A Wrong Turn

Thursday did not go as planned.

After a hard day of hiking the day before, ending with a few hours of eating and drinking in the Selva Negra restaurant, both Aimee and Ryan were sleeping soundly.  However, as will happen after an evening of imbibing, Ryan had to get up to use the restroom in the early Thursday pre-dawn hours.  As he was returning out of the bathroom towards the bed he went to turn the light off, but at the last second noticed a dark spot on the crisp white sheets at the corner of the bed under where his pillow had originally been. 

Half a sleep and groggy, his brain tried hard to figure out what it could possibly be.  It was slightly larger than a quarter.  There was a canvas roll shade and a window sill above, and the best he could come up with, was that it must have been some sort of dust bunny that perhaps fell out of the shade when they unrolled it before undressing the night before.  Ryan decided however to leave the light on so he could confirm, and remove whatever it was before climbing back in bed.  He walked up closer to it, and put a knee on the bed to enable getting a closer look.  Even before leaning in, his half-conscious brain calculated the most likely answer to what he was looking at.  In shock, Ryan smiled and began laughing.  Aimee began to stir as he continued staring at the corner of the bed not knowing quite what to do.  She rolled over and more immediately realized what was there, and let out a scream. 

It was a small toad.

It seemed unaffected by the loud noises of its new bunkmates, and simply sat taking in the views of the now illuminated room. 

After getting his brain to wake up enough to develop up with a plan to remove Mr. Toad, Ryan, went to the table in the living room and grabbed a drinking glass, and quickly placed it over the top of the frog.  With a little help from Aimee, they slid a folder under the glass, and Ryan escorted it to the door.  He quickly flicked the opening of the glass out the door, took a quick look to make sure it was empty and closed the door.  While Ryan and Aimee joked about the unexpected visitor, Ryan walked into the bathroom with the glass, and switched hands.   He was startled to see that the toad was still in it, holding tightly to the bottom of the glass.  He quickly went back outside with it, laid the glass sideways on the ground, and left it there.

Last Breakfast in Ryan and Aimee's Booth at Selva Negra

Now that the disturbance had been dealt with, Aimee and Ryan returned to their slumber, completely unaware that this would be the least of their excitement over the next 24 hours. 

The Serene View of the Selva Negra Pond

After getting a few more hours of sleep, the two woke up and began packing up their belongings.  Today was another day of driving, this time to the city of Grenada, followed by an evening at the Artisan’s market in the nearby city of Masaya which featured folk music and dancing.  Aimee and Ryan grabbed their last breakfast on the Selva Negra pond, settled up their tab from the last 3 days, and jumped in the car.  It was a little later than they had planned to get going, but this was another day without a rigid schedule.  As they were leaving, Ryan noticed he had an email from their hotel in Grenada asking for confirmation that they would be there.  He responded affirmatively, and that he looked forward to staying with them tonight.

The city of Matagalpa is in the Northern mountainous area of Nicaragua.  The city is a tall narrow city, and out of the Northern tip is a highway, that heads straight North (though with some weaving and winding) about 10km to Selva Negra.   Due to the mountainous terrain, there are not many other roads that intersect with the main Highway.  Grenada, as the crow flies, was 3 hours to the south.   As Ryan and Aimee pulled out of Selva Negra’s access road, Google maps told them to take a right.

Ryan looked at his phone confused.  “Right?   That takes us north, up the mountain, away from Matagalpa, and in the opposite direction of Grenada.  Ryan zoomed out on Google Maps, and it showed that they would loop around and then head south.  After debating what his gut told him vs. what google told him, Ryan decided that Google was likely more knowledgeable than him and turned right.  They continued heading north about another 15 km.  Google maps indicated they’d be turning left in 1 km…500m….300m….100m.  Neither Ryan nor Aimee saw anywhere they could make a left turn. 

Google however said they missed it, and recalculated, telling them to take the next left turn instead.  Keeping their eyes peeled and closely watching the other side of the road looking for the turn, this time they did see a small gravel road intersecting the highway. 

They turned left, and again questioned this recommended route. They had been driving on a paved 2 lane highway.  Now they were on a very small very coarsely graveled road.  That certainly didn’t necessarily rule it out as the right way, but it did seem odd.   Ryan and Aimee looked at the road and shrugged, deciding to follow it for a bit and see how it looked.  They could always turn back.

After only a couple hundred meters, they came to what looked like a small roadside rock quarry.  The road went past it, and as they approached the far end, it looked like water at some point had cut a deep rut in the gravel road.  Maybe a foot deep, and 10 inches wide.  Beyond, the road curved around a corner, and headed into a rocky downward slope. 

