LAGUNA DE PERLAS - The Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua
Laguna de Perlas is Nicaragua's largest coastal lagoon and is about 40 kilometers north of Bluefields. Home to about 9000, most of the inhabitants are Creole but there are also Miskito and Garifuna. Having been called the Granada of the Mosquitia in the 1800's for its beauty and booming ship traffic Laguna, as well as Bluefields, is a very unique part of Nicaragua and you really feel like you're in a different country when you visit. English and an English Creole are the main languages although most people also speak a bit of Spanish. Along with the rest of Nicaragua, baseball is the passion of the people here but the season had recently ended by the time we arrived.
To get there, after spending a lovely few days with David and Katy in Bluefields we boarded another panga (boat) and set off down the river. The weather had been shocking and the boats hadn't been able to go every day as the rain was too heavy but also because it was dangerous with so many branches etc out on the lagoon. But we were pleased that there seemed to be a break in the rain when it was time for us to leave.
There was even a little sunshine ...
So it was all smiles as we sped off down the river. For about the first 10 minutes ...
Then down she came. Fortunately the boat captain was prepared and carried a big plastic sheet which we all sheltered under ....
The first fifteen or so minutes weren't so bad but after a while, twenty plus people all under the same plastic sheet gets a wee bit claustraphobic. The boat trip is about two hours long but fortunately about half way there we could take the plastic sheet off and enjoy the trip a bit more.
When the sheet came off we could see that the poor captain who had been left out in the elements was a little wetter than when we left.
The pangas get quite a good speed up and there are lots of waterways which all look the same so luckily he knew where he was going.
The vegetation along the riverbanks was very lush and abundant.
We stopped off at a couple of other little towns on the way to drop passengers off and pick the odd one up.
We passed quite a few dugout canoes on our way....
... and a couple of old homesteads.
As we came into the harbour we saw another little boat making its way in as well, using just a black plastic sheet which seemed to be working a treat.
Then we arrived at Laguna de Perlas. (Pearl Lagoon)
We were greeted by a lovely young sister called Jean from the local English congregation.
She came bearing a delicious sweet island pineapple and helped us get our bearings, get booked into a little hospedaje (accomodation) and find somewhere good to eat.
This is where we stayed at the Comfort Zone just basic accommodation but nice and clean and the owners were kind and friendly.
There are lots of horses that just seem to wander around Laguna de Perlas and this mum and her new baby were right outside our hospedaje. She was a bit shy but after I bought some bread rolls to feed her she warmed up a little.
Kieran expecially loved the washing machine.
We had lunch at Casa Ulrich and the food was excellent. We got to eat breadfruit chips which we haven't had since we lived in Tonga, scrumptious!
From the window of the restaurant Jean pointed out the congregation's boat aptly named 'Messenger'.
With all the waterways around Laguna de Perlas and the Cays a fair amount of the preaching work is done by boat.
The local flowers were beautiful.
As were the local children ....
They also proved to be very good tree climbers, making the most of the end of the mango season.
Jean and her lovely family, Byron and Yaya Blake rent a humble home that is also used as the local Kingdom Hall until one is built.
The next day we headed off to meet the group, first time I've been to a group in a derelict baseball stadium.
I went with a lovely young mum and her daughter on some Bible studies. With all the rain we had to wade to get to some of them.
The locals were lovely humble people who spoke a Creole English with a distinctly Jamaican accent.
This lady had three parrots that she let just wander around freely.
Not very distracting :) MC, pay attention!
Bro Blake put Porl and Kieran straight to work at our first meeting. There are just 11 publishers there and one elder so all help is greatly appreciated. If anyone would like to serve where the need is great in a location such as Nicaragua but is worried about learning Spanish then Laguna de Perlas could be just the place for you.
You can get by with English and it shouldn't be too hard to pick up a bit of Creole. For instance instead of saying, 'would you like to say the prayer please' you'd say 'would you make da pray'. The territory is huge and much of it needs to be done by boat so it'd be a great adventure. If you'd like some Spanish too there are little pockets of Spanish speaking people and then there are whole villages that speak Miskito just to mix things up. No getting bored around Laguna de Perlas! So spread the word, the brothers would love some help out there.
The locals are lovely and friendly and very polite - it's like going back into old England as you walk down the street as you are greeted with 'evenin' Sir' or 'evening Ma'am. Everything after lunchtime strangely enough is evenin'. The people know their Bibles very well and at nearly every house you are invited to sit down and enjoy a nice Bible discussion. People love to study the Bible too and you could have a study at nearly every house too.
The children at the meeting were intrigued by my ipad. They were such cuties.
