Feelings about Nicaragua

I am in Managua Nicaragua now, the capital of the country. I will be here until July1 at which point I will head south to Rivas and from there catch a ferry to Ometeppe island. I hear it is small but absolutely beautiful with a volcano in the middle of it. It is in Lake Managua. So I plan to spend a few days there. I would also like to check out Corn Island and Little Corn Island which are in the Caribbean. I´ve never been to the Caribbean so I thought it would be a treat. I will then return to Rivas and continue south. However I think from Rivas I will take a bus to the Costa Rican border, it is only about 30 kilometers. The reason being I have heard that there are bandits in the area that are targeting bicycle tourists.

Nicaragua is a beautiful country lush, green and from bicycle tourist´s point of view delightfully flat. Actually It is only flat where the people live that is flat. There are a lot of mountains here but almost no one lives there. Also there is a verdant part of the country on the other side of the mountains but again, no one lives there. It appears as if 99% of the people live on the flat fertile part of the country.

One thing I like about Nicaragua is that bicycles are ubiquitous. They are used for everything and they seem to respect traffic laws (as much as anyone down here respects traffic laws) and be respected as a legitimate part of traffic. Golly imagine that. Down here there is a work tricycle it, has 2 wheels in the front and 1 in the back. The front part is about 1 meter wide and can be used to carry cargo, my friends in Mazatlan know what I´m talking about. Down here however what they have done is put a bench seat in and make a canvas roof on top and carry passengers. They are called tricycleros, or something to that effect. These guys are even licensed. They are all over the place in Leon and Chinandega but I really have not seem them so far in Managua however I haven´t gone very far from the hostel either.

The Nicaraguan people have been fabulous so far. They are very nice and very friendly. And, thank god, they have figured out that there is a difference between American tourists and their idiotic gov´t. In the time I have been here I have not encountered any outward resentment. Because if anyone has a right to harbor resentment it is the Nicataguans. They have also embraced American culture (Is that a good thing? You decide) All of the fast food chains are down and even out in the country you see a sign if front of a building, a rather crudely written that says "ropa americana" (American clothing).
That´s all for now
Hasta la vista baby