“So we’ve successfully arrived in Selva Negra, Nicaragua and we’ve already had quite the adventure. Bizarre, interesting, surreal, these are words I would use to describe the adventure so far. Highlights, as I am getting very sleepy after 12 hours of traveling and will need to shut off the light VERY SOON. Managua airport reminded me of other Central American airports… or the Puerto Rico airport. Lots of people, a sea of humanity actually, crammed up against every glass window space, looking into the baggage claim area for their loved ones… and in they’re in large family groups, on average, 10+ people or more, per group. The scene is surreal. Inside the terminal, almost eerily quiet. Tired travelers wait impatiently for their bags in silence, the elevator music plays softly over the speakers. But every time the sliding door open… the white noise of the crowds and chaos storms the building.

Once on the street… mildly chaotic to say the least with several hundred people all milling around. The kids, (9 years and younger) descend on us like no one’s business looking for handouts and like the guidebook warned, they are EXTREMELY persistent. I still have this image of three little kid’s faces pushed up against the window of our taxi as we drive away begging for money.

The drive from Managua to Selva Negra took a little more than two hours. In that time, the drive can only be described as harrowing… I don’t know if our driver was just feeling sleepy or maybe a little drunk, but he kept taking his glasses on & off and drifting all over the road… and I can tell you, the roads in the mountain are very narrow and windy at night, and with no lights, very dangerous. At one point I think we saw a dead guy who had been hit accidentally by a car and left for dead…

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