How to get to Bluefields for the 1st time visit????

[topdiggy2]

Hello Again:

Although, this may sound like a silly question for some, what i am actually asking for is the "dont be a stupid gringo" guide to getting to bluefields. Once i get off the airplane with my back pack in Managua, which buses or charter carriers are the cheapest/fastest? Any links to schedules or prices, or is it figure it out as i go?

Thanks

[Little Corn Tom]

I am not known for my patience and you are on dangerous ground so far. Have you investigated any of your questions by yourself or just letting everyone else do your homework for you?

There are no buses to Bluefields.

Go to Rama...take a boat.

Best bet is to fly...yes fly to Bluefields from Managua.

Maybe you could catch a ride with Doniston?

And you are going to take young children to Bluefields for an education?

Jesus!

Christ man....do a little homework.

[Mikeh]

"I am not known for my patience."

Aquí es Nicaragua.

[Jonh]

I am not known for my patience and you are on dangerous ground so far. Have you investigated any of your questions by yourself or just letting everyone else do your homework for you?

There are no buses to Bluefields.

Go to Rama...take a boat.

Best bet is to fly...yes fly to Bluefields from Managua.

Maybe you could catch a ride with Doniston?

And you are going to take young children to Bluefields for an education?

Jesus!

Christ man....do a little homework.

vBulletin's software is not known for it's search ability. Plus, I doubt anyone's ever written directly about elementary education in Bluefields. My initial thought was "Home schooling." Education is whatever you want or need it to be. If the kids are expected to grow up in and never leave Bluefields, just send them to the local schools there. If you want them to become the next Albert Einsteins, Bluefields may not be very high on the list of places to live.

[topdiggy2]

Boy, the cynicism is spewing in here!!!! I thought i qualified my question(s) when i said this is a 1st time visit AND that i dont want to make any first time mistakes (ie overpaying for airfare, boat ride, dealing with crooks, etc.) something that a current expat or native would know NOT to do....in other words im looking for insider details....not to be ridiculed because you are in "the know" and im not!

But God forbid someone ask a direct question here in a forum where the next most relevant thread is about what... 2-3 years old??? AM i to assume that 3-5 years old information is still valid, because most of the links sure arent! but i can apologize for my ignorance...

I am not known for my patience and you are on dangerous ground so far. Have you investigated any of your questions by yourself or just letting everyone else do your homework for you?

Well, forgive me for testing your patience once more, but, cynicism aside, its not exactly like you can google "bluefield transportation routes" and get a lot of hits. In fact, aside from this forum site, are only about 2 other websites that i have been able to find that even offers usable links to stuff like "La Costena" airline.

When you google map Esteli (my first stop in Nica) to Bluefields, it does infact says that there is road access to Bluefields...but, again, through my RESEARCH i have read conflicting information saying that the only way to get there is by Boat or air....AGAIN, how presumptious of me to think that i could obtain clarification from a local on the ground.

There are no buses to Bluefields. Okay, thanks

okay thanks

Go to Rama...take a boat.

Okay, this is helpful. Is there one main commercial provider of this service with regular schedules? or is this like catching a taxi type of thing? Or something closer to hitch hiking? What's a good price to pay for a boat ride to Bluefields?

Best bet is to fly...yes fly to Bluefields from Managua.

Maybe you could catch a ride with Doniston?

Who is Doniston? Is he/she another user here in the forum?

And you are going to take young children to Bluefields for an education?

Jesus!

Christ man....do a little homework.

I'm not sure which part of this response to take offense to first? The fact that I am a African-American, and the idea of me wanting exposing my children to the Afro-Caribe cultures of central America's Caribbean coast is somehow WRONG/Bad parenting or some kinda reckless endangerment? Or that my "unico motivio" for moving/visiting Bluefields is to get my kids in school, as if its the only place on earth to do that? Or that without any prior research online or not having done any other "homework" \, i just woke up, turned on my computer and typed in "Good schools" and it brought me straight to this forum and sub-category....as if Bluefields, Nicaragua is the mecca of "places to live with small children"? - lol
Jesus Christ man....dont be a dick!

