aahh the surf at san juan del sur

there are more pool halls here in san juan del sur than I have seen anywhere so far. The life of laying on the beach, drinking a few beers and shooting a good game seems to abound in this place. Of course, that´s not what we did today but lots of other gringos seem to. We relaxed in our cozy little room, strolled the town and took photos, of course.

I like to play " guess my nationality" and so far French is first and German second. Nobody says USA. My French is pretty rusty so it must be the fact that I'm not talking alot or smoozing the locals that creates the mistaken identity. The German is just obvious, I suppose. Dad would be proud.

This is politically a hotbed area with flags of red and black flying here. Its been a strain on the Social Studies part of my brain to remember back to the '80's when Reagan was king and the Sandinistas and Contras were at each other. I believe the remnants of those days appear in the red or black flags flying today. Since Daniel Ortega is back in power it seems like time is frozen. The english papers here say he traveled to Iran recently to see if he can form an alliance with the whack job president there (we haven't cornered the market just yet) and that's just a bad omen. What we don't get via the "news" in the states is pretty frightening considering how we are mongering everywhere.

Global warming is here as well as Nicas complain its hotter than they are used to. An entire fresh water lake outside of Santiago, Chile just up and disappeared 2 months ago leaving scientists and anyone with a brain scared witless. But the hopeful news is that it seems that population growth and the consequences have happened before and mother earth heals herself. Evidenced by theories of how civilizations such as Copan may have met their fate. Now if she could just shake off this serious case of fleas before we kill the dog completely.

The people are friendly but not obsequious and its amazing the lack of street beggars or children that come up to solicit. It's just not here as it is in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru , Ecudaor or Europe for that matter. There is amazingly enough a Subway franchise nestled in this remote place. Gotta be a gringo involved, who else has that kind of $$ around here.

If you are not a seafood person then you would absolutely go hungry here except for Subway, of course. There is always a brick oven pizza place as well. This one is not as good as the one we found in Granada but it was ok. How does 5$ for a lobster sound? or dozens of shrimp for 1$. My understanding is that these prices will soar as soon as we cross the border into Costa Rica. Free enterprise. We will stay here till we can find a route to the only land border crossing between Nica and Costa Rica. Not as easy as it sounds (read previous entries on our "directivo" trip to Copan) but if you have to collect your wits somewhere this ain't a bad place to do it. I'm still figuring a way to describe the border crossing process itself and I´m sure the words will find their way somehow. They usually do...

how many taxis does it take to get to san juan del sur?

Three, if you are lucky? Entonces, we theoretically have a taxi all lined up for today at 1pm to take us approximately 2 hours to the Pacific Ocean town of San Juan Del Sur. He is prompt and courteous, he loads our bags and off we go. Approximately 5 miles outside of Granada all is going well until the radiator begins to smoke. We should have suspected something with all the 2 liter bottles of water in the trunk but by now it just looks normal to us. We pull over and the episode continues with something like this "its the weather that caused this"! Ok, I just thought it might be the lack of water in the radiator but he has yet another reason: its the car`s fault!! We point out the fact he has no water in the radiator and after he fills it with 4 liters he says " no, its not out of water" We respond : of course not, now that you have filled it to capacity. He now deems it too dangerous to continue the journey so he calls a buddy to see if he can fill in. We agree to meet at the cemetary and his buddy picks us up. We go approximately 2 blocks when the new cab driver says " I can´t take you to San Juan Del Sur" and proceeds to ask one of the seediest looking cabbies I have laid eyes on to take us there. At the same time this guy says no we yell, just take us back to the hotel. with me so far. This time , Francisco from the hotel calls an amigo and he agrees to take us. So by now we are on our 3rd cab driver and he actually gets us to our appointed destination and actually helps us while we check out hotels. We are settled in a nice little place with a/c and cable!!
After scoping the town out we are just letting everyone know we are still out here, somewhere. We will hole up here for a few days by the sea doing what people do when they are at the ocean.
Looks like a town where a lot of expats like to live and live it up. Adds on the wall read "want to start your life anew, join a blues band" "become a fisherman" etc. Lots of tune in , turn on and drop out as the late Timothy Leary was famous for saying.
As for me, I feel the call of the surf and sand and hope to answer that tomorrow!

resurfaced in Granada

Back to the beginning of the trip. I should have said "It couldn´t be any worse than the trip up there" and not worried about the jinx because guess what ?... It was a strange trip indeed...
On our way to Copan Ruinas we learned the concept of directivo buses are not necessarily directivo. After 18 hours on various buses we arrived at La Entrada after dark and were informed that we were indeed at the entrance to the town of Copan Ruinas except that it was an hour away up the mountain and the local buses had stopped for the night. So... we hailed the local taxi driver, who had been shooting pool and drinking cervas. After not getting gouged too much we stopped for gas and away we went. Had to have the windows open the whole time as the gas tank was stapped to the vehicle and just a wee bit leaky. After nearly hitting a bull and a fox crossing the road we arrived at our destination. When the locals heard what we had been through they just muttered "dios mio"
On our return trip thru Tegucigalpa Hondurus we had no choice but to hole up overnight at a place called the Alhambra Inn. Outward appearances seemed untoward but inside...ah inside...Welcome to the Hotel California...
First, the desk guy didn´t show despite the security guard`s intent investigation. Then when he did some 15 minutes later he was bombed...wacked...drunk off his ass with the glassy eyes and all. Then suddenly some dude shows up in the lobby smoking a cig and displaying a big side arm. And that's not a play on words for something else. Oh and he was blasted as well. Apparently he was the designated bag carrier.
After he drops off our bags he won't leave the room. His eyes are all glassy and he has this shit eating grin on his face. Despite my desperate fatigue I manage to give him one of my famous ¨looks¨ and he goes out wobbly but out nonetheless.
We get about 5-6 hours of shuteye and off we go again and thus our return to Granada is complete. Even though we had a ticket from Tegus all the way to Granada it was our responsibility to tell the bus driver we wanted off in Granada. Gotta love how this part of the world works!! At least I´ll be prepared since the USA is heading rapidly in this direction.
Tomorrow is either rest or on to Ometepe Island for the can´t miss wildlife (animal kind). After that we make our way down the Pacific Coast to Costa Rica.
I´ll write more about the border crossing itself when I find the right words to use.

