I love Nicaraguan buses. The first piece I ever published about Nicaragua was an essay entitled “On this Bus”. Ten years later, my fetish continues—this morning, I discovered the “Tranquilo Bus Company,” based in Tipitapa, just outside Managua. The owner, Jairo, owns eleven vehicles. I needed one of them, I told him. I wanted to rent it for the day and fill it with people and drive to Sebaco. He said he had luxury buses; no, I said, I wanted a colorful school bus, so he gave me one named “Tranquilo #6.” Its driver and cobradores (fare chargers) were a mellow trio of dudes named Angel, Jonathan, and David, who lived up to their company’s name. There is a lot more to the story, of course (and a lot more that I saw today in my recorrido of Masaya, Catarina, Mombacho, Granada, and the Tiscapa Zip Line in Managua)—but it’s late and tomorrow is another day of motion, this time to the north…
