A Ride to Remember

The road from Managua's Sandino airport to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast is a 125 kilometer adventure. We had read the warnings on the US State Dept web site to beware of bandits who prey on tourists. We had booked a van through the Villas de Palermo resort and definitely looked like tourists. Our driver immediately put us at ease, even stopping to give a cold bottle of water to a thirsty motorcycle cop. Forget bandits; this driver wasn't going to get so much as a speeding ticket.

 The two lane road was filled with potholes and lined with humble homes, bunches of school kids, farms and animals. Our driver took care to point out every church and point of interest in the towns and gave us a peek at a crater lake near the town of Caterina. So the 2 hour drive took a bit longer. I didn't want it to end. The pictures don't really capture the experience of this fascinating first look at Nicaragua.