Our guide, Guillermo, was waiting around for us when I went down to reception ahead of Daisy. I could very quickly tell we would all get on well.
We set off to tour Managua on our way to Leon. First stop, Parque Nacional de la Loma de Tiscapa with its panoramic view of Managua. We also saw the silhouette of Sandino and the Laguna de Tiscapa.
On the way up, Daisy stopped the car in order to take a picture, only to fall foul and then eventually fair of the soldier posted near the miltary buildings to stop people taking photographs.
Then on to the Museo Nacional, near the Casa Presidencial and the ruins of the old cathedral. We decided that my hat looked very Sandino when we were outside the museum, even down to the “bullet holes” in the crown.
Guillermo wanted to give us full value in there so we tried to speed him up a bit. Saw some quite interesting modern art towards the end from the Praxis movement, in particular Armando Morales.
Daisy was feeling the heat by then, so it was good news that our next stop was the malecon where we stopped at a rancho-style place for some light refreshments. Guillermo had lemonade, I had Coke Zero and Daisy had a beer. We all shared some fried plantain – initially a packet thing but then a dish of fresh food with cheese and cabbage salad (we abstained from the latter).
While washing my hands I made a new friend, Dennis, who was drunk as a skunk and wanted to know if I loved his country (which I said I did so far) and wanted to tell me that he loved my country, which was nice. Unfortunately, he thought my country was the USA so he seemed a bit discombobbed when I said I was from England. He then introduced his wife, who I realised was both very good looking and extremely unimpressed by Dennis’ desire to chat with me. I made my excuses to them both and moved on.