The next day Yaya invited the whole congregation over for a delicious crab soup and they told us there was more where that came from if we'd like to stay. Very tempting! I love crab soup.
The next day we had plans to visit the Miskito village of Awas but we'd heard that one of the sisters in the congregation had been evicted and she and her husband who isn't a witness were planning on building a makeshift shelter to stay out of the weather. They were also building a little house but it wasn't ready yet. So we headed off to help them instead.
There wasn't a lot to work with but nothing was wasted, Jean's brother Anthony helped to collect old nails from timber that was lying around and to straighten them out to be used again.
Jose, the sister's husband was very grateful for the help and we managed to get it done before the rain came and when there was a torrential downpour the following night, surprisingly enough they said they stayed nice and dry in the little shelter.
There's not much going on in this video clip but you can hear the Creole English in the background if you listen carefully.
Byron and Anthony Blake, lovely brothers :)
The finished shelter.
The kids were intrigued by the brick making mold.
After a bit of initial shyness the children told me what they liked to eat with a recurring theme of rice and beans.
The next day we went witnessing with the brothers again and met Miss Celia (if I remember correctly) and her son who nonchalantly wandered by with the hide of a local leopard. He kindly came back for a photo and explained that they catch them in the bush and tan the hide to sell to foreigners.
It's very jungly near the river.
Leopards weren't the only exotic creatures we came across. These two polar bears seemed to have lost their way and ended up in the tropics.
The sisters having a chat in with a gentleman in the Spanish speaking part of town.
That afternoon we headed out to the village of Awas. Jean and Anthony and a visiting sister from the US came with us.
As you can see there had been a lot of rain.
The locals were making the most of it and were busy doing their washing and washing themselves.
We went past a number of vultures, there was a whole committee in another tree but I couldn't get a clear shot.
It was a nice walk out to Awas, about 20 mins or so at a very leisurely pace.
It seems like global warming is having its effect here too as it wasn't uncommon to see a coconut palm semi-submerged by the sea.
When we got to Awas we found some lovely friendly cows.
and some gorgeous children.
Many locals are fishermen and here the owners of the cows, a husband and wife team, headed out with their nets.
Porl was the first one in for a swim and we all weren't far behind. Apparently in summer the lagoon is beautiful and clear with turquoise waters but with all the rain it was brown and muddy the day we went. Still, it was nice and refreshing and we had fun having underwater handstand competitions with our new friends.
After the swim I spent some more time with one of the lovely cows - she was sooo cute I wanted to take her home.
Then it was time to head back to town.
The next day it was time to say goodbye to the lovely little Laguna de Perlas congregation.
To see a bit more of the countryside we decided to travel back to El Rama (where we first took the boat to Bluefields) by bus. The trip takes around 6 hours and when we left at 6am it was bucketing down, we hoped that we would make it through.
As you can see the poor people were starting to get really flooded out. We heard later that the rain continued for another week after we had left, poor things.
The animals weren't enjoying the rain much either. We went through miles of palm plantations on our way back.
There were some touch and go moments with the bus but we made it safe and sound back to La Rama where we decided to stay the night so that we didn't end up in Managua for a night. Managua has a very bad reputation, even in the day, crime-wise so we decided it wasn't worth the risk especially as we're not familiar with the city and didn't have any lodging arrangements.
La Rama.
We had heard about a place you could book simple but cheap rooms and sure enough right in the centre of town, right where the buses come in there were rooms for $4 each. We were shown a room and they were simple but looked clean enough so we paid but asked for a room a little further away from the bus terminal as there was a lot of noise - bad move!
These rooms were much older and we were greeted by the maid trying to get rid of a present that the last guest had apparently left. She came backwards and forwards to the loo with buckets of water and brushes was very pleased to announce in the end that she had been victorious and we were now free to use the bathroom if we so wished.
The bed looked decidedly uninviting and I told Porl that I would be sleeping in all my clothes on top of the sheets as I was sure that it would have bugs.
Anyway we were so tired from the travel that we braved the very unappealing shower and then there was nothing for it but to lay down and try to get some sleep before the next bus trip home. Sure enough 5 minutes after putting out the light and laying down I said to Porl, "can you feel things moving" and he could, eugh! We got up and covered ourselves in insect repellent and lay on top of our towels trying not to touch the bed. We were very thankful when the morning came and it was time for our last leg home.
We had been told that there was a bus at 5am so there we were all bright eyed and bushy tailed (not!) but we ended up having to hang around for ages as it didn't leave until 630. So glad I got up at 5!
Still we got settled in and eventually got on our way.
Finally about 32 hours after we left Laguna we got back to San Juan. What a mission! Not something you'd do every week but it was worth the travel, we made some lovely new friends and really enjoyed the uniqueness of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.