My point is, we both can sit here and make assumptions about each other. But in this case, please assume that I am very interested in visiting Bluefields (and RAAS in general) for specific purposes. And my reason for posting ANY questions here in this forum is to genuinely obtain non-bias straight forward information. Thats all...if you were to ask me about my neighborhood, i wouldnt just shut you down for asking a relatively straight forward question...i would answer best to my knowledge and keep it moving.

Thanks

[topdiggy2]

vBulletin's software is not known for it's search ability. Plus, I doubt anyone's ever written directly about elementary education in Bluefields.

Thanks Jonh, my sentiments exactly in regards to research aspect of the previous comments below.

My initial thought was "Home schooling." Education is whatever you want or need it to be. If the kids are expected to grow up in and never leave Bluefields, just send them to the local schools there. If you want them to become the next Albert Einsteins, Bluefields may not be very high on the list of places to live.

Yes, I am coming to look at a piece of property to ultimately emigrate to Nicaragua. To address educating our children, we initially were planning for the home schooling route with taking US-based homeschool test via Internet as you suggested. But, thats not knowing what is available on the ground...so, i figured i would ask.

For the social aspect of it (kids making friends, community involvement, etc.) i didnt have a idea of just how "3rd-1st world" the facilities were. Based on my homework, i did see that there is a newer BICU, university so it cant be as bad as say some rural hut village in Africa. I just didnt know if there were some kinda of church sponsored international Bachelorate program there or and American school that teaches bilingually, etc...

But thanks again...your post was helpful.

[bill_bly_ca]

Boy, the cynicism is spewing in here!!!! I thought i qualified my question(s) when i said this is a 1st time visit AND that i dont want to make any first time mistakes (ie overpaying for airfare, boat ride, dealing with crooks, etc.) something that a current expat or native would know NOT to do....in other words im looking for insider details....not to be ridiculed because you are in "the know" and im not!

We all have seen (many years) of people being stary eyed about giving it all up and running away to a foreign country to live the good life.

THen the person makes the jump only to "Disappear" or end up with a fire sale on Craig's list managua running away in disgust.

Tip - Come visit for 6 months - Reading that you want to transplant I assume you can jump now and try.

The Atlantic coast if Nicaragua is a distinctly different culture than the Pacific and interior, It is somewhat lawless and you will (typically) be on your own. You may have heard the saying when seconds count, the police are minutes away? In Nicaragua the police are hours away.

Myself I do not have any real contact with Blue fields other than one Niece who married a fellow from B/F in 1990, divorced in 92 and a funny family story how one brother in law of mine spent 2 or 3 months in B/F as part of the Sandinista Army about 2 months after he deserted (to Guatemala) a rather burly female acquaintance showed up at the family compound in Managua rattling the gate and demanding to see him

The Doniston reference is in reference to another fellow who came for advise, but was really looking for confirmation of his existing preconceptions. He did not want to listen and became combative.

Anyways - You need to visit - Is it too soon to cut the 1st world cord? Then come for a week to 10 days and gather intel - Then stay for a month then 3 months - You do need 6 to 12 months on the ground to get the real feel for the new surroundings.

I can not tell you what you will find other than a hell of an adventure and possibly a good financial drain if you do not watch your step - Possibly personal harm as well, but you would have to push it to get that.

