Nicaratwo

Video del viatge a Nicaragua en menys de 2 minuts amb un segon al dia.
Video of the trip to Nicaragua in less than 2 minutes with one second everyday.

[ENGLISH FOLLOWS]
Ara mateix estic a un bus tipus bus escolar americà on estan posant una peli d'acció tipus Jackie Chan on un tio que sembla japonès acaba de saltar per sobre de 15 persones, travessar un mur per acabar dient "Que onda wei? Tenemos que platicar.".  Contrastos constants són els que estic vivint en aquest viatge i més a la segona part d'aquest viatge a Nicaragua.

Hi han dues maneres d'arribar a Corn Islands (islas del maiz), amb avió o per terra i vaixell, així que com que tinc més temps que pressupost, no hi vaig anar amb avió. No va ser curt però va ser tota una experiència. Sortim de l'illa volcànica d'Ometepe i desprès de tres busos i un vaixell arribem a el Rama, aquí literalment s'acaba la carretera. Baixem del bus i tot està a la més absoluta foscor, ens diuen que avui se n'ha anat la llum aquí, així que trec el frontal i trobem un allotjament cutre i barat per passar la nit. Malgrat no hi havia llum al poble, la nostra habitació donava a un local on tenien la música a tope alimentada per un grup elèctric, també és mala llet, però estava rebentat així que em vaig adormir a l'instant.

L'endemà ens informen que hem tingut la sort que just surt un vaixell carguero cap a Corn Island, només n'hi han dos o tres a la setmana. El vaixell es diu Genesis, i era una predicció que això seria com l'arca de Noé amb espècies limitades; humans, porcs i vaques. Els nostres seients eren o bé el terra o caixes de cervesa, ara entenc perquè sempre et serveixen la cervesa amb un tovalló a la punta. Sort que una dona ens va avisar i vam comprar una hamaca al mercat. A poc més de dos metres, de tant en tant una pixada de vaca, un crit de porc, l'únic soroll constant era l'aigua i el motor.

 

Després de 17 hores de trajecte i vàries parades on posàven i treien mercaderies, arribem a l'illa gran de corn island. Aquí ens allotjem a unes cabanyes d'un senyor que ens fa preu perquè venim recomanats i perquè serem dels seus últims clients, en una setmana tanca el negoci perquè es jubila. La platja està a 10 passes de l'allotjament i un escull de corall a 30 metres nadant. Pel carrer coneixem a l'Eliska i el Tim, una parella molt simpàtica amb els que anem cap a little corn island i compartim uns dies amb ells.

L'illa gran és molt maca, encara que té un parell de peròs, cada dos per tres un taxi et pitava per si volies pujar i té una pista d'aterratge al mig de l'illa. Bé, doncs els peròs desapareixen a l'illa petita. No hi han vehicles de cap tipus, nomès bicicletes, i és veritablement paradisíaca. Si l'hi hagués de posar un pero diria que li canviessin el nom, doncs no vaig veure ni un blat de moro, el que si que hi havien eren mangos per tot arreu, així que l'anomenaria Mango Island. La naturalesa a l'illa és espectacular, hi ha selva per tot arreu, amb un munt de caminets per explorar, platges maquíssimes que envolten l'illa, bogavants per 5 euros amb el seu acompanyament i molta vida subaquàtica. Vaig aprofitar per fer snorquel o buceig cada dia, nomès per veure corall ja valia la pena, però quan veia mantes, taurons i bancs de peixos inmensos ja explotava de felicitat.

Aquí ens vam allotjar a casa del Mr. James, un senyor de 80 anys que era tot un personatge. Passàvem moltes estones parlant amb ell i ens explicava la seva vida, que va arribar a l'illa el 1930 quan nomès eren 5 famílies, també filosofava molt amb el sentit de la vida, era molt interessant.

Un dia passejant de platja en platja amb el Tim, l'Eliska i els Luis i recollint mangos, de cop sento un crec sobre meu, em cubreixo el cap amb els braços i em cau un coco just a la vora. Ja que casi em cau al cap, el recullo per menjar-nos-el. Al arribar a casa ens veiem al jardí amb un "machete" intentant obrir el coco i... no es tant fàcil com sembla. Ens crida una veïna per dir-nos "Así no! Ya os mando a mi hija para que os ayude." Venen corrent 4 nens i la mes gran, que tenia 8 anys, agafa el machete i comença a obrir el coco amb una destresa que ens deixa totalment en ridícul. No m'imagino a casa meva que ningú li deixi aquesta responsabilitat a una nena de 8 anys, sovint tendim a sobreprotegir-los, per això em sorprenen cada dia els nens aquí, els veig super madurs, espavilats i capaços de fer qualsevol cosa.

L'anada a les illes va ser amb l'arca de Noé. A la tornada, continuant amb les cites religioses, posem les hamaques a sobre d'uns tancs plens de peixos amb gel i, de tant en tant, es multipliquen els peixos amb els fils de pescar i els hams que pengen de la popa del vaixell.

