What's the drill? What to expect when arriving at MGA Managua’s Augusto Sandino International Airport
Submitted by webtrainer on Wed, 2012/06/13 - 15:05.
on my blog I posted a nine-point plan on what a visitor should expect when they arrive at the airport here in Nicaragua...check it out and let me know what I missed!
http://www.elportonverde.com/2012/06/10/whats-the-drill-mga-airport/
also updated a related post: Where should I stay on my first night in Nicaragua? (really should be "first night in Managua," as the post discusses the reasons why someone would choose to stay in Managua at all, since most visitors, for good reason, try to avoid the city center at all costs...)
http://www.elportonverde.com/2012/03/19/where-to-stay-first-night-in-nic...
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thanks guys! good stuff...
except for the whole "chele" thing but I've seen topics go way more off-course than this one hahaha!
I'll link back here for folks on my blog to see your comments too.
http://www.elportonverde.com/2012/06/10/whats-the-drill-mga-airport/
Doors of hope fly open when doors of promise shut. -Thomas D'Arcy McGee
Great blog
I will be giving it to all visitors, and funny I have always found the first 2 immigration lines on right (the first ones as you enter the room) to be the fastest.
You will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
thanks Daydream!
n/t Doors of hope fly open when doors of promise shut. -Thomas D'Arcy McGee
Works for people visiting you
Cab drivers will meet the flights arrivals after you get out of custom. You need to bargain with people about rates before getting in a cab, even if it's one of the airport cabs (SUV special contractors).
Nobody can be counted on the speak English. Use a Spanish phrase book (Lonely Planet's for Latin American Spanish is good) to prepare what you want the cab driver to understand -- write it out in case how you pronounce it makes your request incomprehensible. English-speaking drivers may be more expensive. Don't share cabs unless you knew the people before the plane ride.
The Claro phone store is outside the security area but inside the terminal building. They have fairly cheap phones available and picking up one is handy if you don't have an unlocked four band phone. If you have a phone that has the 800 (something) band, then you can pick up a Claro SIM chip there. Calling the people or hotel you'll be staying with is a useful thing to do in front of the cab driver.
Rebecca Brown
Pretty good writeup
MGA is generally a user friendly location. They seem to be on the mode of processing people as rapidly as possible.
Mention that for their 10 bucks (cash, US) they will get a tourist card that they should stick with their passport for the duration of the trip (although it will never be asked for and is more like just a receipt). It says 30 days, but the stamp in the passport will usually say 90 days.
Last trip I found the baggage handler obnoxious. This was the first time with this problem and next time I will be better prepared to blow him off. My trips involve a 13 to 15 hour day and I am not in the mood to be hassled for services not wanted.
Cabbies at the door are expensive. If you are so inclined, walk across the street to the Mercedes Hotel parking lot and negotiate a lower rate. All cabs should be directo--no stops, no other passengers unless you arranged to ride with other people by your choice. Cash, US, bring some ones and fives.
There are ATMs in the lobby and a food court that does not price-gouge like in so many airports.
Leaving by MGA is also user friendly. Arrive early, go thru your airline`s checkin, and get in line. Don`t doodle too much before getting in line as there may be 2 flights but only one security checkpoint so it can be a bottleneck. If you are using United/Continental, I would suggest you confirm your flight the day before and carry several of their phone numbers. If nobody is home at the checkin counter, there office is down an unmarked hallway accessed at the far north end of the checkin counters.
This info is for tourists; residents have a slightly different drill.
"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand
I would debate your defination of ´´chele´´
You are projecting the racist genocidal worldview of the American ghetto on a society where it does not belong. Chele can mean any number of things, including hazel eyes or brown hair or skin a lighter shade brown than the person standing next to them. It is applied equally to Nicas and foreigners and is a description, not an insult or incitement to racial hatred. It is also often further softened to ´´chelito´´.
Like ´´morena´´, it is often so subtle as to be almost meaningless.
"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality." Ayn Rand
It's a colorist, rather than a racist society
It's subtler but it's still there, though oddly not for actual black folks from the coast.
Some street kid begging who uses the word "chele" is probably both trying to flatter you and subtly contemptuous of you (some Nicaraguans do see us as dumb people with money they should have -- guy tried to charge me 20 cordobas for two lemons after selling the woman I was standing next to two lemons for five.
Are you supporting killing those racist genocidal American ghetto folks before they get you, by any chance? I've been the only white person in a couple of different social contexts in DC and Philly, and never really got killed, or even insulted. I have been insulted by white guys for being out on the street talking to my black friends.
Rebecca Brown
Chele
There's nothing subtle about the word chele. It only means fair-skinned or fair-haired and nothing else. I've never heard a Nicaraguan use the word in a way that imputes class, ethnicity or country of origin.
The bias is against the darker skinned folks
Again, a colorist, not a racist society, unlike the US.
Rebecca Brown
Bias against darker-skinned
No I don't agree with you but we have wandered well away from the topic of the person who started this thread, so rather than highjack this thread, when I have time I will start another thread about it.
Cabs in the Mercedes Parking lot
If you ask the guys behind the desk to get you a cab, it's going to be more expensive than the guys at the airport, but possibly safer.
A lot of this depends on when you come in, how tired you are, and whether the cabby has kin to visit near where you're going. I think the cheapest back to Jinotega was $80 and the guy had family in Matagalpa.
If luggage is delayed and isn't on your flight, the airline will deliver it the next day (in my case, they asked if they could deliver it to the Solluntuna Hem since the guy making the run didn't speak English and didn't trust my directions to my house). If you're staying over at the Mercedes, they can deliver it there. This is generally a TSA caused delay and you'll find the little note from them in one of your bags if that was the case.
Rebecca Brown
My Recent Entry
last week was problem free. I rented from Budget and was out in a half hour.
All my luggage was X=rayed but I didn´t see any body´s stuff opened. The party in front of me had a half dozen large duffle bags. The girl in front of the machine was making no effort to adjust levels of intensity and looked pretty bored. The conveyor belt never stopped . . .