Carnaval

The night before the Hipica (see earlier post on 11/4/13) and as part of the celebrations for the immaculate conception of Mary, Granada hosts its very own carnaval/carnival.  It involves a large parade with lots of costumes and music, lots of dancing, lots of food and drink vendors set up in the central park and streets, and lots of people (mostly drunk).  While fairly small in scale, it was really a lot of fun and the costumes and dancing were actually quite good.  We were also pleasantly surprised to see Granada's gay community very well represented and accepted. It was a blast.



This was the float for Granada's gay club.  They are all men.

Don't know who the photo-bomber is.

The large red, round thing is sausage of some sort.

Cooling down after with a drink.

Running of the bulls (Tope de Toros)

The weekend before the Hipica (see earlier post of 11/4/2013), Granada hosts its very own running of the bulls, or "Tope de Toros."  It is much smaller in scale than Spain's, but it is dangerous and chaotic nonetheless.  Around 12 or so bulls are released into the street, but they are contained and corralled as much as possible by cowboys riding along side of them.  However, one or two inevitably "escape" and run wild through the town (as we witnessed).  People line up along the street to watch them, or meet them in various parts of the city to run with them.  The bulls run down one of the main roads in Granada, through the central park, ending up at Lake Cocibolco. 

Based on my distaste for large crowds, stories we'd heard of a large increase of pickpockets/criminals during this time, as well as stories of bystanders being gored or run into, we decided to reserve seats up on a balcony overlooking the central park and partake in the festivities from above.  It was such a great decision to have a reserved rooftop and table with food and drink, because we waited HOURS from the time it was supposed to start until the time when the bulls actually passed by. It also rained all day long... However, with the food & drink, a pool table, coloring books & crayons, and lots of people-watching, the waiting was not so bad.  When the bulls finally showed up, it was exciting for the second they were in front of us, but also a bit anti-climactic and disappointing.  But, the experience overall was interesting and something new for us--we enjoyed it.

A hustler in the making...

Coloring, waiting for the bulls, while enjoying our view of the Cathedral.

Flor de Cana is Nicaraguan rum. This is a mobile rum station, rolling
around selling shots, as well as a variety of mixers to go with your rum.

The crowds starting to arrive to watch the bulls pass by.

The first group of bulls go by.  We saw a wild one
running free, chased by several cowboys on horses a bit earlier than this.

Running into a roadblock to control where they go.

A sorry straggler.

The crowds chasing the bulls.

Our very own, very loud band hired by the restaurant during the event.

A cloudy, wispy view of Mombacho Volcano from the back balcony.

Mosquito fumigation

During the rainy season (approximately May-November) and a little after, mosquitoes invade and take over Nicaragua (they are always around, but not in such large numbers).  Aside from being incredibly annoying and irritating because of their bites, they are also a public health hazard and danger here.  Dengue fever was at epidemic levels last year, with thousands sick and numerous deaths occurring.  The government was trying hard to combat it through public education campaigns and through fumigating houses and the public areas.  Fumigation is mandatory--you must open your door to the Ministry of Health if they come by knocking.  They come in with packs on their backs blowing poison smoke throughout the house to kill the mosquitoes.  Many of them do not wear protective gear, and many families go right back into the house after they spray.  Supposedly it is safe to be in the house 15 mins after they spray.  We always leave for several hours and when we come back, the smell is still very strong. It also gets on blankets, pillows etc. and gave us rashes before we realized we had to strip everything after they left.  Its scary to think what the spray is killing and damaging in addition to mosquitoes.  One day, we were sitting in the house when it started filling up with smoke.  We heard the fumigation guys outside (the packs are motorized and very loud) and realized somehow they had blown the smoke in from the outside.  When we went out, we saw that they were shoving their spray guns into the plumbing drainage pipes all along the street, pushing the smoke in from the outside.  I guess you do what you've got to do...  For the streets and public areas they have large trucks with smoke spray guns on the back, just driving around, blowing smoke, regardless if people are around or not. We managed to get a couple of pictures of the guys who come to the house.

He is bending down, sticking his blower in the plumbing drain.

Poison smoke everywhere and no one very bothered by it.

The Corn Islands

Nicaragua has two beautiful small islands in the Caribbean called the "Corn Islands."  One is referred to as "Big Corn" and the other as "Little Corn" Island.  The big island has a teeny tiny airport that only receives domestic flights (though they were lengthening the runway to receive larger planes and international flights when we were there) and the little island can only be accessed by boat from the bigger island.   We traveled to Big Corn Island this past October and absolutely loved it.  It took until October for us to get there because I had to lobby Raul for months about the safety of the small "puddle-jumper" planes that oftentimes transport passengers to the island.  Luckily, there was a bit more demand so they had starting using the "big" plane that transported 50 people at a time. That convinced Raul to fly.

Boarding the plane in Managua to Big Corn Island.

The flight stops for 10 mins in Bluefields to pick up additional passengers.
You can see the house and family's laundry next to the airport.

Getting ready to land.

Big Corn Island airport.

The islands are surrounded by warm, crystal clear, blue waters and white sand beaches, and when we were there, the beaches were empty of tourists, with only a few local kids and fishermen.  My favorite type of beach!!  Snorkeling and diving are popular, and the reefs and diverse aquatic wildlife are beautiful.  Raul had the pleasure of a stingray swimming across his foot, we held a gigantic live orange sea star, an enormous conch, and saw lots of colorful fishes of all sizes.  While most of the food was a bit pricier than what we were used to in Granada (they have to ship basically everything in), the hotel (individual cabana-style) was only $60 for Caribbean beachfront and we had 2 fresh lobsters for only $10!

There is one main road that goes around the length of Big Corn (Little Corn has no roads or cars).  We rented a golf cart one day and explored.  It was great because we got off on side roads and were able to see local life, explored several different beaches, and went to the highest point to see a view of the island from above. However, we were very unlucky in that there was a huge rainstorm that lasted hours and that was very violent.  We got caught in it and the golf cart did little to protect us or keep us dry.  After maybe 40 mins of sitting in the storm and being pummeled by rain and wind, we made a run for it and got to a hotel/ restaurant where they were kind enough to put our clothes in the dryer and serve us some warm soup.

View from above.

Proudly displaying the golf cart, moments before the storm rolled through.

Both islands are mostly undeveloped, with Little Corn even more so, and have a starkly different cultural vibe from the rest of Nicaragua.  There is a large mix of ethnic groups on the islands and English, as well as a few different indigenous languages, are spoken.  There are Creole and Garifuna which are Afro-descendant, and  in recent years the indigenous Miskito and Spanish-speaking mainlanders have been moving over to the islands. The different groups also means that there was a greater variety of food here, with many more typically "Caribbean" foods such as rondon soup (curry, seafood, coconut soup) and mofongo (fried/mashed plantain dish).   There is still a lot of poverty here, and I can only imagine what is in-store for the people currently living on the island.  Some will increase their incomes with increased tourism, but many will lose their family beachfront lands and homes and will not be able to afford the increased prices of goods as a result of the increased tourism.  This little hidden paradise is not going to stay that way for much longer.

Isabel playing with the fish the little boys had caught.

The little guy playing with the catch (can't remember if it was his or
his brother's).

Rolling down the road to the beach.

One of the local roads.