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Kahana Kalama in Nicaragua

by: Cropley | Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | 5 comments

This past March I went on a trip to Nicaragua with Cheyne Cottrell and Will Tant. After getting off the airplane in Managua, it felt like a standard run of the mill Central America trip. Small airport terminals, hordes of dark-skinned taxi drivers whistling and shouting, a filmy layer of sweat that coats your body any time you step out of an air conditioned room, the uncomfort of having to dodge and weave through foot traffic with an over sized board bag and an uneasy feeling of vulnerability, knowing you don’t have a clue what you’re doing. But, like most trips, we scored really good surf.

While in Managua we got the chance to link up with Brad Corrigan (lead singer of Braddigan, formerly in Dispatch) and a few friends. We heard about a spot in Managua that literally resembled the aftermath of a nuclear war, and apparently Braddigan was planning on playing a concert there. Cheyne and Will and I commandeered a taxi to head over to this dump.

More than just a desolate wasteland, La Chureca is home to many who spend their days—from sun-up to sundown—rummaging through the trash for food and other objects to use, sell, or recycle. People walked around like zombies as clouds of black smoke billowed up from the fields of burning trash. Every now and then pockets of gas from the decomposing trash below the ground would ignite causing an explosion, hurdling loose rubbish and bits of shrapnel through the air. This was probably the heaviest place I have ever been in my life. We walked through the dump fighting of the stench and filth trying to understand how people could live in a place like this.

Despite the disease, drug addiction, and child prostitution, the population living in the dump still have a will to survive, a strong sense of community, and a tremendous work ethic. At the end of the day, Braddigan set up a stage and began to play. Mass amounts of children began to flock out of the woodwork and it was cool to see these people let loose and forget about sifting through garbage for just one afternoon.

-Kahana

For more on La Chureca check out lovelightandmelody.org

As you can see, we did get some really good surf!