We still weren't sure what our next destination would be. We had 2 options. Our initial plan was to go to Esteli, in the north, which involved taking a bus from San Carlos to Managua and then another one to Esteli but the night before, our translator spoke about an archipelago that was at 90 minutes from San Carlos by boat. But no matter what, we had to get on the 9:15 boat to go back to San Carlos.
We started the day with a last breakfast on our nice patio in El Castillo and said goodbye to our host who kindly ensured we would have seats on the 9:15 boat. Nice, our first leg of our trip was secured! On the boat, we browse our Lonely Planet guide to learn more about the archipelago. If you are wondering why we had this book, we never trust internet and always have a plan B which is a good old paper book. This can never fail you. Especially in remote places like on a river, in the middle of nowhere! Based on our research, we decided to stick with our first idea. The islands looks very touristy and it's not what we were looking for.
The boat ride went well and we arrived in San Carlos at 11:30. Now, we needed to rush to the bus station because Steve found information online and, if the info was right, which was very unsure, there was a bus leaving San Carlos to Managua at noon.
Good news! There was a bus leaving at noon and there were still sitting tickets! Sold!... But again we got all kind of different information so we didn't know if it was an express or not. But by the look of this old school bus, the crowded aisle, the loud music, the almost completely destroyed seats and the smell, I assumed it was not an express bus.
After 30 minutes, the bones in my bum and the metal bars of the seat intertwined and I wasn't too sure what was what. It was not comfortable but the good thing is that after an hour, half of my body was all numb. And I don't know when is the last time you traveled in a school bus but the seats are not built to sit adults. So we spent the entire ride getting rough knee massages from our dear neighbors sitting right behind us. But, on a positive note, there was room for our backpacks on a rack above us so we didn't have to keep them on us. Thank God!
The bus got so crowded that a man was almost sitting on Steve. I tried to take a picture but he was so close that it was not possible to zoom out enough. They fitted at least twice the number of people on the photo. Youppi categorically refused to get off my purse.
At one point, 2 young kids, a girl who was maximum 8 years old and her little brother, who was not more than 5, got on the bus with their mom and were standing right beside us, all squished and the little girl was holding a big watermelon and a tote bag. Steve and I immediately made some room for them. She sat next to me, gave me her watermelon for me to hold it for her and her brother sat on her and fell asleep. Poor kids, it's not an easy life! The boy was so exhausted that it took the mom a few minutes to wake him up to get off the bus.
It ended up taking about 7 hours. I think that the only part of our bodies that didn't hurt or wasn't numb was our faces!
We arrived at the bus station in Managua at 7pm.
We tried to find a bus to Esteli but the last one left at 6:30 so we had to sleep in Managua. 2 girls that are from France and that we met on the bus saw us and they asked if we wanted to share a taxi. They said they found a good hotel that was not too expensive and not too far from the bus station. So we also booked a room there and shared the taxi.
Managua is the only city in Nicaragua that is less safe so we didn't want to walk the streets, at night, with our backpacks and all our stuff to find a place to stay. And the bus station was not super well located and more in a industrial sector.
We dropped our bags in our room, found a good Mexican restaurant near the hotel, enjoyed good Tacos El Pastor with a beer and walked back to our hotel for a good night sleep in a comfortable bed.
We pay to live experiences like that because we like it…!!! But it's also an eye opener. When we are in uncomfortable situations like today, we keep thinking that we are doing it by choice and it's an exception. However, for them, it's their normal life and it's, in fact, their best option. Also, we were lucky enough to have a seat!
We are so grateful for the lives that we have and we truly admire the daily courage of these people.
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