Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 54: Happy April Fools Day! :)
April 2, 2006
In Lithuania, we have a nice old tradition according to which on the 1st of April everybody is allowed to tell as many lies as one can think of, and nobody is supposed to get angry or offended if fooled! :) Hope we succeeded with the little April Fools trick about the missing Nissan and employment in Nicaragua :)) And now, it's time for the true Day 53 account:
Day 53: What Really Happened on April 1, 2006
Our Lonely Planet travel book vaguely mentions the existence of Nicaragua's Archipelago of Solentiname. The brief description of the remote islands in the south of Lago Nicaragua, (very close to the Costa Rican border) is surely captivating: difficult to reach, therefore hardly visited by any tourists, hence, still serene, untouched and featuring stunning nature. Moreover, due to the efforts of the former minister of culture who established the first artists' community on one of the islands, the Islands of Solentiname have become Nicaraguan artists' escape destination, and are inhabited by hundreds of creative souls who retreated to the islands in search for solitude and inspiration.
In case of lack of information, people tend to let their imagination fly high and make up the missing parts of the picture. Our case was not an exception: having fallen in love with Masaya and the local art, we were so eager to see the mysterious tropical islands and the savage beauty that even the warning about the hellish 9-hour ride from Juigalpa to San Carlos did not stop us from going there. It's only about 130 kilometers/ 81 mile by bad road plus a 2-hour boat ride - we'll give it a try!
The ride to the city of Juigalpa is nice and easy. We leave Granada late in the morning, and around noon we are already on the eastern side of the lake. Juigalpa itself does not seem to be worth a stop, so we immediately continue toward San Carlos, the gateway to the intriguing Solentiname islands. With a little bit of luck, we might get on a boat to Solentiname tomorrow in the morning.
About 9 hours later and with mild concussions we finally arrive in San Carlos. It's late and dark, the city seems absolutely uninviting, and we have one urgent question: why does our map of Nicaragua show that there is a ROAD from Juigalpa to San Carlos??? That route should be marked by the pirate sign with big skull and bones, and should clearly say "If you take this path, blame your own stupid self, you moron!" The closest comparison we can find is a testing site for Mars Explorer (a little machine capable of traversing the harshest landscapes). One more thing that we've learned about our car: it appears that Nissan Pathfinder could easily drive on Mars! Good to know :)
Day 54: Welcome to San Carlos, the Kingdom of Chayules
There comes a new quiz. All you need to do is guess how many chayules there are in San Carlos. The winner of the second place gets to spend a weekend in San Carlos! The winner of the first place does not have to go and stay in San Carlos :) We came in second…
But let's be more consistent. Habitually lost in time, we arrive in San Carlos on Saturday (how many more lessons will we need to finally remember that Sunday in Central America is a day-off for everybody?..). Get up at 6AM on Sunday and hurry to the pier to catch the earliest boat to Solentiname. It's raining cats and dogs. At the pier, there is nobody. 7AM, still nobody, still raining. At 8:30AM, the store across the street opens, and we rush in for the happy morning news: there are no boats to Solentiname on Sundays :) The next water bus leaves at 2PM on Monday. To come back, you either catch the same boat at 4AM next morning or you have to wait until 4AM on Friday morning (can you think of a more irrational schedule!).
Well, it's still very interesting to find out why all the famous artists of Nicaragua moved from the lovely bohemian old town cafés, theatres, galleries and wealthy clientele to the solitude on almost unknown islands of Solentiname. There is obviously something very special about those islands… We'll wait till Monday and go there to find that out!
So we spent the rest of Sunday exploring the very boring town of San Carlos (to be more exact, waste the whole two hours in San Carlos and enjoy the hospitality of our luxurious USD15 hotel for the rest of the day). Late at night, we decide to drag our lazy selves out for the customary evening walk to an Internet café. Absent-minded as we are, we pay no attention to the warning sign on the hotel room door "We have a plague of chayules insect. They are very annoying".
Just as soon as we stepped outside the hotel, we fell straight into a cloud of mosquito-like flying creatures. The occurrence was completely surreal: there were soooo many of those insects that we felt like caught in the middle of a big snow storm. They were annoyingly flying into our ears and eyes, and when we opened our mouths to complain, we immediately had them full of chayules :) The visibility in town was close to non-existent, but the walk in the cloud of chayules was certainly unforgettable!
