We said goodbye to Nicaragua and headed back to the United States. Commercial airlines are not yet flying in and out of Nicaragua, so we booked a charter flight from Managua, Nicaragua to Miami, Florida. From Miami, we flew Delta Airlines to Atlanta.
We were nervous about getting on airplanes and heading back to the United States. We were not sure what to expect. It was a long two travel days, but luckily everything went well.
We left San Juan Del Sur the day before our flight and stayed at a hotel near the airport in Managua just to be safe. Our flight left at 9:00 and it is a two-hour drive from San Juan Del Sur to Managua.
We stayed at the Airport X Managua Hotel. The hotel is about a mile from the airport. It was clean. our room had bunk beds and two double beds. We had a good dinner at the hotel and breakfast was included the next morning. 
The hotel also had two capuchin monkeys who were being rehabilitated. They were cute but liked to grab and swipe if you got too close.
We arrived at the Managua airport 2 1/2 hours before our flight. There were quite a few people lined up. The airport workers were asking everyone to social distance and our temperatures were checked before entering the airport. 
Getting through check-in was fast. Immigration was slow. It took about 45 minutes. We did not renew our visas because we were leaving three days after they expired. We had to pay a fine for overstaying (USD$10 per person plus $3 per day per person).
The women at our desk had to fill out three forms for each person as well as input all of the information on the computer. It is not an efficient system.
Also, the government raised immigration fees as of August 6, so Michael asked for clarification about the new fees, which took a while. Michael was arguing (in a polite way) with three different immigration officers that they should not count the day our visa was good until in calculating our fine. He lost that argument.
The flight from Managua to Miami was full. They boarded the plane from the back and deplaned three rows at a time alternating the right side and the left side of the plane. Michael sat next to a woman with a squirmy toddler. There was no beverage service, but they did have bottled water available upon request.
Our plane had to land in El Salvador to re-fuel. The total flight time was about 3 1/2 hours.
The Miami airport was practically empty. We rolled through immigration in record time.
We had a four-hour layover in Miami. We were the only people at our gate for most of the time. Lucas took a nap and we read and played games.
The flight from Miami to Atlanta was only 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was different from the Managua to Miami flight. On the flight to Miami, everyone was respectful and the plane was fairly quiet.
On the flight to Atlanta, there were people arguing with the gate attendant about wearing masks and once we were on the plane, many people took their masks off. Delta kept the middle seat open and did a great job of trying to get people to abide by their new policies.
We made it back safely and we are quarantining.
We got into Atlanta at 9 pm. We took a hotel shuttle to an airport near the hotel. We stayed at a Comfort Inn & Suites for two nights. Everyone was wearing masks. The pool was closed. Only two people were allowed in the breakfast room at one time and we had to eat in our room. They did a good job implementing COVID restrictions.
We did some social distance visiting with family and friends before heading up to a more comfortable quarantining spot in the North Georgia mountains. It is strange not to be able to hug our family and friends.
We will be hunkered down for the next two weeks adjusting to being back in the United States. The kids are happy that they got to eat Chick-fil-a. We miss Nicaragua already, but now we are on to new adventures.