Cheers

[kwah2249]

Welcome to TRN Diggy! I just posted some educational stuff on another thread, you are on the right track so I'll skip all that here. There are 2 normal ways to get to BLU. You can bus to Rama and then fast boat to BLU, it's the affordable way but your backside will be hurting. The most efficient way is fly in to MGA, get a flight that gets you there before noon, walk out of the main airport, hang a left and walk about 100 meters down to https://lacostena.online.com.ni/ check in and relax. Between 2 to 3 hours later they will load you onto a plane, could be big or little. Don't drink a bunch of beer because the little planes don't have bathrooms. 1 1/2 hours later you will be landing in BLU. Walk out, grab a taxi, should be $1 from the airport to the Central District, I recommend Caribbean Dream. Do not let them put your luggage on top of the taxi. Normal taxi trips are about 15 to 20 cords for everywhere else. Check in, relax, and then enjoy. I'd recommend the Pelican for a nice first dinner but plenty of good places to eat.

But seriously you should spend some time before making a permanent move / investment, long standing good advice. Especially if you are looking out on the Bluff, when you leave town you leave everything.

[el duende grande]

yes, there are roads to the caribe (bumps or mud, depending on season). The paved road/river boat is probably a better route.
yes, some speak English in blu (what a Panamanian friend of mine politely called "the bad English"). Speaking caribe English should be considered a handicap in the real world.
Yes, there is a university. A friend of mine got a degree there for what reason I do not know. Interesting that the degree was co-issued by 3 universities, including one in Spain. Maybe she's going to be a smart Nica and jump ship. Spain is a considerable step up from Nic.
Yes, planes fly to blu (small ones with squirrelly reservations and limited luggage).

Now some opinions:
"cheap" is among the worst reasons to move to Nic,. You will do your family no end of harm by worshiping the cheap god.
Blu is at the end of the known world.
The east coast is generally for pirates and women with hair under their arms.
No, after living in Nic for almost 10 years, I have not been to the caribe. In my more adventurous and idealistic days I saw caribbean squalor elsewhere and found it lacking and dysfunctional.

Be open minded, Come visit and bring the wife for a test run. As with any married couple other than missionaries, I think the divorce topic will come up within 5 minute of leaving the airport.

Not trying to be testy, just warning you that looking at points on a map or reading nonsense on International Living tend to set one up for disappointments.

[Jonh]

Don't worry about Tom, he's the House SOB here to weed out the non-serious people. Most of us are very nice and helpful.

Just play the TRN theme song when you feel he's getting on your nerves.

[KeyWestPirate]

yes, there are roads to the caribe (bumps or mud, depending on season). The paved road/river boat is probably a better route.
yes, some speak English in blu (what a Panamanian friend of mine politely called "the bad English"). Speaking caribe English should be considered a handicap in the real world.
Yes, there is a university. A friend of mine got a degree there for what reason I do not know. Interesting that the degree was co-issued by 3 universities, including one in Spain. Maybe she's going to be a smart Nica and jump ship. Spain is a considerable step up from Nic.
Yes, planes fly to blu (small ones with squirrelly reservations and limited luggage).

Now some opinions:
"cheap" is among the worst reasons to move to Nic,. You will do your family no end of harm by worshiping the cheap god.
Blu is at the end of the known world.
The east coast is generally for pirates and women with hair under their arms.
No, after living in Nic for almost 10 years, I have not been to the caribe. In my more adventurous and idealistic days I saw caribbean squalor elsewhere and found it lacking and dysfunctional.

Be open minded, Come visit and bring the wife for a test run. As with any married couple other than missionaries, I think the divorce topic will come up within 5 minute of leaving the airport.

Not trying to be testy, just warning you that looking at points on a map or reading nonsense on International Living tend to set one up for disappointments.

The east coast is generally for pirates and women with hair under their arms.

I didn't know that we could talk dirty on this site . .. .

[Just Plain John Wayne]

Without a doubt, better to fly there and spend some time, Now Cookshoe (Cookshow) does the river thing from Rama to BLU all the time, but he is a glutton for punishment.

I wish he would chime in on this thread he just might.

And BTW.. Welcome to the TRN Mad house..

[Little Corn Tom]

Don't worry about Tom, he's the House SOB here to weed out the non-serious people. Most of us are very nice and helpful.

