Lagoon of the Sun God
Sunday, April the 26th, I wandered down to the big central park in Masaya. I brought my notebook and a large bottle of water and a plan to find some shade and write.
Writing in a public place is easier for me, because as I am trying to think of a word or to push past writer's block, I can look around and be inspired by people and animals and nature. Sometimes inspiration doesn't come quickly, and in these instances I can at least have something more pleasant to look at than a wall.
I sat in the shade of one of the pillars of the circular gazebo (the ones that are in every central park in Nicaragua). This one has a statue of a naked woman on top and is surrounded by a moat.
http://unconventionaltravel.com/word...tatue_lady.jpg
The naked woman looks like a Greek or Roman goddess...maybe Venus or Aphrodite. It struck me as interesting that they'd top the awning with a statue of a pagan god in a park next to a Catholic church adorned with a statue of the virgin Mary.
I got some good writing in for an hour or so, but as the sun descended I lost my shade, and I was forced to relocate to the shady side of the gazebo. The only good seat was next to a college aged girl who had made eye contact with me now and again as I looked up from my writing. After stretching and rubbing my butt and legs for a bit (the concrete ground is unforgiving), I wandered over to her and asked if I could sit across from her. She politely consented.
I tried to get back into my writing, but with our new proximity conversation became inevitable. Her name is Kenya (like the country), but she prefers Kenny. She's from a place near Masaya called El Valle de la laguna de Apollo. She's a fifth year university student only four months (at the time) from finishing her psychology degree. I ended up talking with her until the sun went down. She's the eldest of four. She is afraid of snakes and getting shots and drowning (like almost all Nicaraguans, she doesn't swim). She's intelligent, and her study of psychology has allowed her to transcend many of the cultural paradigms that enslave most Nicaraguans--like the idea that jealousy is love. It was an entertaining conversation.
I had never heard of "El Valle" before, but I had heard of "La laguna de Apollo." I'd been to El Mirador de Catarina, and I knew that the lagoon that it overlooks is La laguna de Apollo. Whenever I hear about a place I haven't been, my curiosity drives me to explore that place, and this was no exception. She told me that if I were to take the highway from Masaya towards Granada, that I should look for a turn off to the right with a sign for La laguna de Apollo.
I didn't know how far it was, so I hopped a bus to Granada and asked them to drop me at the turn. They charged me as much as it costs to go all of the way to El Valle (C$8) just to drop of at the turn, and the turn was less than a kilometer from Masaya. Typical cobradores...
The walk up the hill (old volcanic crater) from the highway to El Valle was brutal, but beautiful. I do not recommend it unless you bring several large bottles of water and want a workout. I drank my 1.75 liters and had to buy several gaseosas in and around El Valle to keep hydrated.
When I got to El Valle, the road I had walked ended at a T junction. I didn't know which way to go, but I could see that the ground dropped away strait ahead down to the lagoon, and there was a worn dirt path littered with garbage. I took the path and snapped a few photos before I started to feel my hackles rise. The path is way too remote and similar to the one at El Bajadero del Caballo where I was attacked.
I climbed back out of there and was a stone's throw from the road when I saw a couple of guys coming down the trial toward me. We passed each other without incident, but I strongly suspect that this was only due to our proximity to the town.
Back on the road, I asked a woman in a pulperia how to get down to the lagoon, and she sent me left (south-east).
About two block later the road dropped steeply and for a long ways. I was having trouble managing the incline going down, and there was a young girl (12 or 13 years old I'd guess) walking a bike up the hill. As I walked down the hill and kept going, I passed several children in their smurf school uniforms headed in the opposite direction. El Valle probably isn't large enough to have its own school, so they must be coming back from where ever their school(s) are.
The road quickly became packed dirt, and stretched out into the distance. Early on, I could see the lagoon off to my right and sketchy trails leading off in that direction, but the woman in the pulperia had assured me that the main road went all the way down to the lagoon, so I just kept going.
I could tell that I was in remote farming territory, and I started to attract the attention of vago looking men. They'd come out to the road and just stare at me for a long time after I had passed, and one even came out and started following. My trusty hackles were once again risen.
At first, I tried to walk quickly and outpace the danger, but as the dirt packed road stretched on and on, I eventually had to stop and ask for directions. Out in this farm land, asking for directions means walking past the outer fence/gate and onto someone's property while yelling "Buenos" as loud as you can. The houses are set too far back for anyone to hear me from the road.
I finally found a woman who wandered out to answer me. She told me that I was most of the way back out the the highway near Granada, and that the road down to the lagoon was completely the other way. ...awesome. This meant to me that I would have to walk back the way I had come and possibly encounter the vagos I had just left in my wake. Plus, it was a wicked hot day, and after walking a few miles in the pounding mid-day sun, the return trip was not inviting.
But, de modo. I sucked it up and walked north-west back to El Valle (up hill and in the sun). I got there without running into any of the men who had shadowed or eyeballed me earlier. When I was climbing the steep-ass hill right before El Valle, I saw the same girl with the bike climbing up again. I asked her about it, and she told me she's climbing so that she can ride down it again.
I sucked down a couple of gaseosas in El Valle and hung out in the shade for a bit, and then I took the road to the right. This one is cobbled/paved all of the way down to the lagoon. But, it is still at least 3 kilometers down, and the road isn't heavily traveled and it's remote. I noticed several ideal spots for an ambush as I made my way down. I also passed a group of men armed with machetes sitting on the side of the road with bundles of sticks.
I do not recommend walking from El Valle down to the lagoon. There are buses that run from the mercado in Masaya to El Valle and there are inexpensive taxis that run down to the beach. After I enjoyed the beach, I quickly found a taxi with a man who offered to take me up for C$15, but he ended up taking me all of the way into the mercado in Masaya for a total of C$20, because he was enjoying our conversation. He's got a small disco between El Valle and Masaya, where he makes most of his money off of alcohol sales, and he also drives a taxi. Nice guy.
I walked back across Masaya, and I made it back to my favorite breakfast/lunch place shortly before they closed. I ordered fish to commemorate my trip to the beach. While I was there, the waitress wandered over to me and asked if I could translate for a tourist. I was pleased and honored to be considered a valid translator. I've worked hard to make myself understood by all. He's a German traveling all the way from Canada down to Argentina. After I helped him order, he moved over to my table and we chatted until I was finished with my meal. I did the best that I could to impart wisdom regarding where to stay, where to eat, what to expect to pay, etc.
Impromptu conversations and human connections are powering my adventure.
I overdid it by trying to walk to El Valle, and then walk down to the lagoon. There is plenty of sun at the lagoon of the sun god without seeking it out on the way there (or back). I highly recommend checking out El Valle and the lagoon. Just don't try to make it there under your own power.
Saludos!
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Originally Posted by drlemcor
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