Not-So-Fun Facts: We carried a little research on chayules species
at a later time. Turns out that although they are more or less harmless to
humans and domestic animals, the little annoying insects are shark killers!!
Follow
the link for more info.
Click on the pictures to enlarge
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The beginning of the road looked quite passable (alas it got dark and we could not take any pictures of the Mars surface)
Kelio pradzia nezadejo nieko blogo (gaila, "smagiausios" dalies negalejome nufotografuoti, nes sutemo) |
One horse power won't get you to San Carlos.
Atsigule arkliukas pailseti pakeliui i San Carlos... ir numire :( |
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Why live at night if you love light so much?
Cajuliu selsmas San Carlos mieste |
Pay attention to the warnings on your hotel room door!
Pranesimas viesbucio sveciams: Turime daug cajuliu. Jie labai ikyrus... |
Click on the picture to view the video material from the Kingdom of Chayules
Jeigu norite perziureti video medziaga is cajuliu karalystes, spauskite ant paveiksliuko (600 kb) |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
54-oji diena: Su Balandzio 1-aja! :)
2006 m. balandzio 2
Chi, chi, chi :) Tikimes, kad nors kelis skaitytojus sekmingai apmoveme paveluotu
balandzio 1-osios pranesimu apie dingusi Nissana ir spontaniska isidarbinima
Nikaragvos maisto pramones srityje. Primename, kad pykti uz balandzio 1-osios
pokstus - nevalia! (o prisipazinti, ar patikejote - privaloma, prasom saziningai
pasisakyti musu svetaines naujienu lentoje! :))
Taigi, masina niekur nedingo, mes cepelinu virti nepradejome, o tikraja balandzio
1-osios "ataskaita" pateiksime dabar.
53- oji diena: Kas is tikruju ivyko balandzio 1
Anot musu kelioniu vadovo "Lonely Planet", Nikaragvos ezero pietuose,
visai salia Kosta Rikos sienos, yra mazai zinomas 36 salu archipelagas, pavadinimu
Solentiname. Knygoje Solentiname salos aprasytos labai trumpai bet efektingai
- sunkiai pasiekiamos (9 valandos masina labai prastu keliu, plius dar 2 valandos
vandens autobusu), todel beveik nelankomos turistu, ir del to labai naturalios,
menkai civilizuotos (teigiama prasme), o jau gamtos groziu tai nusileidzia
nebent rojui.
Taciau svarbiausia - Solentiname salos, pasirodo, yra garsiausiu Nikaragvos
menininku sleptuve! Pries gera pussimti metu tuometinis Nikaragvos kulturos
ministras "atrado" Solentiname, persikele ten gyventi ir vienoje
is salu ikure kulturos centra. Nuo tada Solentinames salose gyvena, dirba
ir nuo didmiesciu surmulio slepiasi garsus Nikaragvos dailininkai bei artesaniju
(mediniu pauksciuku ir zuvyciu) gamintojai.
Pakereti Masajos meno dirbiniu grozio, mintyse jau plaukiojam maza valtele tarp 36 salu ir aikciojam nuo gamtos ir dailininku kuriniu grozio. Ir kas mums tie 130 kilometru prastu keliu tarp Juigalpos ir San Carlo?! (miestai pietineje Nikaragvos ezero puseje. Uz Juigalpos baigiasi geras asfaltuotas kelias, o is San Carlos reguliariai plaukia vandens autobusai i Solentiname salas). Ispejima apie tai, kad autobusas 130 km ruoza iveikia per 9 valandas, visiskai uzignoruojame. Dieviskosios salos to vertos!
Uzsisvajoje apie Solentinameje laukiancias grozybes, net nepastebime kaip
apie vidurdieni privaziuojame Juigalpa (tarti "Chuigalpa" ir nesijuokti
is miestu pavadinimu!!). Nuo Juigalpos iki San Carlos lieka garsieji 130 kilometru
prastu keliu, o rytoj gal jau sedesime valtyje is San Carlos i Solentiname.
