Back from Nicaragua

Friday and Saturday

Off to Nicaragua again. An hour or so late yet otherwise, uneventful flight, an hour wait for a reserved rental car, getting slightly lost on the way to Granada but in the end we arrived to the wrong hotel where we didn’t have reservations and were able to book a very nice room and all was well and on track. That night we had some really yummy pizza and Skye got to visit with Mr. Beady eyes the cat across the street at Zoom’s, “Granada’s only sport’s bar”.

Next day we’re off up to the Los Congos developments. It’s the dry season and everything is much drier and browner, a remarkable difference from when I was here just three weeks ago. We marched all over the property, quite a hike really. (Explanation of pics; Jonathan(Los Congos person, Charles(partner and friend) Skye checking out view from a lot we may get. Skye marching up through one of our properties.)

We saw several howler monkeys. (They're the dark blobs in the picture below.) Pretty cool and amazing actually, it was a nice treat for Skye.

Skye next to our favorite tree on one of the properties. There are some absolutely awe-inspiring trees on one of the properties, just wonderful.

And the views are unbelievable. As this property thing becomes more of a reality, it becomes more exciting, I can see the houses and courtyards, and they are quite splendid. I can imagine the resort and spa and restaurant. But then I remember all the steps it will take to get there and that as well is an exciting adventure but more than a little scary and intimidating.

Skye is getting a bit of a geology lesson from Charles as he tells her about the volcanic rocks that are all over the property. She’s picking up a little Spanish, here and there, mostly about
food and restaurants.

Sunday

Skye and I head back to Laguna de Apoya, the side opposite Los Congos, where the locals come to swim and cool off and out on the weekends. I swim out and back a few times, just to get a semblance of exercise in on the trip while Skye frolicks and splashes in the shallows. The purity of the water is remarkable. I know I keep going on about one wonderful thing after another, but

it is truly a fascinating country. Don’t get me wrong though. All is not well in the country, it is still the second poorest country in the hemisphere, after Haiti. In
spite of this it feels no more impoverished than much of what I saw in Mexico and the people are really open and warm. I don’t want to come across as condescending by any respect. It’s just that given our country’s history with there's, one could easily imagine the resentment and anger that could arise, but thus far that is not the case. (Again, picture explanation. Skye chilling. A view of Los Congos, and thus our properties from the other side of the lake.)

Monday

Today was a business day. Meetings in Granada and Managua and more meetings.

Tuesday

Off to San Juan del Sur to check out the beach and developments. Showed Charles some of the crazy steep paved roads that pass as normal in Nicaragua. He was not pleased. (We also had no idea of what Thursday would bring, that made these roads indeed seem normal) We got on a dirt road to go south to check out some other developments. After many bumps, potholes, dust and no signs we figured we must have been on the wrong road and headed back towards Grenada in search of the road so clearly marked on our map. We later found out that indeed we were on the correct road.

Wednesday

Today we went to check out Mombacho Volcano . What an incredible journey. To start we are told we need reservations to go up in their truck but since we had a four-wheel drive vehicle

we could go up on our own. Always game, I signed the release waiver (a first for me in Nicaragua) put the truck in 4wd and headed up. Before it got too steep a rat accidentally (I assume) landed on the hood and scurried about for a good minute before it finally fell off. That had us all laughing, that is until we saw how steep this road really was. I have never seen a road like it before. I gunned it and then when I slowed ever so slightly to not hit this massive bump too hard, we stalled. Now I was a little worried. I reversed down this crazy jungle hill until it was flat enough for me to get back in gear. This time there would be no slowing down for bumps. Ten minutes latter, after much white-knuckling we arrived at the top, safe and sound and shaking with adrenaline. WOW!!!

Then we took this amazing hike in Cloud Forest, absolutely amazing, stunning and lush, hundreds of bromeliads and orchids.

The views were spectacular. It was definitely worth the scary car ride up. Very windy cold even, very different from anything else I'd seen in Nicaragua or anywhere I've been for that matter.

Friday

Oh boy what a day today was. Got to the airport an hour before the flight, That's what it suggested one the ticket and what was posted at the airport, and knowing how small the Managua airport is, it seemed reasonable, until the lady at the counter told us we had to be
there three hours prior to the flight and it would be impossible for us to board due to immigration policies. OK we missed our flight and were rerouted through Atlanta. So now we will get to LA at 10:30 at night instead of 11:45 in the morning. At Atlanta were first told to go to the wrong gate and then told the flight was late and to
come back in 45 minutes, when we came back in 30 minutes the flight had boarded and the door was closed, now our second missed flight. Now we were going to get to LA after mid-night. Ok so I went a little ballistic, screaming at the women behind the counter, mostly antagonized by their rude handling of the matter. Security was called, but never came and I sat down and fumed. We were seated next to a lady traveling with her cute little dog which escaped half-way through the flight and scurried about the plane for while. And then when we finally arrived in LA, Skye's bag was missing, as it still is. It was a stupid bad travel day. Right now for me DELTA SUCKS!!!Oh well. Still cool clouds over Nicaragua and one of its many volcanoes, not sure which one