went to Alamo car rental only to find that they had no cars for us. The rental clerk walked about three booths down to Hertz where he negoatiated a rental of one of their cars. This was just fine with me as I do more business with this company than any other one. We found a clerk who opted to use Spanish when she found that I was just fine in that idiom and were soon loaded into a vehicle. We drove just about two blocks where we checked the car carefully for cracks and imperfections. When all these things were noted, we asked for directions to Granada. That having been received, we were on our way. We drove on a two-lane road the majority of fifty minutes and arrived in the city of Granada. The Hertz clerk discouraged us from renting a GPS unit so we were on our own. John did not have the address for the hotel other than that is was located on the Parque Central.
I drove towards the center of the city and took a premature turn to the right on a one-way street. On this street were bikes, pedestrians, taxis, motos and just about any other form of life that one can imagine. It was filled with shops and tiendas where folks were bargaining for goods and services. We continued on for about ten blocks when finally I opened the window and asked directions for the central park. I friendly chap told me it was behind me and that I could take a left at the next intersection and loop back. Alas, there were nothing save pedestrian paths through the markets so we took a right and headed back in the direction we had come. We found the park and again asked directions. We were very close, in fact....one block so I parked and quickly a fine man offered to watch our car. We told him it was unnecessary and went into the hotel to check in. We did that and were told that our room would be ready in one hour. They took our baggage and we headed out to the street where we had been driving. Only three blocks convinced us that we had to change our plans. It was hot, humid and we were mingling with folks with different ideas than ours. You see, we were sight-seers and they were on a mission to purchase and bargain.
We found a bank and took some money out for our use in purchasing incidentals. The exchange rate is twenty Cordobas to one USD so, I suspect you could say that we were rich in numbers only. Our hotel is the Hotel Colonial which sits on one side of the central park. A great location but John and I have decided that we will be doing our walk about in the early morning in an attempt to share with far fewer folks.
The overall impression since we have arrived here is that the residents of at least this city in Nicaragua are far less off than those we had left in Guatemala, especially in La Antigua. I have not been able to find wireless here at the hotel but have been told it is available. Until I do, I will not be posting picture but I am taking them and will be adding them.
John is napping in the room while I am down in the lobby area using one of two PCs. More later!
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