There were a few workers in the area, so Ryan jumped out, checked out the road, and asked one of the workers:  “¿Es possible pasar?” The worker turned to look at him and said “Si, si.”  So Ryan jumped back in the car and reported back to Aimee that the workers said the road was ok.

However, after driving over the rut, and around the bend, the gravel road got even more coarse.  The 2-3

inch rocks they had been driving on turned into 4-5 inch rocks.  We were on the side of a mountain, and Aimee kept an eye on the side to make sure we weren’t near a cliff that we could tumble off of.  While the side continued to slope downward, there wasn’t a steep drop off.  That made the both of them feel a little more at ease.  However, they were heading at a steady and fairly steep downward slope.  Aimee a few times mentioned, that this may be difficult to get back up if we need to turn around.  Ryan repeatedly checked google maps which said they were on the right route, and that it would continue to meander south and eventually meet up with what looked like a bigger road. 

So they continued.

The First Gate

Slowly the road continued to descend and in another quarter of a mile or so, it leveled out a little bit so that they were driving down a mild sloped field, as opposed to winding along the edge of the mountain.   Ahead of them there were some fence posts.  As they got close to it, they saw that it was a rough fence with a gate in it.  The fence posts were all made from natural logs or branches, and three rows of barbed wire connected them all together.  The gate was three wires of barbed wire spanning from a heavy post to a smaller branch of about 1.5 inches diameter that was sitting on, not in the ground.  This was inserted in a loop at the bottom and at the top of barbed wire connected to the fencepost next to it, allowing for fairly easy opening and closing of the gate.  

Ryan got out of the car, to analyze the situation.  The gate could easily be opened, and the road appeared to continue beyond it.  There was a house just off the road next to where they had stopped.   Ryan called out to the house to see if there was anyone he could ask about the road.  No one was around however.   Looking at the fence and gate, there was no sign indicating it was  “Propiedad Privada.”  Along many private farms, residences, we did see these, but none here. Returning to the car, he told Aimee that it looked like the road continued, and the gate could easily be opened.  It seemed worth trying, before attempting to backtrack the mile and a half or two back up to the main road.  They agreed to try going a little further. 

Keeping an Eye on the Horse While Closing the Third Gate

Ryan carefully opened the gate, pulled the car through, and closed it again.  As they continued another quarter of a mile, they came to another gate.  Ryan suggested perhaps it was a farm on both sides of the road, and the fences were to keep the livestock in?  As they drove another quarter of a mile, there was a horse along-side the road, and just past the horse, a third gate. 

For the third time, Ryan got out, opened the fence, using extra caution to ensure the horse didn’t get out, and drove through, closing the gate behind him. 

As they passed through this third fence, hopes began to dim.  The gravel road, had now turned into a grassy trail.  There were faint tire paths through it, but strands of grass reached up 18 to 24 inches throughout the center of the road.   Though they were going slowly, the grass was obscuring their site of rocks in the road way, and they occasionally ran over and bottomed out hard on some big ones.   Aimee and Ryan said to each other that it was looking like they’d need to turn around.  At this point they were along the edge of a field sloping downward that had opened up a little bit and the trail continued around down to one corner that didn’t look very promising.  As Ryan was looking at the road in the distance, he failed to notice a dip in the tire paths directly in front of him, with a large rock about 18 inches wide and 8 to 12 inches high sticking up in the middle of the road.  He saw a glimpse of it at the last minute, when his wheels dropped into the dip, and the rock hit the middle of the underside of the car with a loud bang and crunch that they could feel even more than they heard.  That might leave a mark. 

The End of the Road

Even more concerning was that now directly ahead of them, the road sloped down further under some trees, and there looked to be another fence.  Furthermore, there was a small ditch with water running through it crossing the road.    Ryan pulled up, careful not to get too close to the ditch for fear of getting stuck, and said he’d go check out this fourth fence.  From here, it didn’t look good though.

Sure enough, as he walked up to it, he saw bushes, and fallen trees, and nothing that looked like a road.  They’d hit the end, and would need to turn around.   As Ryan walked back to the car, he realized that even though he stopped short of the stream, the ground was a lot softer than he had expected.   While he was primarily worried about getting back up the mountainside, he was now also worried about getting out of this mud.  He got in the car, gave Aimee the bad news, and put the car in reverse.   It moved a few inches, and then the front wheels began to spin.  He opened his door to check out the ground behind him, and realized his back wheels had created a bit of a ridge. 

