For the trip cross country, I stop at the airport book store in a quest to snag a Central American travel guide that might shed some light on where, exactly, I'm heading. I 'm soon heartened by the paragraph or two I find for some of the villages on our sketchy agenda. I buy the most verbose of the lot.

My flight out of Miami precedes Bob's and puts me into Managua early in the afternoon. Bob's arranged to have Juan Samuel meet me as I'm coming out of customs. Juan, Raul (the driver) and I spend the afternoon and early evening checking out a few of the sights around Managua and catching a bite to eat at the main shopping mall. I'm not really sure who Juan is, what his role might be or why Bob got him to pick me up. But it's not like I have a clear understanding of what I'm involved in, Juan seems like a nice enough guy and it should facilitate making contact with Bob. Going along to get along.

We head back to the airport in time for Bob's 8 PM arrival. Both Bob and Mark Jacobson clear baggage, customs and immigration in just a few minutes. Quick introductions are made and we're off to Granada, five stuffed into a subcompact car.

The drive to Granada takes about 90 minutes and we arrive around 11PM. Driving through the downtown area, I'm struck by how much Granada reminds me of Puerto Rico's Old San Juan district. The architecture and street layouts seem much the same. The only distinct difference is that Granada's streets are much wider.

After rejecting the idea of staying at Hotel Alehambra ($90 for the night!), we opt for the Compuestado Granada ($10). With only two singles available, I'm initially relegated to bunking with Juan and Raul. That "plan" is modified less than 5 minutes later when Mark learns "single" doesn't necessarily mean there are any windows in the room; a fan and a bed (bedspread and no sheets) is about it when it comes to luxuries. He opts for the larger bunk room with Juan and Raul; I score the single, settle in and quickly pass out.

After "sleeping in" until 6:45 AM (awaken and prodded by Bob's "HEY! in there"), we pack up and head to the Hotel Alehambra to meet with Joe Ryan. That's one of the names Bob gave me as a contact should I miss connecting up with Bob. It'll be interesting to learn who this Joe is.

Joe Ryan meets us for breakfast and I slowly discern from the conversation that he's an American living in Granada, he's a marine biologist by training and for much of his work and that he's involved in the human rights aspects of the lobster diver's situation. He has a meeting scheduled that morning between a human rights lawyer in Managua and a couple of the Moskito leaders of diver unions.

Following the meeting with Joe, we're off to Granada. Joe has enough room for Bob and Mark. I travel, instead, with Juan and Raul. On the way, we make a stop at the arts and crafts capital of Nicaragua: Masaya. We spend some time looking around the market, me unaware that THIS is the place in Nicaragua to buy souvenirs, Juan wondering what I'd be buying. With a long trip ahead and only a backpack for luggage, I pass on the exquisite, hardwood bar stool sets and relatively bulky hammocks and, instead, settle on a CD for a friend.

On arrival in Managua, we head to the office of a civil rights lawyer for a meeting sponsored by Joe Ryan for the benefit of two of the leaders of a diver union. We learn there's going to be meeting in Puerto Cabezas on Friday where the union leaders plan to confront the lobster industry representatives with newly acquired knowledge about Nicaraguan law and the labor rights. The lawyer pointed out numerous ways in which the lobster industry had been criminally violating the country's labor laws. It promised to be a serious showdown; Mark and I made plans to be at that meeting.

In tow with Joe at that meeting was Kamil Kuninski. I didn't know it then but I would spend quite some time talking to Kamil during my 3-day stay in Puerto Cabezas later in the trip.