O kad butumem zinoje… Kelias I pragara garantuotai yra geresnis! Ta pavirsiu,
kuriuo barskejome 9 valandas, nuodeme net keliu pavadinti. Zemelapyje jis
turetu buti pazymetas ryskiu juodu zenklu su kaukole ir sukryziuotais kaulais,
bei ryskiu uzrasu "vaziuok, jei truksta proto, kvaily!" Artimiausias
palyginimas keliui Juigalpa-San Carlos butu planetos Marso pavirsius, kuri
greit bandys pravaziuoti Mars Explorer - mazytis visureigis, sukurtas iveikti
dideles kliutis, kuri greitai turetu siusti I Marsa (o gal jau issiunte -
keliones metu naujienas gauname paveluotai). Galvojame Marso tyrinetojams
pasiulyti ekonomiskesni varianta - galetu drasiai I Marsa siusti musu Nissana,
kurio nezemiskas galimybes mes siandien pratestavome. Rezultatai stulbinantys
- masina uzduoti atliko be klaidu. Atbarskeje I San Carlos, pirmiausia zemai
nusilenkem Nissanui. Apie tai, kad kazkada tuo paciu keliu dar reiks grizti,
stengemes net negalvoti :)
54- oji diena: San Carlos - Didzioji Cajuliu Karalyste
Turime jums nauja klausima. Kiek cajuliu (tarti "c" su pauksciuku) yra San Carlos mieste? Antrosios vietos laimetojas bus apdovanotas savaitgalio atostogomis San Carlos! Prizas pirmosios vietos laimetojui - galimybe nepraleisti savaitgalio San Carlos :) Mes uzemem antraja vieta… Bet apie viska - is eiles.
Atvaziave (atbarskeje Marso pavirsiumi!!) I San Carlos susivokiame, kad, tradiciskai, truputi pasiklydome laike - rytoj sekmadienis, o sekmadieniais Centrineje Amerikoje, kaip jau ne karta isitikinome, gyvenimas sustoja. Vis tik keliames 6 ryto ir skubame I prieplauka - o gal pasiseks, ir bus koks laivelis, plaukiantis I Solentiname? Prieplaukoje nei gyvos, tik lietus pila kaip is kiauro kibiro. 7 ryto - gyvu dvasiu nera, lietus tebepila. 8:30 pagaliau atsidaro parduotuvele kitoje gatves puseje, ir gauname rytines naujienas: sekmadieniais vandens autobusai I Solentiname salas neplaukia - plaukia pirmadieni. Galima nebent uzsisakyti privacia valti uz $80 keleiviui. Neregeta prabanga - kelione vandens autobusu kainuoja $2!! Lauksime pirmadienio. Vandens autobu grafikas irgi padaro ispudi - isplaukia pirmadieni 2 valanda po pietu, o atgal grizta 4 valanda ryto antradieni. Jei I sita nespeji (ka galima speti pamatyti per kelias valandas nakties tamsoj??), sekantis vandens autobusas I San Carlos plaukia 4 ryto penktadieni… logiskesnio grafiko nei gerai isgeres nesugalvosi!
Ka gi, liekame priverstiniam sekmadieniui San Carlos. Miestas toks neidomus
ir nemielas, kad pigus viesbutis ir kompiuteris tampa geriausia ir vienintele
alternatyva. (Dienele pakentesim, uz tat rytoj plauksim i issvajotasias Solentiname
salas!) Nors beveik visa diena praleidziame viesbucio kambaryje, sugebame
nepastebeti didelem raidem ant duru uzrasyto ispejimo: "Mus kamuoja didziulis
cajuliu antpludis. Cajuliai - labai ikyrus! Prasome nedegti sviesos, jei atidarote
langa arba duris".
Vakare, jau sutemus, issiruosiame i tradicines interneto kavines paieskas...
ir, vos iszenge per duris, ipuolame i tirsta debesi smulkiu vabzdziu. Butu
panasus i uodus, bet cajuliai smulkesni, ir nekanda. Taciau nelabieji neapsakomai
ikyrus! Lenda spieciais i nosi ir ausis, o jei issizioji tarti nusiskundimo
zodi - akimirksniu priskrenda pilna burna cajuliu. Cajuliu kiekiui isreiksti
nera skaiciaus - virsija begalybe! Matomumas mieste artimas nuliui, nes visur
sklando debesis cajuliu, tad kelia iki interneto kavines susirandame apciuopomis
(gerai, kad buvo arti viebucio, kitaip butumem pasiklyde visai nakciai cajuliu
debesy). Musu grubiais paskaiciavimais, vidutinis tankis - apie 10 cajuliu
viename kubiniame centimetre.
Veliau issiaiskinome, kad vabzdziai cajuliai, kurie zmonems nepavojingi, kelia didele gresme... rykliams! Jei kam idomu, perskaitykite straipsni (spausti CIA, straipsnis anglu kalba).
