Nicaraguan Adventures 10: Ocotal & Mozonte

My last entry for Nicaragua will be of Ocotal and a little town just a bend or three down the road, Mozonte, a pleasant half-day trip. Both towns, in contrast to their recent sad, shared history of warfare against Somoza‘s Contra army, now seem very relaxed and peaceful. By the way, these are only my impressions. No one staying just a few days in a place gets to be an expert. All I have are impressions and experiences.

And photographs. I hope you like these. These photos, as is the case with almost all of my pictures, can be enlarged for better viewing.

Left: One of several statues around the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion. The church is right across the street from the well-shaded plaza. Right: A brickmaker taking advantage of the cool morning hours. Along with being backbreaking work there is the recently discovered occupational hazard among these brickmakers (along with sugar cane workers) of drastic upsurges in CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). It seems that pesticides in the soil these men come in constant contact with are to blame. CKD affects men much more than women, which fits with the profile for these occupations. it is now so common in Central American countries that it has its own medical term: Mesoamerican nephropathy.

American history that did not make it into most American history books, certainly not the ones I taught with: Uncle Sam turning Nicaragua into its own bloody stomping ground. I have taught high school and junior high history for several years and never came across the embarrassing information I learned from my visit of the local history museum here in Ocotal. I knew the general strokes, the “who” and “where“, but never really processed the underlying “why” of it all. From the 1930’s to the Iran-Contra Scandal of the 1980’s our country’s actions were quite at odds with the democratic platitudes we preached. We were not on the side of the angels on this one.

Two good books for further reading (with the appropriate caveat lector ) are:
“Lies my teacher Told Me” by James W. Loewen and “A People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn.

Where town and nature meet: The steep valley of the Rio Dipilto.

Left: Soursop Tree. Center: Path along the Rio Dipilto. It should rather be called a “rillito“. The current is fast but it is not very far across. Top Right: River Crab. Bottom Right: Metalmark Butterfly, Calephelis laverna

Above and Below: Views of the center of town.

Eat, Sleep, Eat: Simple food, simple accommodations. This is how we like to live. Left: One of our favorite eateries a block or two from the plaza. The glass container has chili peppers of sufficiently potent firepower. Center: Our hotel room was, if I remember correctly, under $20. We get a fan, good and loud to drown out the occasional loudmouths walking by out front. The bed was sufficiently soft (unlike the one we are enduring these last two days here in Thailand!) The tiny TV works but the picture is snowy. By the way, those pieces of of paper on my keyboard are where I had to put the “correct” keys. This was a laptop I suddenly had to buy in Peru (long story!) and somehow the keys pressed did not always match with what you would think. (The “q” was the “z” and vice verse.!) Right: Vegetable broth with parrot on the side. Side of the wall, that is. Do you see him? He was quite tame.

Left: Community center. Right: Schoolgirls in front of a mural of historical events that happened way before they were born.

Bus Terminal

Unlike several other bus terminals this station has excellent timetables clearly posted “that he may run that readeth it”, Habakkuk 2:2. (Yes, I know that is out of context!)

Above and Below: Loma Santa, the site of many battles and prayers. The above photo shows a main street, such as it is, and in the distance, on the other side of town, Colina Sin Nombre (“Hill Without a Name“), on the north side of which is the town cemetery.

Miguel Angel Ortez Guillen, staring into eternity, presumably died with his boots on at the tender age of 24.

Behind the little hilltop chapel of Loma Santa is this approachable, pettable burro. There is a lot of good nature in the background and on the other side of the Mozonte River valley on the left.

Another view of Mozonte from the Loma Santa. The prosaically-named Iglesia Catolica de Mozonte and plaza are in the center.

Crossing the Rio Mozonte brings us to this pleasant country road, with a few fincas (farms) on one side and, on the other, woods that extend magnificently up the hillsides.

Four birds surround an Epiphyte, growing on a telephone wire (Center). They are, Top Row: Clay-colored Thrush, Turdus grayi, and Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus. Bottom Row: Gray-breasted Martin, Progne chalybea, and the ever-present Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus. A graceful bird. This photo looks like it could have been an Audubon painting, don’t you think?

The peaceful Rio Mozonte

The day trip to Mozonte being ended, we went back to Ocotal and to the bus terminal. In a short while we left the country to return back north.

Next: I plan to finish up on our trip to Botswana, Africa. This will take maybe a post or two. Or three. Who knows?

Here is an index of all ten of the Nicaragua articles with links and a short excerpt of each:
https://wordpress.com/post/fromnowhere2nowhere.wordpress.com/2287