Getting around on the Emerald Coast

Now that we have been in Tola a few weeks we are learning some things that one has to be here to know about. One of the things we learned has to do with getting around. Because the beaches of Tola are a popular tourist destination, and also being close to San Juan del Sur, there are quite a few options for transportation. Of course having your own vehicle makes things easier and this is what many here have, but if you don't have a car or you are just here for a short visit you still have a lot of options.

Sadly, many tourists get stuck with an opportunistic taxi driver that charges them astronomical prices, essentially a penalty for their ignorance. Taking the bus is very easy just like anywhere in Nicaragua. From Rivas which is the main city in the department, there are buses directly to Tola, Playa gigante, popoyo, San Juan del Sur, and many other locations. most of these cost less than a dollar, including the one to San Juan Del Sur. These buses run every day, so be careful not to be fooled by a sly taxi driver. Many times we have been approached by one and told "there are no more buses today, you will have to wait until tomorrow... but I can take you" Or something along those lines. They have no shame in lying about the bus schedules and the prices.

SJDS

Now if you have some bags and you're not comfortable riding the chicken bus you can take a taxi. But be careful of any taxi drivers that approach YOU. It is better if YOU are the one to select the taxi. The car doesn't have to be pretty, but in Nicaragua the law is that all taxis have a special liscence plate, this means they are a legitimate registered taxi. It is white with black letters/numbers and TWO RED BARS. One at the top, and one at the bottom. If there are no red bars, it is not a taxi. Anyone can buy the yellow taxi sign, it has to have the red bars on the licence plate. Another tip is if they tell you the price in dollars, just walk away. Also avoid people that speak English. They learn English in order to take advantage of white tourists. Its helpful to look online, some expats in San Juan del Sur have a facebook page that includes average prices for taxis to common locations.

Colletivo terminal in Rivas

The other option with taxis, and this is personally one of my favorite, is to take what is called a "collectivo" or "collective taxi". These are licensed taxis that are contracted to run one particular route. They sit in the market right next to the bus terminal, and wait until they have enough passengers going to a specific place to fill the car, and then they leave. A collectivo to San Juan del Sur from Rivas costs 50 cordobas. That is less than two dollars. To Tola from rivas is 25 cords, just less than one dollar. You may have to wait 5-10 minutes but you will get there twice as fast as the bus. A private taxi will rightfully charge more than this, but if someone comes up to you asking $20, just walk away, don't bother negotiating the price with them because you already know they are a thief.

Riding in the Collectivo

Blue dot is the location of the collectivo
taxis for both SJDS and Tola

I'm not against paying more money for a service that may be better, and its totally fair that some people don't want the hassle of finding the Collectivo, or asking prices in Spanish. But the real danger is that if someone is opportunistic and dishonest enough to target a foreigner to try and take advantage of his ignorance, what else is he capable of doing? I heard one story here in Nicaragua where a wealthy individual offered a taxi driver $150 to drive them around all day. That was a generous offer as they probably would have normally made $10-$20 in the whole day. Was the driver grateful? No... upon learning that her fare had that kind of money she decided to meet with some friends and rob the person of everything else they had, which was a few thousand dollars in cash. The driver was arrested of course and got away with nothing, but it just shows the danger of flashing large amounts of cash around.

Moving again!

When I was younger I wanted to travel and never stay in one place for too long. I wanted to see and experience as many different places as possible. Now I'm tired and moving seems like more of a burden than adventure sometimes... With that in mind we are hoping to become more stable and stay in one place, and more importantly one congregation for a longer period of time. HOWEVER, before that happens we're moving again. I won't say this is the last time and I won't make any claims about how long we are going to stay in our next location because I learned that is something we can never predict. Circumstances change.

We have enjoyed our last 6 months living in Jinotepe a lot. The weather has been great and everyday life here was a lot easier than on the Atlantic Coast. We really, REALLY miss Corn Island though, and if they had reliable internet we would probably still be there. According to Claro's website they do have coverage on Corn Island, but when you go to the office to sign up you are met by three... individuals... sitting down chewing gum, who respond with phrases such as "We no have change." or "Ova there no got connekshan" or even simply "nah".

Anyways... My sister along with her husband and two children have moved down to Nicaragua and we would

like to be in the same congregation as them. They are now settled in the municipality of Tola, which is in the Rivas department. The town of Tola has a brand new congregation that still meets in a private home, and a very large and very responsive territory. After some consideration and investigation of what life would be like in Tola we have decided to move. Hopefully, this move will be more long term.

Our rent will be about half of what we are paying now, although we will have to pay the internet bill and buy furniture, but we still end up saving a lot. Thankfully, shortly after moving to Jinotepe I was able to get a job teaching English, and interestingly now make more money per hour than I ever did working in Canada. I am fairly confident that this is Jehovah's blessing and a reward for not giving up and going to Canada to work while Jean stayed behind. We still have hopes of going to Canada some day to visit if Jean is ever granted a visa, but now it won't be an emergency.

Tola is an interesting place, very different from other parts of Nicaragua in regards to landscape and climate. It is part of the area known as the "Emerald Coast" of Nicaragua. Right now in the dry season it looks very dry but has a lot of trees and large forests. The town itself is quite small, I'm not sure what the population is but its bigger than Pearl Lagoon and smaller than San Marcos. For some reason it reminds me of some small towns in Saskatchewan that we would drive through on the way to visit my grandparents when I was a kid. Maybe its the kind of trees or the way the countryside looks.

In other news, as a new feature of my blog I will now start including videos when I can. You may notice that a few older posts have had video clips added to them. On my same Youtube Channel you can find some other random videos that I have uploaded that are not related to any particular post, Some sights from Corn Island for example, and also some silly/stupid things I did for fun. (bottle rockets)

Here is a link to the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChr_gi6q-sCFl40y8M0BWJw