Different But The Same

A plane in mid-January took us back to Nicaragua, a place that regular readers of this blog may be tired of hearing about. Well... we did some different things and tried to take some different pictures to keep it interesting. We hope you enjoy.

To get you in the right mindset, below is a picture of one of the standard scenic sunsets.

For the 1st week of our trip, we overlapped with Julia's brother, Mike, and his wife Ashley, on their honeymoon. They appreciated the company at happy hour and on the various tours we did through Osman and Angie's travel company Tranquilo Tours and Travel.

Tour #1: A full day that included a stop at Catarina for the view and shopping, a canopy tour in the foothills of Mombacho Volcano, and finished off with lunch and swimming at Laguna de Apoyo.

Tour #2: Exploring the Flor de Caña factory and a history walk around León. We drank some really good rum and learned some interesting things about the history of the area.

Tour #3:  Another full day that included a mandarin orange farm, cigar factory, boat around the islands outside of Granada, tour of Fortaleza El Coyotepe, and then viewing the lava of Masaya Volcano at night. Some things we have done a few times before but we still managed to find new experiences. We stopped at a roadside stand to buy some oranges and Osman wasn't impressed with the display, the guy told us we could pick our own straight from the trees in their backyard if we wanted. So we walked around their large farm filled with fruit trees of multiple types and found the good stuff. At the cigar factory, Julia's brother Mike got to roll his own cigar. On the boat tour, we saw some Capuchin monkeys that we hadn't seen before, and learned more since Osman was our guide. Then toured an old fort/prison up on a hill called Fortaleza El Coyotepe and learned about it's dark past. Finally, when the sun set, we waited in line to see the lava of Volcano Masaya at night, it was very impressive.

 

That first week went fairly quickly, and we soon settled into a routine. We visited the resort pool, we played with the kids, and often did both at the same time. I played a lot of golf thanks to an unlimited pass for the month. I proudly played 234 holes, or 26 rounds of 9. It was kind of my dream month. The lone break from our schedule was a big party for Kaiden's 5th birthday. The pictures below should tell the whole story.

Here are some other pictures of the kids and activities we did with them.

(We messed around some toy lights and my camera settings, handwriting credit to Julia)

Alright, that is enough about the nephews. We were lucky this trip to have 2 visitors during the month of February. First off was Julia's former coworker and now good friend, Kelsea, from Juneau Alaska. She was seeking some sunshine and the timing worked out perfectly since my brother Peter was to arrive a few days after her.

Here is a quick description of how the busy but awesome 10 days went down:

• Picked Kelsea up from the airport, hopped a chicken bus up to León, did the usual things (cathedral rooftop, checking out the churches, outdoor grills for dinner, strolling the central park, perusing the market), bused down to Granada, again did the usual things (boat tour of the islettas, climbing up the La Merced bell tower, exploring the central park, visited the cemetery, meandering through the market).
• After Granada, it was to the airport to pickup Peter, all of us back to the Gran Pacifica resort where we did the usual things (played golf, happy hour drinks, swimming in the ocean, dinner at Burrito Bandidos), tried some new adventures with breakfast and sweat lodge at the hostel Mind The Gap (where 3 times we sat in a small hut with steaming rocks for 10 min before running into the ocean to cool off), did a day-tour with Osman (Volcano Masaya, Catarina, Laguna de Apoyo).
• We left the resort and said goodbye to Kelsea, hopped a chicken bus up to León with Peter, did the usual things (see above), bused down to Granada, repeated the usual activities (see above but with a few exceptions), early morning taxi to airport where we said goodbye to Peter and caught a ride back to the resort with Osman.

With that, the tour guide portion of our trip ended. Below are a few pictures.

(León Cathedral rooftop)

(Sweat lodge hut at Mind The Gap, man on the left is preparing the very hot stones)

The day after Peter left, Julia's parents arrived for their regular 6 week visit. We moved into an apartment that one of the property owners built behind his house for our final 4 nights at the resort. Golf was played and drinks were had by the pool.

Aside from the regular stuff you have all heard about, we were lucky to be able to witness first hand the turtle release program that Angie and Osman have been a part of. To protect the turtle population from poachers, they have locals who monitor the beaches and alert Osman when they see a turtle coming ashore to lay her eggs. The eggs are then collected and buried under the sand in an enclosure, and roughly 45 days later, they begin to hatch. All of the babies are then released at sunset into the ocean to protect them from predators.

During our first few days here, we got to watch a mother lay her eggs at night and it really was a phenomenal sight.

We then saw the last step in the process a few days before we left, when one of the previous nests began to hatch and over 100 tiny turtles were released into the ocean.

 Our last night in Nicaragua was spent with the whole family at a tobacco farm near Granada owned by one of the residents of the resort. We stayed in a beautiful old farm house with views of Volcano Mombacho and gigantic rooms.

(In Liberia, looking or a hostel during a parade) 

Our flight back to the States left out of Liberia, Costa Rica, so our final few nights of the trip were spent lounging on beaches and paying a little bit more for food and lodging. It was good to slip back into the backpacker lifestyle for a few days, punctuated by catching a local bus at 6 AM to get us to the airport for a fraction of the cost that everyone else pays.




We arrived back in Oregon in early March and had a busy month, but I will wait and tell you more about it on the next post. The post will also describe how we got to our current temporary home in southern Alabama, so you won't want to miss that.

Give Thanks

The past six days have allowed us three weary travelers all the amenities you would expect while living at a luxurious resort. There have been Nica Libres (rum & Coke) consumed, multiple afternoons playing golf in the sun, and sunsets by the infinity pool. Our recap of the week begins on Sunday, our last day with heavy backpacks, in Masaya.

