PICNIC IN GRANADA

Josie Dale

Nicaragua is the largest and least densely populated country 1 in central america

Were starving. A seat beneath a shady mango tree in Granadas parque central is perfect for a kiwi picnic; but weve unexpected company. Half a dozen grimy urchins shuffle closer, their brown eyes fixed on our lunch like voracious baby sparrows. Four nondescript, labrador-sized drooling dogs wriggle forward on their bony haunches, claiming front row position. An ex-pat American woman passerby sees our predicament and suggests Give the dogs a crust and theyll go away. Dont know what you can do about the kids, but watch your bags and pockets.

We follow her advice and the dogs depart, but the children determinedly settle in to share our lunchbox. Greedily devouring apples, hard-boiled eggs and fruit cake, they disdainfully toss the bananas aside. Not that hungry then.

Our Spanish is almost non-existent and, to our shame, our uninvited guests demonstrate their proficiency with our language. After the last crumb disappears Alistair asks, What do you say? Gracias, they chorus.

A teenage boy continually whispers instructions to the youngsters and we nickname him Artful Dodger. He accompanies us around the square, practicing his distraction techniques via non-stop chatter. He and his apprentices eventually depart in search of easier victims on whom to hone their pick-pocket skills. A smiling young man approaches. Please, you buy ceramics my mother make. Judging by hundreds of identical pieces in the surrounding stalls, his Mum is a machine. Alistair chants his standard travel mantra: Remember, youll have to
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carry it home. Our new friend is so polite we weaken, and much to his delight, buy a small pot.

We weakened and bought a small pot his mother made.

That morning my husband, Alistair, and Id boarded a tourist bus in the Nicaraguan Pacific coast town of San Juan del Sur, bound for Granada.

The largest and least densely populated country in Central America, Nicaraguas population of 5.5 million is spread over an area about half the size of New Zealand. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea and is bordered by Honduras to the North and Costa Rica in the South.

The country has a bloody, turbulent history. Civil war was rife up until 1993, when peace was declared for the first time in generations. In 1998 mother-nature dealt another blow in the form of Hurricane Mitch, leaving 9,000 people dead and two million homeless.

Earnest young Nicaraguan guide, Paz, explained the tourist industry was in its infancy and infrastructure a little fragile. I have important announcement, he said. Bus is equipped with restroom and we have two-hour drive so you may need to use. I have to tell that you may only do stage number one. I regret its not permitted to go to number two.' A queue formed at the back of the bus. Perhaps our fellow passengers hadnt understood his message. Alistair and I spent an entertaining few minutes envisaging the fate of those exceeding stage one.

Flat, dry, tropical savannah bordered the highway - cattle-breeding country, home to large ranches and haciendas. Paz explained that agriculture has lead to wholesale razing of natural forest, but the current government actively encouraged conservation. Twenty percent of the country is designated National parkland or protected nature reserves. Growing awareness of the importance of eco-tourism to the local economy has played a part in slowing deforestation.
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In contrast to the ranchers healthy stock, animals owned by peasant farmers looked miserable and malnourished. Fifty per cent of Nicaraguans live in poverty. They can scarcely feed their families, let alone animals. It was sad to see dejected, skeletal horses pulling heavy loads, or tethered in the sun without shade or water.

Peasant houses are, at best, mud-floored ramshackle huts, built of wood and rusting corrugated iron. Despite their subsistence conditions, families looked content as they waved and smiled at the passing busload of gringos.

Soon arid, beige cattle country gave way to lush banana, sugarcane, coconut and coffee plantations interspersed with rice fields. Agriculture sixty per cent of our export; coffee important crop, much organically grown, said Paz.

The road was crammed with bullock wagons lavishly decorated with straw. The entourage, part of the Easter pilgrimage to Granada, swelled and gathered momentum as we neared the city. Semana Santa (Easter week) is a big deal here.

Nearby, vultures perched on a gate, like ghouls waiting for death to provide dinner. Common in this part of the world, they are creepily reminiscent of a blackclad Ku Klux Klan.

Granada is a small city on the western shore of Lake Nicaragua. Founded in 1524, its interesting, brightly painted colonial buildings have been meticulously preserved. According to Paz, its the oldest European city on mainland America.
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Beautiful Granada Cathedral was originally built in 1583, but has been destroyed and rebuilt many times since.

Pairs of patient, tail-swishing, beribboned horses were hitched to carriages alongside the square. The carriages arrived from Europe in 1868 to taxi people around the city, and surprisingly, descendants of the original owners are still in charge.

Granada taxi service waits patiently for business.

We fleetingly wished wed hired a carriage when our bus became stuck in a narrow one-way street. Cars, horse-drawn carts, and bicycles towing teetering over-laden trolleys advanced from all directions. Those unable to squeeze past loudly vented their displeasure, thankfully in Spanish. Into the melee and cacophony of noise alighted intrepid Paz to play traffic policeman. Much to his embarrassment, we applauded his return as the bus eventually lurched through a gap.

Originally part of an ocean bay, Lake Nicaragua was formed by a volcanic

eruption, and at over thirteen times the size of Lake Taupo, is enormous. Its the only freshwater lake in the world supporting oceanic fish-life including bull sharks. During the 1980s viable species were almost fished out and consequently commercial freshwater fishing for sharks and sawfish was banned.

Volcanic activity also formed Las Isletas, over 350 miniature tropical islands topped with wildlife, mansions and the odd shack. The lake islands were once Granadas most impoverished slum, but not any more.

Holiday home built on one of Las Isletas.

We boarded small twelve-seat motorboats to explore the lake and islands (yes, life jackets were provided, but I shivered at the possibility of three metre bull sharks lurking below).

Bull sharks lurk in these waters.

As we chugged by Monkey Island, a white faced capuchin swung from nearby branches gibbering angrily. Hes grumpy because weve no food for him, said our skipper, Emilio. A troupe of spider monkeys cavorted high above, too well-fed to bother with their odd pale-faced visitors.

A white faced capuchin gibbers angrily because weve no food for him. 10

An elaborate island resorts outdoor restaurant and bar hummed with relaxed day-trippers and guests. According to Emilio, Granada and its nearby resort islets, are a popular haunt for ex-pats, many of them living in self imposed exile avoiding retribution for indiscretions committed back home.

Despite its recent violent past, Nicaragua is reputedly one of the safest destinations in Central America. Locals were anxious to ensure we enjoyed their country without incident, and we did. Our communal picnic in Granadas parque central was an unexpected highlight. Its doubtful Artful Dodger and his band of enterprising scamps will ever pose a threat to visitors, apart from cadging lunch; even then theyll considerately leave bananas to stave off their benefactors hunger pains.

Words and photos by Josie Dale

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