Rain, rain go away come again another day...Quite a few of us has had friends and /or family visiting especially from Europe. As October is Autumn break for the kids, a culture of long distance travel prevails on this month.
I never thought of this last year, but this year, it is apparently not a good time to visit Nicaragua. Things to do and places to see here rely on good weather and little rain if can't be helped.
This is the time of the year when roads get inaccessible, rivers overflow and streets miraculously turn into a cratered surface not unlike the moon - from one day to another (including the highways). Debris (both natural and synthetic) abound in the streets of Managua flushed by heavy rainfall and some roadside even cave-in making it not so prudent to drive at night.
The terrain that makes Nicaragua breathtaking poses a challenge for the physically challenged as well, with or without the rain. It was an adventure in itself having my M-in-L over but equally challenging is where to take her as she suffers from athritis and has recently had her 4th operation - bionic woman, I like to call her - therefore cannot stay on her feet for long periods of time and has a hard time walking in general.
Preferred hotels are constructed high up a hill for the view it commands which doesn't help. Nicaragua in general is a place where one can commune with nature where activities entail a lot of walking, hiking up volcanoes, horse back riding, bicycling, surfing, diving, zip-lining, getting thrown about by the waves (to put it lightly) and other activities that require normal physical conditions...compound the challenge further.
Special arrangements had to be made with regards to places to stay - it has to be one floor as little stairs to climb as possible, nearest the beach, etc. You'd be surprised just how few there are in popular destinations here. Wheel chairs are out of the question as one will have to carry it in most places anyway because of the number of steps, the incline, the flooring or lack thereof, etc, rendering it almost useless.
Couple that with a lot of rain that further limits movements - most floors here are tiled and not the safest to walk on when wet - one slip would have been disastrous.
As is my wont, I digress again.
During the rainy season, it is more normal to have the sun shining albeit interspersed with short showers during the day time and heavy rainfall at night. Heavy would mean to turn up the volume of the television to 40 instead of the usual 12 to 15 in order to hear something, having a shouting match in lieu of a normal conversation and having the constant feeling that your roof is going to fall on you at anytime.
I know that a storm is supposed to be passing by from 3 days ago but is not supposed to linger but it has been 3 days or more now without the sun and unabated rainfall. I am sort of ambivalent about this, alternating between a wanna-be environmentalist, a selfish tourist and a bored observer. Don't get me started on not having seen the sun these past few days.
I don't think it's just me...me thinks that Nicaragua itself feels the same knowing that it needs rain while only being able to take so much of it.
I never thought of this last year, but this year, it is apparently not a good time to visit Nicaragua. Things to do and places to see here rely on good weather and little rain if can't be helped.
This is the time of the year when roads get inaccessible, rivers overflow and streets miraculously turn into a cratered surface not unlike the moon - from one day to another (including the highways). Debris (both natural and synthetic) abound in the streets of Managua flushed by heavy rainfall and some roadside even cave-in making it not so prudent to drive at night.
The terrain that makes Nicaragua breathtaking poses a challenge for the physically challenged as well, with or without the rain. It was an adventure in itself having my M-in-L over but equally challenging is where to take her as she suffers from athritis and has recently had her 4th operation - bionic woman, I like to call her - therefore cannot stay on her feet for long periods of time and has a hard time walking in general.
Preferred hotels are constructed high up a hill for the view it commands which doesn't help. Nicaragua in general is a place where one can commune with nature where activities entail a lot of walking, hiking up volcanoes, horse back riding, bicycling, surfing, diving, zip-lining, getting thrown about by the waves (to put it lightly) and other activities that require normal physical conditions...compound the challenge further.
Special arrangements had to be made with regards to places to stay - it has to be one floor as little stairs to climb as possible, nearest the beach, etc. You'd be surprised just how few there are in popular destinations here. Wheel chairs are out of the question as one will have to carry it in most places anyway because of the number of steps, the incline, the flooring or lack thereof, etc, rendering it almost useless.
Couple that with a lot of rain that further limits movements - most floors here are tiled and not the safest to walk on when wet - one slip would have been disastrous.
As is my wont, I digress again.
During the rainy season, it is more normal to have the sun shining albeit interspersed with short showers during the day time and heavy rainfall at night. Heavy would mean to turn up the volume of the television to 40 instead of the usual 12 to 15 in order to hear something, having a shouting match in lieu of a normal conversation and having the constant feeling that your roof is going to fall on you at anytime.
I know that a storm is supposed to be passing by from 3 days ago but is not supposed to linger but it has been 3 days or more now without the sun and unabated rainfall. I am sort of ambivalent about this, alternating between a wanna-be environmentalist, a selfish tourist and a bored observer. Don't get me started on not having seen the sun these past few days.
I don't think it's just me...me thinks that Nicaragua itself feels the same knowing that it needs rain while only being able to take so much of it.
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