Letters From Nicaragua: Part 5- The Mad Hatters Drive

Our first breakfast at the Best Western was fantastic, like we really were at some exotic resort, not a $100 dollar a night hotel room. There is a man in a chef hat making custom omelettes, fruit, plantains, and some of the best juice I have had.
While chewing away on the unexpectedly good food and laughing with our friends and their kids, I thought little about the danger and excitement ahead. A couple of beautiful, friendly young Nicaraguan women at the Dollar Rental counter hooked us up with our vehicles, a really cool giant Toyota van for the two families, while Pam and I got a brand new four door Toyota pickup truck. Sam had insisted that I would be happier with the pickup, even though it was almost twice the money of the inexpensive little subcompact I wanted to get.

Sam's van was something I hadn't seen before: a large van with twelve seats, high roof, diesel motor and stickshift. It was something that I took one look at and wanted to own. The pickup truck was nice, but plain. Of course, all of this was before I had any experience driving in Nicaragua.
We all finished up our breakfast, loaded up surfboards, kids, and our bags, and it was then I started worrying about what would happen to us if we got separated. I had heard stories about speedtraps, roundabouts, and basically getting singled out for 'driving while gringo'. Yep, me with a shaved head, pickup truck with surfboard Grande on top, that will be hard to spot.

So, it was finally to the point that I was worried about, Sam at the entrance of the hotel, gunning his engine while waiting for a break in the traffic, and me realizing I am facing one of my big things in driving: making a left hand turn across a busy highway....new level of difficulty: foreign country with no traffic lights, no rules, except for getting the tourists while they still have money. The only consolation I had was that Sam knew his way around and he was driving a giant white van that would be impossible to lose in the traffic. It was then that Sam honked his horn three times, and drove across the highway and made a quick U-turn in front of the oncoming traffic and was gone. Meanwhile, I sat there frozen, while the honking began behind me.....