Getting to your vacation home

Getting to Granada Getting here is really easy, no matter where you start (almost). Nicaragua international airport in Managua (MGA) is serviced by major airlines such as Continental, Delta, American, Copa United, and a real budget airline, Spirit. Once you arrive in the very modern airport in Managua the first thing is to clear immigration. This is a breeze. Show your passport and the immigration form you completed on the plane. The other form is for customs. You will need that in a few minutes. One of the questions is "what is your intended destination in Nicaragua" You should list the address of the house in that space. Casa de la Plaza; detras la lolteria, 219 Calle Canal, Granada Casa del Mirador; 50 VRS a norte puente PPQ, 112 la otra Banda, Granada Casa Tranquilla; frente la INA 1/2 c a oste, 150 Calle Nueva, Granada Notice how everything is given a direction. People don't much use street addresses here. It is always a direction from a well know landmark. Everyone knows where the lottery is and the description is behind the lottery. Puente PPQ is a bridge, commonly called PPQ (papa Q) and everyone knows where that bridge is located. So just go north 50 VRS, a vara (VRS) is an obsolete unit of measure equal to about 32.91". This has been obsolete for many years mostly because no one could agree on what it actually represented. In Mexico a vara is completely different and also in Guatemala, but everyone still uses it when referring to distance from a landmark. Think about a stride being about a vara.

By the way the landmark may not be there either. Every have someone tell you to go three blocks from the old Texaco station? The old Texaco station has been a used car lot for the last 20 years but in small town they still reference it as the old Texaco station. Same here. Just go with the flow and write it down in your journal so you can tell everyone when you get home. For example to get to Casa Tranquilla you go west from INA about a half block. Now understand INA was a grain processing plant that made feed for cattle but has been closed for at least 15 years. The buildings are still there but that is about it. A word of caution. Giving the cabdriver the address on a piece of paper doesn't always work. Sometimes they can't read. Better you read it to them. Practice several times and you can get the hang of it. OK, so you need a map. I will send you a current map with directions, visually, to the house so don't let that worry you. Getting there is half the fun.

But if you really want to cheat then book you travel ahead of time with Paxeos. Tell them you are going to Glenn and Jeannie's house and tell them the name. They all know where our houses are, unless you happen to get someone that just started the day you arrive. I'll get you the numbers for the owner of Paxeos who speaks perfect English and they will make sure you get there OK. What they usually do for our guests is stand outside the door of the airport with your name on a board and you just go up to them. They will have someone load your luggage so don't even think about lifting it yourself. Remember, you are on vacation. Other people will do for you. If you want you can also take a taxi from any of the drivers. They will drive down the road a bit and pull over. Don't worry; you are not being left on the side of the road or being robbed. They can't operate except in the city for which they have a license so they have to take the taxi light off the top when they leave Managua. If you like, I will take care of everything for you as part of our service so just let me know. I think Paxeos is about $18 per person in a new 18 passenger van. The taxi drivers will charge you however much they think they can get away with and they always start at about $40 - $50 and then go down to maybe $35. This is a taxi with seating at best for 3 customers. Your entire luggage may not fit in the trunk so they will tie it down. Trust me, after all these years Paxeos is the only way to travel. You can go to their website and check it out yourself. I pay cash but give them a credit card number to confirm my arrival. I usually give a little tip to the driver who gets me home safely and a dollar to each of the baggage handlers.

I left you leaving the immigration so let's go back there. After you clear immigration and pay your $10.00 (December 2011) entry fee turn right and the rest rooms are on the right down about thirty feet. It is only a thirty-five minute ride to Granada but it is better to use the facilities now. Your bags won't be there for another ten minutes anyway. Continue down the hallway to the baggage conveyer belts. On the were some luggage carts. I saw were because when I came through to get my bags the last time, December 2011, all the carts were gone. I got one of the porters who seemed to know where they are hidden and he loaded up the cart. Well worth a dollar.

Watch for you bags and put them on the cart. If they are not there then go to the nice lady who has a baggage stand against the wall and tell her you bag is missing. Show her the copy you made of your flight information you made before you left home and the claim tag. She will really be impressed when you also pull the photograph of your exact bag from your carry on. That would be the photo you made just before you left for the airport, the one that shows the condition as well as a very accurate representation of your luggage. She will assure you it will be on the next flight and will ask how to reach you. You give her two numbers, 89-90-63-41 and also 89-90-55-36 because you don't know which phone will be in your house. We are working on that to make sure they are always the same. Also give her your address in Granada.

I have been coming here for over twelve years and have never lost a single bag. I'll tell you how to get you lost bag a little later. Now the big moment you have been waiting for, Customs. Exit the baggage area where you will see two new X-ray machines. Not that they work but they sure look good. Nothing to worry about if you did not bring anything to Nicaragua you shouldn't.

What can't you bring? A big NO NO is guns and ammo; like we do that all the time in our own country. They will always ask if you have any medicines. I always hold my chest and say "just for my heart". That really moves things along. Here are also some things from the old law that are still on the books, just for a laugh. They don't care anymore about these things; no more than one musical instrument, no more than one pound of candy, no "police" whistles, only one computer. It really gets worse but don't worry about it. I had three computers one time. One was my own and the other two were for guest use at the houses. I told the customs officer that I sold things for three different companies and each one required that I use their company issued computer and that I may not have any other programs on it that were not installed by the company. They accepted that. 99% of the time you just pass on through.

If you have even been to Mexico and some other Latin American countries you may remember the red green light. You push a button and either the red light comes on or the green light. Red means you go to secondary where they open up and inspect everything, looking for the dozen digital cameras or twenty iPods you brought to sell so you could finance your vacation. In reality I never push the button and if the customs persons points to it I shrug my shoulders and maybe he will push the button and maybe he will just wave you on. Last trip here the red/green lights were gone and everything went through the X-ray machine so it will probably be a non issue. When the bag comes out the other end put it on the cart immediately and head for the exit. Don't hang around as it attracts attention and you may end up in secondary.

I did go to secondary one time. But on that day everyone was going through secondary. They must have had a tip about something. They put my bags on a belt that went through the X-Ray machine. There was a clerk looking at the monitor but I could see from the reflection in her glasses the monitor was not on, probably been broken for months. She stopped the belt about half way through and backed it up and looked at me real hard and then sent it on through. While I was putting my things back on the cart the guy behind me had the same experience. When she looked hard at him I could see a bit of panic in his face and so did she. They opened his bag and when they dumped the things out he had what looked like a dozen or so motherboards, hard drives, video cards and the like. Tough to explain that was for his personal use.

OK, so we made it through customs and now find the lady with your name on the sign. Sometimes they can actually come into the baggage claim area which I really love but lately they have to wait outside. If they are inside the baggage area they help you load and when it comes to customs they say something to the officer and glance in your direction and you get waved through right away. My last few visits they were not allowed in baggage claim but it varies from day to day and officer to officer so you really never know.

We really try hard to make sure someone meets you when you arrive at your new home and helps you with understanding how things work. Sometimes it is just not possible. If someone cannot meet you there is a lockbox on the front. Slide open the little door and enter the combination and open the front. There you will find a key to the front door. The door also has a combination lock and you will be given the combination prior to your arrival. We change the combination after each departure so you are the only guest with the current numbers. Be sure to close and lock the lockbox, spin the combination and slide the little dust door up so the numbers don't show. Your keys will be on the dining room table. Everything will be ready for you when get there and if you need anything call Manrique Castillo at 8458-8855 or me at 512 346 2326.