Just play the TRN theme song when you feel he's getting on your nerves.

.................................................. .....

Helpful.....? Shit....I answered all of his questions....perhaps in a less than polite way, but he got his information. Who else has Sylvia's phone number?

Now I must admit that before my first trip to Nicaragua, I was planning it with my then Nicaraguan girlfriend, now wife, and said to her.....I think that I would like to rent a car and drive to Bluefields. She broke out laughing at the idea. Seems that there is no real way in hell that a tourist could drive to Bluefields. It just seemed incomprehensible to me that two cities on the map of Nicaragua could not be navigated by an automobile. I mean we do this in the USA all the time....right? However, that was 15 years ago and not so much information was available then as there is now. So Let me apologize for my aggressive response to your ignorance about travel to Bluefields.

However......When you post something like this:

"I'm not sure which part of this response to take offense to first? The fact that I am a African-American, and the idea of me wanting exposing my children to the Afro-Caribe cultures of central America's Caribbean coast is somehow WRONG/Bad parenting or some kinda reckless endangerment? Or that my "unico motivio" for moving/visiting Bluefields is to get my kids in school, as if its the only place on earth to do that? Or that without any prior research online or not having done any other "homework" \, i just woke up, turned on my computer and typed in "Good schools" and it brought me straight to this forum and sub-category....as if Bluefields, Nicaragua is the mecca of "places to live with small children"? - lol
Jesus Christ man....dont be a dick!"

.....I get a little pissed. Do not try to pull the race card on me. I did not know and do not care what color your skin is and your "pity me cause I'm black" crap ain't gonna work, so don't bring it up. The Miskito coast is every shade of white/black/ brown/gray/ red and that shit don't play here.

Any comments that I made about education relate to your goals for your kids. They will be educated AT BEST to work a call center or manage a hotel if they attend every possible educational facility in Bluefields. Their English skills will be marginal. If that is what you want for your kids and that is OK...then go for it, but do not expect them to get a good education (by World Standards) there. Even if you have the best of intentions for them, their peers may have other ideas in mind.

Now then, if you go to Bluefields without your wife, you are a fool. If she does not fall in love with the culture and that way of life for you, her and your children, then you and your dreams are well and truly f**cked.

You want straight forward, non biased information?.....Well you got it from me and apparently, you don't like it.

Listen to Ms Brown ... one of her best posts.

Kevin.....I know you are lurking and laughing at this thread.

[Just Plain John Wayne]

Kevin.....I know you are lurking and laughing at this thread. ..
..
.

[Jonh]

Caribe culture is nothing like African American culture, but I'm sure you know that. The continent of ancestry is but a mere coincidence.

I guess I get where Tom's coming from. We've told people the truth about Nicaragua for years, and no one seems to believe us.

[cookshow]

The Bus/Boat trip can be a breeze or can turn into a marathon of misery. With 2 kids I would suck it up and fly.

You do know it is HOT here, are your kids used to a/c if so this might not be their idea of a good time (right now it is not my idea of a good time and I am well acclimated to the Heat) of course it is raining then you and 20+ other sweaty people spend 2.5 hours trapped under a filthy, leaking piece of Black Plastic during the boat ride seeing nothing but darkness.

Today the "Real Feel" was 120 or some shit (Bill you will have to convert that for the Northerners). Even under a Fan (as I currently am) it is like being in an Oven. I have been watching a Toddler here suffering from Heat Rash the past few weeks and I would not wish that on my worst enemy.

The Boat Ride is a neat experience but it is a minimum of 5 hours (maximum, only Allah knows) by bus from MGA to Rama (where you board the Boats).

I could spend a lot of my (semi-precious) time giving you specific advice but the General Generic Advice you have gotten so far "spend time here" is by far the best you will get. I would only add "spend lots and lots of time here".

