Hacienda Amayo, Rivas, Nicaragua
For five weeks in a row now, we have been coming to the historical town of Rivas, where everybody gave us, every time, the most welcoming smile. We arrived at the dock of San Juan del Sur, our faithful Nicaraguan guides were waiting to take us to our destiny. As we drove along the narrow streets of town, we could not stop thinking this was the farewell trip, until next season.
We entered the Rivas Museum knowing there would be dances and children. What we did not know was to what extent those children could steel our hearts. We had come prepared, our wonderful family coordinator had the great idea of presenting the dancers with a hand-painted banner that said: “Thank you for sharing your dances with us”(picture above).
After the dances and the farewells, we hopped on to the “pepanos”, the two-seat tricycles on which we paraded through town. We are always news in town, the streets are blocked, the people come out to their porches to wave hello, and again we know we are welcome. After the two churches and ice cream from a street vendor, we head on to our afternoon destination, the Amayo Farm.
Doña Maria Marta Johaning de Barrios, her children, and grandchildren (picture above) decided to open the doors of their home right in front of lake Nicaragua for us. Always with a wide smile, great food, and a lot of stories to tell, the Barrios family is one in a million. How many of us would do that? Makes one wonder… We ate a succulent lunch, played baseball and soccer, and we were presented with a farewell piñata, a very colorful clown. Children and adults participated in trying to get the candy out of the clown’s belly.
We headed back home, for now the Sea Voyager, with a grin on our faces and a little straw behind our ear: we want to come back!!
