I should have known when I was talking to my new friend on the airplane when he said to me “There is no road to Puerto Cabezas!?”
I met a guy named John on our flight from Miami to Nicaragua and he had spent 3 years with the Peace Corps in Nicaragua. And he was giving me all these tips and history of our new and unknown country on the flight. We were discussing our plans for when we arrived that we would be landing on Managua the capital and driving to Granada (the 2nd largest city about an hour south) and spending a day there and then heading to the east coast of Nicaragua. He assumed we would be flying and when I corrected that assumption that no, we would be driving a bus, he informed me that there was no road to cross the country. I should have known what lay ahead…
We were told that we were chartering a bus and that the bus ride would range anywhere from 8 – 18 hours. It takes 8 hours by car and 18 on the “chicken bus” which stops a lot. So at 4 am Tuesday AM we come outside with all of our packs to load us the “chartered bus” and there parked on the street was a school bus. A bright yellow school bus just like the one we road to school many years ago.
Here is our bus a few days after settling in Puerto
So we get started on the unknown bus trip 18 World Racers and 12 Nicaraguan locals. The first 6 hours of the trip were on paved roads through the early mountain ranges. So they were smooth and a lot of my sleeping was done on this part. We stopped for lunch and a bathroom break and I heard through the WR rumor mill that is where the good roads stopped. Nothing could have prepared me for the next leg.
We kept on trucking and trucking and trucking on the back unpaved pothole strewn mountain roads of Nicaragua. We made a few pit stops along the way for bathroom breaks in the bushes and kept on. I was having these terrible headaches that I was attributing to dehydration b/c of so much travel. No they were from the constant jumps, bumps and humps that were met along the road.
That night we needed to make the ferry by 8pm (when it closed) to get across to Puerto the same day. Well at about 7:45pm we find out that it is another 3 hours to the ferry. God is a miracle worker but it didn’t seem we were going to make it to the ferry that night. So we let out the Nica’s (neeka’s) and they went from hotel to hotel to try to find us a place to stay for the night. We finally found a medical clinic that would allow us to stay overnight on their floor if we gave a love offering. This was a huge answer to prayer after 17 hours on a school bus. So we unpacked our beds and went to sleep fully dressed and praised God our Provider for a place to lay our heads.
The next morning we were up at 5:30am so we could be on the road by 6am. So another 4 hours and we made it to the ferry where we could get some delicious food (plantain chips, fried chicken with cabbage and tomatoes with spicy vinegar all served in the same bag – hmmm good!). And then another 2-3 hours and we arrived at Puerto.
I honestly can’t remember how many hours that day it took us to get here. I was at the lowest point I have ever been on the race. I kept thinking to myself why did I leave America? I know I signed up for this but I didn’t understand! God please help me! It was miserable. But God, in His grace knows the limits and we made it, safe and in one piece. A little rattled but nothing a few hours of sleep can’t fix.
While we were traveling and it felt as if it would never end the Lord reminded me of those who have gone before. Not only the people we hear about in the Bible but the missionaries who have gone before who have traveled for months on trains or boats to get to their destination. There are many who have done this crazy thing called the “life of a missionary” and they have survived and so will I. God is gracious and compassionate and I am grateful to be called His servant.
And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Nicaragua is amazing and I have tons of stories to share and I will be posting more blogs ASAP