[cookshow]

When I hear or read "cheap"I always cringe. What is "cheap" here? Cheap Land never turns out to be so cheap is my observation, if it is cheap there is a reason. The Caribbean ​ Coast of Nicaragua is not exactly undiscovered.

Beer, Rum, and Shrimp are pretty cheap but probably not what you plan to nourish your kids with. An Egg is 5-6 cords, Ground Beef 80 cords a pound. Some Fruits and Vegetables are sometimes cheap but not always and for how long will your kids be happy with Bananas and Oranges 3 times a day. A splurge on a jar of Planters Peanut Butter will set you back $8.

One thing is certain Bluefields has come a LONG ways since I first visited over 10 years ago. You can find some pretty nice stuff (with a price to match). Once a month or so I will splurge on something like the Peanut Butter, it breaks up what can quickly become a very monotonous diet here. Lots of Fried Food and Lots of Starches (often fried).

For all practical purposes Bluefields is an Island (though that is changing as the road progresses), everything is shipped in.

[bill_bly_ca]

(Bill you will have to convert that for the Northerners).

In "C" that would be "F'n" hot.....

[MizBrown]

Which post? My general advice is come here for a short visit. Go home. Think about what you saw. Go back with a return ticket in five to six months. Live here a while; go home and make the decision there about staying or not. Have enough money to get your ass out of here at any time.

If I were black, I would settle in Managua where the smarter Costeños and the musicians have settled. The attitude about black here is that having a black grandfather doesn't make you black. Check out Bluefields from a point where getting back to some other place is easier.

B. It's a poor country, run by a smart soft authoritarian president who said that he saw the Castros as being too rigid and Allende as being too easy going, so he's looking for the nice middle. Politics are like NYC under Boss Tweed, which is for here, not a bad thing, particularly.

C. Kids and a wife. Managua, again. Private bilingual school or home schooling.

D. Takes $35K in investments in a business to qualify for legal residency. Have another $15K more for the "This has stopped being fun" money. I've been here since August 2010 and I think about alternatives to living here from time to time -- the most unhappy people here are the people who can't afford to get away.

E. I wouldn't start a business here unless I was very fluent in Spanish and also culturally fluent. Might be possible to start a business on the Caribbean Coast with Creole, but even there, most people will be bilingual. Only places where it works to be mono-lingual English speaking are San Juan del Sur (not cheap and with a rather high crime rate) and Granada (probably wouldn't work for you).

Friend of mine here is married to a Costeño family from Puerto Cabezas, not sure he still reads the group. They live on the outskirts of Managua where he has a hotel.

[lolafargo]

Wow. you have been in Nica since 2010! Time flies! How are you?

[Jonh]

Or, just be like a Mexican. Flee across the border alone seeking streets paved with gold, leaving wife and kids in America, then get paid under the table until you save up enough to bring the family down. Isn't that pretty much what International Living sells?

[MizBrown]

Wow. you have been in Nica since 2010! Time flies! How are you?

August 1 is my arrival anniversary. I'm now on my second cedula. I inherited some money and put some of it in an annuity with my university, and spent some of it on fish tanks and camera equipment, and will tighten my grasp on what's left unless I inherit some more money, which is possible. Still not really fluent in Spanish, but I can buy what I need to live on and have some bilingual Nicaraguan friends. I'm watching Jinotega get over the Apanas Lake Estates hustle and get on with life as a Nicaraguan small city with a call center and some small scale manufacturing and some not so small scale food production factories, and coffee brokers and people who make coffee processing gear, and people who have a red Mustang parked in from of their successful pulperia. We have some people from away, mostly not from the US. I mostly like living here but I'd never call it paradise, but a perfect place would not be for the less than perfect me.

Photos on Flickr here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebecca_ore/sets/

[MizBrown]

Or, just be like a Mexican. Flee across the border alone seeking streets paved with gold, leaving wife and kids in America, then get paid under the table until you save up enough to bring the family down. Isn't that pretty much what International Living sells?