Abans de creuar cap a Costa Rica passem pel Castillo, una població a la ribera del riu San Juan, on els espanyols van construir un castell per defensar el territori dels constants atacs pirates. Aquí, anem a la selva de la reserva indio maiz, on veiem monos, un cocodril, un perezoso, moltes papallones i granotes verinoses.

Ja gairebé porto un mes a Nicaragua i la veritat és que m'ha encantat; he viscut molt les tradicions locals, he vist els grans contrastos entre la Nicaragua de l'est i de l'oest, l'amabilitat de la gent i la impressionant naturalesa.

[ENGLISH]
Currently, I'm in a bus, like the ones from the american schools, where they are playing an action movie like the Jackie Chan ones, in which a japanese guy just jumped over 15 people, going through a wall to finish saying "Que onda wei? Tenemos que platicar." (mexican spanish). Constrasts like this one are the ones that I'm living in this trip and more in the second part of this trip to Nicaragua.

There are two ways of reaching Corn Islands, by plane or by land and boat. Due to the fact that I have more time than budget, I didn't go by plane. It wasn't short but such an experience. We went out of the volcanic island of Ometepe and after three buses and a boat we arrived in El Rama, here the road ends. We left the bus and everything was completely dark, they told us that there was no light that night. So I got the flash light and we found a basic and cheap accomodation to spend the night. Although there was no light in the town, our room was just next to a local where they had really loud music powered by an electric group. What a bad luck, but I was so tired that I fell sleep immediately.

The following day they informed us that we've been lucky because a cargo ship was leaving to Corn Island that day, there's only two or three every week. The boat is called Genesis, and it was a prediction that this was gonna be like the Noe Ark with limited species; humans, pigs and cows. Our seats were either the floor or beer boxes, now I understand why they always serve the beer with a napkin on the top. Luckily, a woman warned us and we bought a hamack in the market. A bit more than two meters from us, from time to time a cow was peeing, a pig was grunting, the only constant noise was the water and the engine.

After 17 hours of journey and some stops where they were taking in and out goods, we arrived in big Corn Island. Here we stayed in some cabbins of a man that made us a good offer because we were coming recommended by a friend and we would be one of his last customers, he will close the business in a week because he is getting retired. The beach is 10 steps away and a coral reef is 30 meters away swimming. In the street we met Eliska and Tim, a really nice couple with who we went to little Corn Island together and we shared some days with them.

The big island is so beautiful, although it has a couple of buts, every now and then a taxi was touching the horn if you wanted to get a ride and it has a plane landing road in the middle of the island. Well, those buts disappear in the small island. There's no vehicles, only bikes, and is really paradise. If I had to tell a but, I'd would say that they should change its name, because I didn't see a single corn there, but it was full of mangos everywhere, so I'd call it Mango Island. The nature in the island is amazing, it's full of jungle everywhere, plenty of paths to explore, beautiful beaches surounding the island, lobsters for 5 euros with its side dishes and a huge underwater life. I was doing snorkel or diving everyday, only to see the coral was worthy, but when I was seeing manta rays, sharks and huge banks of fishes I was exploting of happiness.

We stayed in Mr. James' house, an 80 years old man who was such a character. We spent long times talking with him and he was explaining us his life, that he arrived in the island in 1930 when only 5 families were living there, also he was philosophing about the sense of life, it was so interesting.

One day walking from beach to beach with Tim, Eliska and Luis, and collecting mangos, suddenly I heard something breaking above me, so I covered my head with the arms and a coconut fell down just next to me. Due to it almost fell on my head, I collected it to eat
it. When we arrived at home, we were in the garden with a "machete" (big knife) trying to open the coconut and... it's not that easy as it seems. A neighbour shouted us to say "Not like this! I'll send you my daughter to help you". Four children came into our home running and the oldest one, who was 8 years old, took the "machete" and started opening the coconut with such a skill that left us totally ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone in my home allowing this responsability to an eight years old girl. Often, we use to overprotect them, that's why everyday the children here they surprise me, I see them really mature, awake and capable to do anything.

The way to the islands was with Noe Ark. On the way back, continuing with the religious quotes, we put the hamacks above some tanks full of fishes and ice and, from time to time, the fishes were multiplied by the fishing strings and the hook that hang from the stern of the cargo boat.

Before crossing to Costa Rica, we go to El Castillo, a village next to the river San Juan, where the spanish built a castle to defend the territory of the continuous pirat attacks. Here, we went to the jungle in the reserve Indio Maiz, where we saw monkeys, a crocodile, an sloth and poisonous frogs.

I've been almost a month in Nicaragua and the truth is that I love it; I've lived so much the local traditions, I've seen the big contrasts between the eastern and western Nicaragua, the kindness of the people and the amazing nature.