It's Not Looking Good

He decided to pull forward a bit to try and get a little momentum.  However, this didn’t help, in fact, now he got stuck further down.  For a good 15 or 20 minutes, he tried several different approaches of rocking the car (by alternating between reverse and first on the stick shift).  He also tried gathering sticks and branches to put under the wheels to give it a bit more traction.  The more he tried however, the further down the slope, and into the corner he was slowly sliding.  Aimee was getting more and more worried that they were simply getting more stuck and not less stuck, and as it was after noon, they’d need to reach out for help quickly as it may be a few hours until help was able to find them.  Additionally, they were getting closer to some large boulders and the fence on one side, that they were at risk of sliding into.

Yeah, I Don't Think We're Getting Out of This

Ryan, still wearing a pair of flip flops, got out of the car, desperately looking for something they could use for traction.  There were some 5 foot sections of logs that had been quartered and piled up in the overgrown weeds.  Ryan tried these but they were pretty well lodged, and seemed liked even if he somehow got them under the car, they would not get low enough to get under the tires anyway.   At this point Ryan’s feet were covered in mud.  He attempted another 10 minutes of stubborn attempts at getting the car out, and finally agreed with Aimee.  We needed to call for help.

Ryan found the number for Alamo, and called them.  It took several minutes, several Spanish automated voice response prompts, and a live person or two, but he was able to get someone that spoke English at the Managua office.  The woman that answered took all his information, confirmed that he did have towing insurance, and then asked the difficult question:

“OK sir, where are you.”

"OK sir, where are you?"

We May Be Here Awhile

Ryan’s GPS allowed for a screenshot of where he was.  The woman on the phone suggested they try to send it through either texting or social networking if we could.  She suggested WhatsApp…however Ryan didn’t have that app installed.  Either way, Ryan’s phone was having a very difficult time getting a data network signal from their location, only the voice network.  Ultimately the Alamo rep said she would reach out to the tow company and get the process started. She said they would reach out to ask more details on how to find us. 

As Ryan was finishing up his call with Alamo, Aimee noticed that a person had appeared up the slope of the farm that they were alongside.  This person was walking through the field of some sort of crops directly in our direction.  Aimee tried to alert Ryan that someone was coming, but Ryan was focusing on his call.  As the call finished up, he noticed that there was suddenly a man standing next to him.  This many was about his height, and in his early thirties.

As with the vast majority of the residents of Nicaragua, this man of course didn’t speak any English.  Ryan

Ryan and Enrique Sizing Up the Situation

had an unfortunate gap in his vocabulary for words to describe the morning’s events.  He did not know how to say stuck, mud, wheels, spinning.  He was able however to explain that Google maps told him that that road went through.  This made the man laugh.  Eventually Ryan introduced himself, and the man returned the pleasantry saying his name was Enrique.  He was the manager of the lettuce farm on which Ryan and Aimee were now stuck.

Ryan and Enrique talked for a bit, with Ryan trying to make the best of his broken Spanish…which tended to become even more broken under stressful situations.  At each point where Ryan explained their misadventures of the last hour or so, Enrique laughed heartily.  At one point Ryan explained that he and Aimee were on their “luna de miel” (honeymoon).  At this Enrique doubled over and grabbed his stomach in deep genuine laughter. 

Better Find Some Better Shoes

After regaining composure, Enrique suggested we may be able to get the car out.  He pointed at the logs that Ryan had scoped out earlier.  Ryan was still wearing his flip-flops, and was completely coated in mud up to his ankles.  Ryan told Enrique he needed to change his shoes.  Heading back towards the car, he asked Aimee where his hiking boots were.  They were in the trunk.  Aimee handed him a pair of socks and he grabbed the boots.  He then asked if she had anything he could wipe his feet with.  All she had to offer were wet wipes.

With a lack of any better option, Ryan grabbed the pack, and attempted the futile process of wiping off half an inch of caked on mud from his feet with moist paper towlettes that were 4 by 6 inches.  After going through 2 or 3 of them, and making no progress, Ryan heard some familiar laughter to his left, and looked up to see Enrique laughing and telling him to come over there.  Ryan dropped the wet wipes and followed Enrique over to the edge of the farm.  Enrique pointed to the ground where there was a rectangle hole cut into the dirt about 18 inches by 12 inches.  This hole was full of water---a natural wash basin created by the water table and the water that was being irrigated down the hill. 

