For the first 3 days we stayed in Managua, listening to the advice of a friend who was already living in Nica. We landed on a Saturday and our dogs weren’t scheduled to come in until Monday night. Our friend Joe reserved us a spot at Don Quijote Hotel for only $60 a night and was going to show us around the city for the next couple days. The hotel was in a convenient location, was very clean and included breakfast and delicious coffee in the morning.
Managua is like an infectious disease that slowly creeps up on you. The first day you notice its busy and a little dirty, but you’re okay with it. The next day the scenery seems a little apocalyptic and you can’t believe how crazy the drivers are. By the third day you just want to get all your errands done quickly and get out before the inevitable accident in a rotunda, or traffic ticket.
Managua is a necessary evil when living in Nicaragua. There are things harder to find outside of Managua and everything is cheaper there. The best supermarket, La Colonia is located in Managua (also in Granada and Leon), the best veterinarians, hospitals, and stores. Mechanics seem to take trips to Managua many times a week for parts.
On our last day we ran around going to get a copy of our car key made since the one the car came with was about to snap. We also went to Western Union to wire money, went to SENSA – the big hardware store owned by Ace, Kid’s Plaza looking for a twin size plastic sheet (Azalea was having some bed wetting issues), ate lunch, and managed to buy our way out of two traffic tickets which are called “multas” – translated to “fines”.
Finally we were off to paradise – Surf Tours Nicaragua, in Miramar where my friend manages.