The basic sell is that here is so much cheaper and safer than the US. It's mostly lies. Cheaper housing? Only if you don't get steered into a real estate deal on gringo-owned property and if you're willing to live in a Nicaraguan house rather than a gringo-built fantasy house. I've done comparisons with prices in beach areas in the US that weren't fashionable or in California and they were about what the prices are in San Juan del Sur. Food's cheaper for good reasons (long growing seasons and short supply lines) and bad (crap pay for agricultural workers). Clothing depends -- mostly a wash or a bit cheaper unless people buy US used clothes. Electricity -- under 150 KW a month, very cheap; very expensive if running A/C. Water, very cheap but not always running. Gasoline and cars--more expensive but insurance is cheaper.

The other sell is a fantasy that the gringos are better businessmen than Nicaraguans. The reality is that they can sell to tourists better, but outside Granada and San Juan del Sur, you go broke without Nicaraguans as customers. Watching gringos do belly flops in business attempts is a local sport in Jinotega. They tend not to do basic due diligence -- like one place here that put its barbecue restaurant two door down from a Pentacostal church with very good loud speakers, and across from a vago hanging out corner, and without private parking, and serving lunch without being near any of the banks and government offices that have staff that go out to eat lunch (need to be a three minute walk from those). The restaurant that failed before my time build in a barrio that was poor and dodgy.

Tried to explain to the barbecue place manager that Nicaraguans with money have cars and will not park them at night on the street in neighborhoods where stuff gets stolen off cars (which had happened to the manager, too). Offering breakfast -- I'm the only person in several blocks who eats breakfast out.

International Living moved to Ireland since the parent company has been sued twice for promotional bullshit -- they also do magazines for would be entrepreneurs. Lost one, won one with another magazine, move IL out of the US because getting sued by people who discovered they've been lied to is a real threat. Google Agora Publishing.

The other thing they're selling is American exceptionalism -- a lot of movie houses closed when people bought TVs and bootleg DVDs. Leon, Managua, and possibly Esteli still have movie theaters and I know Leon's movie complex gets new run US movies with Spanish subtitles. The IL flack was suggesting that Matagalpa would be ripe for a movie house or another espresso house (they've got two already), and tout how easy it is for Americans to succeed at opening businesses here. Well, opening a business is just the beginning. B. there's a reason movie houses are closing all over -- TV and Netflix. Movies are no longer cheap entertainment, and all the ones I know much about are in shopping malls (Leon, Managua).

If people don't know Spanish very well, trying to run a business here requires having a very trustworthy Nicaraguan partner. My analogy would be a Chinese person who didn't speak English moving to West Virginia away from the DC area to open a hotel, expecting to have Chinese speakers as his customers. If that sounds like a dubious proposition, then moving to parts of Nicaragua that don't get more than 100 English-speaking tourists in three years would also be a dubious proposition. The fantasy seems to be that "I'm so cool people will come to see me." This is rarely true and almost never true of the people who have that fantasy.

[el duende grande]

The people I worry the least about are the ones who move here to "learn a new culture". They'll be gone in 6 months if their money doesn't run out first. Unless you are a closet lefty and a 17th century catholic rolled into one you are not going to make it on the cultural front, especially if you make the double booboo and hang around with poor people.
This goes double for the caribe. Unless you can get on the payroll as an archaeologist, it just doesn't pan out. Even for the most patronizing, seeing how people make themselves poor has got to be boooooring.

[Just Plain John Wayne]

The people I worry the least about are the ones who move here to "learn a new culture". They'll be gone in 6 months if their money doesn't run out first. Unless you are a closet lefty and a 17th century catholic rolled into one you are not going to make it on the cultural front, especially if you make the double booboo and hang around with poor people.
This goes double for the caribe. Unless you can get on the payroll as an archaeologist, it just doesn't pan out. Even for the most patronizing, seeing how people make themselves poor has got to be boooooring.

You are what you eat... Today Iam a Yucca.....