Andalusians In Granada

an email from September 2004

Well, it finally happened. We found a road that Big Red can't handle.

Saturday, we decided to look at a piece of land near the Mombacho Volcano. Roger and I always love a new adventure, and the price of this land ($750 per manzana) promised to show us something we had yet to see. We started by picking up a friend in Masaya then driving to Granada to pick up another fella. I figured we would head straight to the property at that point, but apparently I have yet to learn that things are never what I'm expecting.

Heading towards Nandaime, we turned onto a dirt road trying to find the owner of the land. We made MANY stops. Before I knew it, we had a truckload of guys in the back and we're driving down a really rutted road east of the volcano. The road was getting progressively worse, but I was confident in Big Red's abilities. After a kilometer, Roger and I started to wonder if all the guys in the back of the truck were just to help get Big Red out after she got stuck.

Apparently, the winter rains had washed the road away leaving not much more than big boulders. The road quickly became a trail and we had had enough. Roger ended up having to lock the wheels and put Big Red in 4WD just to get us out. The road goes a long way to explaining the price on the land.

Thinking I had missed an opportunity to get some good photos, I was pleasantly surprised when one of the guys wanted to be dropped of at La Villa in Granada. We got an impromptu tour of the place, and I reveled in the horse and hay smells surrounding me. The horses were Andalusians and incredibly gorgeous! Seeing them just made me ache for my own, so we'll continue the land search tomorrow.