The charter airline we travelled on stopped at Managua, Nicaragua before continuing on to Liberia, Costa Rica. Our plan was to go to Nicaragua - air only. But for whatever reason there were no air only seats available to Managua - plenty of seats for Liberia, zero for Managua. We got creative.

In 2001 the world of airline travel had not yet gone crazy. Elenka and I bought return tickets to Liberia, took carry-on only and simply got off the plane when it stopped in Managua. It was a little scary, but all we had to do was get our passports stamped at customs, purchase our tourist cards and Bob’s your uncle. We walked out of the terminal proud as spies and hailed a cab. 

Our driver took us to the top of Masaya Volcano where the fumes were so strong we could stay for no more than a minute. A couple of weeks later, in fact, Masaya erupted and fired large boulders hundreds of metres down the mountain. Fortunately, it was only a decade since the end of the Nicaraguan Revolution, and Nicaragua was not yet on the tourist radar. No one was hurt and only one car was damaged. The driver then took us to the Masaya street market and then on to Granada where we stayed at a wonderful old hotel with courtyard called Posada Don Alfredo. Our room in this old colonial palace with very high ceiling could have easily slept six. 

When it was time to go home, the craziness arose once again. Because we had purchased return tickets to Costa Rica, we had to make our way to Costa Rica in order to return home. It was Semana Santa (Easter) and we had to wait at the border for hours in order to go onward. But, the trip was fortuitous. It was where I decided to become a hammock importer which began a couple of years later. And we wound up staying our only night in Costa Rica - before the flight home - at Marc's Place at Playa Hermosa. A spot we would return to often.