First day in Nica

#lake at Jinodega

So I was awoken at 6 this morning by a man throwing buckets of water on the already clean patio. He proceeded to scrub and clean for the next hour at which time I finally made my way to the bathroom to a cold shower and a quick butt scrub and armpit rub. The Germans I had met were sitting on their bed twiddling their thumbs when I headaed back to my room and basically threw half of a pineapple at me that I promptly devoured along with two advil to combat the continual stuffed face I´ve had since I got to Nica.

After being locked int the hotel for about half an hour (I think dude had to go buy cigarettes or something) we made our way to the bus, they to head to selba negra, and I was on my way to Jinodega and fresh perch and tilapia at Lago Apanas. We waved goodbye at the decrepit long lost US tank that marks the entrance to selba negra and an hour later I was in Jinodega, the cowboyiest of cowboy towns. After waving goodbye to my two new Nicaraguan friends, that competed for my attention by trying to speak the best Englishthat they could ..one of them a preacher and one of them stinking drunk..I walked the town and then spotted a cross up on the hill. Having nothing better to do and not wanting to fish quite yet I laboured my sick ass for 45 minutes up the hill. Way harder than I thought and I wish you could have been there to make fun of me. At the top I was rewared with views of the whole mountain range of Nica all the way the Honduras and back. The cross was covered in grafitti and teh clouds rolled over the hills and into the valley towards the lake that was stretched out to the north sandwiched between the hills that circumscribed Jinodega.
#cross at Jinodega

I stayed for maybe half and hour and recovered my breath and then it was off to the lake, or so I thought. I bought some cow liver at the grossest meat market I have yet seen and then got on the bus to La Laguna. After an hour and out of view of the lake, I asked the nice lady next to me where La Laguna was and if I could fish there. She said, no you can´t fish there and it is a village in the mountains. I hopped off the bus, properly shamed in my spanish (Cual bus al lago es correcto no cual bus a la laguna), and headed an hour back to town and caught the right bus to the lake. 40 minutes later I was a twenty minute walk to the lake. On my way a couple people kinda smiled at me and said, sure you can fish, if you want. At the lakeshore a man was heading home and said, just wade in up to your hips and cast. I arrived at the lake with this image in my head and what am I confronted with but a marsh that extends maybe a hundred yards. I finally make it to the lakeshore to see that all the plants that line the shore are covered in thorns and that mosquitoes are swarming around my ankles. I took a quick look, opend my bag of liver, threw it on the ground and turned around and headed for home. I thought to myself that effort was enough.
#unfishable lake
A half hour into what was an hour walk back to the road, no buses at this time, I was chased by two drunk nicaraguans on a horse who either wanted me to buy them cococola or buy the belt they were whipping the horse with. I think they would have been happy with either. Once safe back in town I bought myself an enchilada and promptly ran smack into two gringos from Buffalo that worked on their Aunts organic farm up in the hills. We talked for a minute about this and that, it gave me a chance to eat my enchilada while standing and not walking, we said our goodbyes. I hopped on the bus to matagalpa and was rewarded with an amazing sunset that lit up four sets on mountains that led to the ocean (not visible).

A great way to celebrate my first day of semi'unsickness, full of walking adventure and the cowboys and lakes of Northern Nica.

#cigar factory in Esteli and the fat lady of Esteli