Sunday: Despite hundreds of stands at Masaya's Artisan market all selling similar pottery, shirts and knick knacks, very few were open by 9am. With plans to purchase our remaining souvenirs this morning, we made one local vendor very happy that his doors were open when we passed through. Multiple negotiations later, all parties walked away pleased, one party with a few large plastic bags in tow. On our way back to the hotel, we found ourselves surrounded by costumed locals and a band making their way to the main church. We followed, and helped form a circle surrounding those dancing in masks and elaborate dress. Once Angie and Kaiden arrived, we tried to find the parade for Kaiden to enjoy but they had already moved on, so we sat court-side and enjoyed a local soccer game instead. Backpacks and shopping bags thrown in the car, we drove 30 minutes south to San Juan de Oriente and Catarina for a view of Laguna de Apoyo and lunch. A quick stop in Managua for groceries and by 6pm, we were home at Gran Pacifica. Mark settled in to the empty house next door where he's renting a room for the week, Micah and I found the items we left behind. A salad, chorizo sausage and gallo pinto was consumed for dinner and families caught up on the last few months.

                                             Costumes and masks everywhere

                   More traditional wear

                                     View of Laguna de Apoyo from Catarina

Monday: Clothes were placed in a washing machine and hung on a line and backpacks were scrubbed free of dirt. Micah and Mark hit the golf course for 9 holes that afternoon and I played with my favorite 2 year old. The four of us reconvened and spent the next few hours testing the happy hour drinks and the infinity pool at the restaurant.

Tuesday: Souvenirs were picked through and more cleaning and organizing. The daily ritual of internet time by the office and pool had already begun and was continued. Mark, Micah, Kaiden and I borrowed the Explorer and took to the muddy dirt road that eventually ended at Asuchillo Beach. A long, flat beach that has a gentle wave break, it's the best beach in Gran Pacifica for non hardcore surfers and those who just want to frolick in the water. We frolicked and roasted in the harsh sun for an hour and a half in the late afternoon. That evening, all 6 of us packed into the car and drove the 11km road to Burrito Bandido where two pizzas and multiple drinks were split.

           Laughing at each wave that hit him

                                                    Asuchillo Beach

Wednesday: Angie and Osman ran errands in Managua for the day. Micah and Mark spent another 9 holes on the golf course, I had a relaxed morning at the house. After another afternoon with Kaiden at the resort's pool, we feasted on typical Nica food that Angie and Osman brought home with them.

                         Pool with the restaurant and Mark in background

Thursday: For Thanskgiving, there was a lot of interesting conversation regarding how we would celebrate. Weeks earlier, Micah and I offered to cook and host our family and Angie's boss, at our home. That was tweaked slightly by my well intentioned sister and we were declared head chefs for the day at the restaurant to cook a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 20-50 people. We laughed and declined, but in the end we realized the Nicaraguans and Canadians had no idea how to make an American Thanksgiving dinner, so we offered to cook the turkey, stuffing, and gravy. An approximate 20 people would be attending, so 27# of turkey was purchased along with a few dozen other items we'd compiled into a grocery list the day before. By 11am, we had taken over one large kitchen in an open condo unit to begin our work. Micah prepped the turkey and made bread crumbs for stuffing, I chopped veggies and herbs to stuff the turkey, and Mark took on the brave and tedious task of cutting 10+ onions. Seven hours and four ovens later, we had two beautifully roasted turkeys, a few pounds of chorizo sausage stuffing, and a very large pot of gravy. The restaurant transferred the food to serving platters and placed everything, including the potatoes, corn, salad and rolls that they had made, on a buffet table in the restaurant. There was also cranberry/blueberry sauce and green bean casserole with hand battered onion rings on top that were made by friends in the condo with us. The meal was a great success with nearly 20 people joining us, including family members of Daniel Ortega, current president of Nicaragua. We stuffed our bellies, went back for seconds, topped it off with pumpkin pie and were able to FaceTime with family. A wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving to go in the books.

Micah and Kaiden fixing the training wheels on his bike after Kaiden's mommy ran over the wheel with the car :)

                                       Where the magic took place

                           Finished product with the professional turkey carver

             Celebrating Thanksgiving, Nicaragua style (Nica Libre and Premium beer)

Friday: Despite a tryptophan induced sleep the previous night, Micah and Mark mustered up the energy for 18 holes of golf on Friday morning. I swam with Kaiden in the pool at the house, and lulled him to sleep for his afternoon nap. We gave Angie some time to plant in her garden by taking Kaiden down to the resort pool for the sunset. Once we returned home, Angie and I collected as many empty Tupperware containers as we could find and ran back down to the restaurant, requesting Thanskgiving leftovers. Day two's meal may have been better than day one, and we even had an entire pumpkin pie to complete our leftovers.

           Where'd the cranberry sauce go??

Saturday: Today I joined Mark and Micah for 9 of the 18 holes they golfed. When I returned to the house, Kaiden immediately asked if Mark and Micah were still golfing and insisted on joining. For the second day in a row, Kaiden and I went in search of the golfers and he swung away a few times, surprisingly making contact more often than not. Lunch was rice, beans, and ceviche that Osman made with a barracuda that a friend caught while fishing yesterday. We enjoyed Mark's last Gran Pacifica sunset down by the pool, then ate pork ribs for dinner that Micah had slow cooked in the crock pot for the past 20 hours.

                          Admiring the Pacific from the green of the fourth hole

Tomorrow: One more day on the road for all of us. We will head to León, likely with Angie, to show Mark a few more cathedrals, museums and markets. On Monday, he will head to Managua to catch his afternoon flight back to the states and we will gather the last of our necessities from the markets in León before we return via chicken bus to the resort for our last full week of our year long vacation.