A Taste of Nicaragua

After 3 long days of travel and bad roads we decided to take a much shorter
trip. Five minutes up the road to Masachapa, a small fishing village on the
pacific coast. Once there ,  we walk along the beach and watched the local
fisherman at work. The only thing resembling any modern convenience were the
motors on there boats and they were old. The beach here is a very busy place in
the morning.
By 10:00 the fishermen have already filled their nets and are  unloading there
catch into tubs and hauling them onto shore to be cleaned ,weighed and sold.
Some are bent over a small stream doing the final clean and rinse of todays
catch.
When the boats are empty they are pulled back onto shore. First the motor is
removed and placed on a cart crudely design just for carrying them to dry land.
The boat is pushed out of the water onto logs and rolled ashore. As one log
rolls out the back it's is placed  under the front and the push continues. It
takes about five men to push a boat and leap frog the three logs  200ft. onto
shore. Not an easy task but by noon their work day is done.
We decided to leave the beach and takes a walk through
town. The school day in Masachapa starts at 1:00 so there were a lot of
children on street at this time. Three tall,blonde,white women and  a short
bald white guy seemed to draw a lot of attention for some reason. A few kids,on
their way to school, followed along side on there bikes for two or three blocks
maybe out of curiousity or until they had enough courage to ask  "un doe lar?"
There are plenty of fish in the sea and nobody here appeared to be lacking for
something to eat.
Mid afternoon gets hot in Nicaragua so we decide to cool off with a local
treat. Doesnt everybody want to try some alotto. Alotto is kind of like
chocolate milk frozen in a sandwich bag. To eat alotto you must bite the corner
off the bag and and drink the juice as it melts. The flavor was cacao,
more like Ovaltine with a little cinnamon.
Alotto did very little to quench our thirst. We headed down to the beach in
pochomil and parked ourselves at a table under a grass roof. The
bar/restaurants on the beach are basically no more than wood poles holding up a
grass roof, no walls. Sitting in the shade and taking in the sights,sounds and
breeze of the ocean was a pleasant break. This particular bar is owned by the
same family that runs the restaurant just off the beach in town.The same place
we stopped for directions when we first rolled into town. It became a regular
stop for us during our stay in pochomil.
We ordered a sample plate and some shrimp and fish ceviche for lunch. Beside
rice and beans most of the food down here consists of little more than grilled
meats with a little lettuce tomatoes may  a few sliced beets on the side.
Ceviche is made from finely diced onion , cucumber ,cilantro and tomato mixed
with lime juice and your choice of fish. Delicious and very refreshing. Then
there's fried plantains. It's their version of potato chips. Some are thinly
sliced and actually do resemble chips. Others are sliced in a little thicker
disc and and are a nice side to any meal.  We spent the rest of the day there
swimming in the ocean and enjoying a few beers.
  When we return to the house Sergio said he could get lobster tails for
dinner. Becky and I offered to drive him into Masachapa to pick up the
lobsters,some wine, and a few odds and ends Martha wanted to whip up a side
dish. We drove right into the heart of the village to a locals house to pick up
the main entree. The streets were brick paved and very narrow. Hard to drive
down and even harder to make the corners. There were quite a few people out
walking or just visiting. We got a more personal look at their way of life.
   One more stop ,at what I guess was a liquor store , to pick up wine. Sergio
threw in a bottle of rum and ice and we returned to home. As Martha began to
prepare our meal , the four of us took a
Predinner stroll on the beach. Out of nowhere came Sergio walk down the beach
holding  a tray with four tall glasses. They were iced pineapple , rum
smoothies and they were delicious. A dinner of grilled lobster after that was
the end to a perfect day. We're going back on the rode tomorrow to do some
sight see on the island of Ometepe.