At Least the View was Nice

Enrique told Ryan that he could wash his feet here.  Ryan at this point was flustered, and was attempting to figure out what to do with his shoes in one hand, socks in the other, in order to clean his muddy feet.  While he was struggling awkwardly, Enrique bent down to the basin, and with his hands, cupped the water, poured it on Ryan’s feet and began washing them. 

A wave of humility rushed over Ryan as his jaw dropped open.  He protested, telling Enrique he didn’t need to do that, but Enrique ignored him and continued washing his feet.  Immediately the religious parallels to Jesus washing the feet of Peter in John 13:6-17 overwhelmed Ryan’s mind.  Here he had trespassed on Enrique’s farm, got his car stuck in the mud and was clearly keeping him from getting his work done, and yet Enrique was kneeling on the ground, washing Ryan’s feet.  Ryan was certainly not worthy of this treatment. 

After Enrique finished cleaning Ryan’s feet, Ryan put his socks and shoes on.  At this point, his phone began ringing.  It was the towing company.  Ryan answered and was immediately hit with a barrage of rapid-fire Spanish.  Ryan tried to break into the seemingly continuous stream of foreign sylables to get the words in “please speak slowly my Spanish is not very good.”  He attempted 3 times to tell this to the woman on the phone, but she did not slow down at all.  Enrique was still standing directly in front of Ryan, and not knowing what else to do, he handed Enrique the phone and asked if he could talk to her.

Enrique took the phone and talked to the woman for 3-4 minutes, most of the time clearly giving directions on how to get to the farm.  At one point he handed the phone back to Ryan.  Ryan put the phone to his ear, and heard the continued Spanish rambling of the woman at the other end.  Again, Ryan pleaded for her to speak more slowly which she continued to ignore. Ryan again looked at Enrique and said “I can’t understand her” handing him the phone.  Enrique put the phone to his ear for a second, handed it halfway to Ryan, while the Spanish chatter was still emanating from it, and pressed the red “call end” button. 

Lots of Time to Admire the Scenery

Ryan looked up slightly confused, wondering if she had everything she needed, or if this premature end of her call would mean they wouldn’t show up.  Ryan asked Enrique if help was coming and everything was good, and Enrique ensured him it was.  Ryan followed that up with a “how long?”  Enrique responded with the unwelcome, but not unexpected news that it would be a couple of hours.  Fortunately, however the towing crew was coming from Matagalpa. 

At this point there was nothing to do but wait.  Ryan and Enrique talked a little bit more.  Feeling guilty about the whole situation, and wanting to be able to do something in return for Enrique’s help and hospitality thus far, Ryan remembered he had nothing more than a dollar in his pocket.  He did however have quite a few cigars in his bag.  He asked Enrique if he liked cigars and if he would like one.  Enrique smiled and said yes.  Ryan went over to his bags, and found the variety bag that their tour guide had provided, and pulled them out and offered one to Enrique.  Enrique happily took it, and asked if Ryan had a light.  Fail.  That he unfortunately did not.  At this point, a few of the other farmers came down the hill, and Enrique went to talk to them. 

Enrique and his Farmers

It was clear they were discussing the very out-of-place car stuck in the mud, as they kept looking over at the car, and likely also laughing at the goofy ‘cheles’ that got it stuck there.  At one point, Enrique pulled the cigar that Ryan had given him from his pocket, apparently asking if any of the other workers had a light.  The responses however appeared to be negative.

For the next couple hours, Ryan and Aimee sat and killed the time texting their families at home, letting them know what had happened, but that they were safe.   They also reached back out to Alamo to talk to the English speaking customer service rep to see if they could get an update and detailed information on who was coming and when.  Unfortunately, the person with whom they were working was on her lunch break.  For most of this time, Enrique was tending to the farm, but occasionally he came by to check on them. 

Honeymoon of a Lifetime!!!

During one of Enrique’s visits, while he was talking to Ryan, a loud vehicle could be heard in the distance.  Enrique turned and ran up the hill to meet the car.  After he left, Ryan’s cell phone rang.  It was the representative from Alamo, saying that the towing company was on its way.  Ryan told her he believed they had just arrived.  At this point, a large pick-up truck came around the corner at the top of the hill, and drove down to where Ryan was standing, and a crew of 4 guys jumped out.  When the woman on the phone asked to confirm that the tow truck was there, Ryan said he thought so, but wasn’t sure.  She had said a truck with a crane would be arriving.  This was just a plain 4-wheel drive pickup truck.  Ryan however asked the name of the company from the Alamo representative, and confirmed with one of the crew members that they indeed where from the company Alamo had called.

...to be continued...