Chinandega

Today we caught a ride to the town of Chinandega with the kitchen help from the hotel. They go in on Mondays and Thursdays to get provisions. Lynda from Jovietal arranged it, and she went with us. (Jovietal is a combination of the names of the three teenage girls in the family: Josee, Genevieve, and Chantal. The parents are Lynda and Michel, and they’re from Thetis Island in British Columbia.) Our intent was to get some dollars, do our shopping, and take a taxi back to the marina. But when he dropped us off, the driver said he would meet us in the same place at 1:00 in the afternoon, about two and a half hours later, and we thought that sounded good. We should have stuck with plan A. After they picked us up, we ran errands for three more hours before going back to the marina! It was a long and dusty day. Half of the 45-minute trip was on gravel roads, and of course, we needed to have all of the windows open.

First thing I did when we got back, after stowing the provisions, was go to the hotel to take a shower. Later, after John had his shower, we went out to dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was excellent food (pepper steak) at a very reasonable price—and the margaritas are good too.

Tomorrow we’re taking off for Golfito. Jovietal is leaving too, but they’re gunkholing down the coast. This is their shakedown cruise since they bought and refit the boat in El Salvador. I’m sure that was a challenge! You can read a little about it on their blog at jovietal.blogspot.com.