on the road again...

not with Willy but mi prima Tere. We leave shortly for San Pedro something here in Hondurus and will hole up there for the night. Our bus back to Managua leaves San Pedro something at 5am tomorrow and we should arrive back in Nica 12 hours after that. Will this be a "directivo", who knows. The definitions are up to the interpreter. I won´t jinx it saying " it couldn´t be any..." because ya never know.
We went to a bird rehabilitation center this morning. It´s the only one of its kind in this country. We were able to walk freely among the tucans, macaws etc of the area. Wait till the photos of me walking around photographing other birds with a parrot on my head come out. I am a true parrot head!! Anyway, till we resurface again somewhere in Central America...

Trullio

thanks to Tucker again for leading us to the womens cooperative. A wild ride in a three wheeler taxi up a mountain road left us with the women weavers and doll makers. Again, try to imagine the remoteness of Copan Ruinas and then to quadruple that isolation and you have this incredibly remote village trying to feed, educate and create life as they know it.

I dedicate today´s blog to Trullio and Fatima one such young couple trying to make a go of it. They are 25 and 20 years old with a small daughter. In addition to driving a "cab" all day, Trullio studies 2 hours every night to learn english, science, math and social studies. All so he can complete the 6th Grade!! He smiles proudly at he and his wife´s accomplishments. Fatima also studies secondary school subjects. When asked his long term goal he replies proudly that he wants to graduate high school!! Primary education is free here but secondary is very expensive so its step by step for him as well.

Trullio wants more for himself than being like his father and he realized that he may have gotten a later start in life but its a start nonetheless. We hope we helped in some small way today as they touched us with their determination and lack of self pity. These people are why I am driven to come here, of all places. I simply go where God leads me. In this case, he came in the form of a lovely little golden retriever and his Canadian companions, Andy and Anna. Andy and Anna could be living a different life in Toronto but instead they chose to live here and make lives different for others.

Its a vivid lesson we could learn if we think its too late for ourselves. The time will pass whether we do anything or not with it so why not go for broke and do what the heart calls us to do.

The Righteous Women of Copan...

A young woman from Austin TX called tresa and I that as she snapped our photo at the Ruins of Copan. I can dig it!!
We also ran into a dog named Tucker and that sparked a whole change in plans. Seems the human companion of Tucker was taken with my knowledge of golden retrievers and I gave him a mini lesson on 5 month old puppies. Now he thinks I´m some dog whisper. Anyway, the really cool part of this story is that he and his wife are originally from Toronto,eh and they work at a women´s collective up in the mountains. Tomorrow we are going there to help and watch as they teach english and encourage self sufficiency. Just because they sell their items in the market doesn´t mean they actually see any of the proceeds. This opportunity is just the luck of the draw or should I say luck of the "dog". It goes to show that encounters happen like that all the time but it takes being out of your element to just go with it.
Tonite its free salsa dancing lessons at the Via Via! Ole!

Bus Butt

An understood code for too many freakin hours on buses!! 18 to be exact from Grandada Nica to the Ruinas Copan in northern Hondurus. We are about 100 miles from the Guatemalan border. The Ruinas Copan are considered to be the "Paris" of the Mayan world. The detail in the stone work is unparellelled. Today is tranquilo with more adventures tomorrow including the ruins and some horseback riding.
We will probably chill here for a few more days as we strategize a return to Nica that does not include the way we came here. I guess El Salvador is just one pissed off country (evidenced by all the border disputes on the map) so traveling through that way is even too risky for travelers like us.
Gloriously I have lost track of the date and day and news and that to me is nirvana.
Well, I believe I will continue my siesta back in my sweet little cabana...

el cien !!

Not exactly a translation for The 100th but close enough. Yes, sports fans!! this represents the 100th post in this screed. Here in Granada Nicarauga of all places. Its only appropriate that it should be on the road. What marvelous people here in Nica. Much different than the peoples of other places I have been. There is good evidence here that when the U.S. military can, it will make things better for people.

Thus far, the bat caves were shall I say, the wildest experience. Approximately 60 to 70 feet below ground armed with only a helmet and a flashlight we traversed amongst tens of thousands of bats. When we finally stopped and turned out the lights they began to fly all around us. I would like to say that I saw it but...I felt and heard their presence. Then later that same night we walked to the rim of volcano Masaya and were graced with a dazzling lava display.

Yesterday we toured the islands of lake nica formed long ago by the volcanoes of the region. We encountered monkeys, birds, fish , flowers, fruit, and families that call the islands home. Today we trekked Volcano Mombacho which is spectacular with spewing sulphur.

Tomorrow brings us to our journey to Hondurus and El Salvador, a little deviation from the original plans but hey....

to the bat cave!!

i have always wanted to say that and now i can really mean it. Tonite we trek off to the active volcano of masaya. it begins in the late afternoon with the exploration of bat caves and then a journey to the rim of the active volcano by night fall. The photos look remarkable with the hot lava boiling below. i regretted not going to pacaya in guatelmala so to make up for it we will see 2 this trip. tonite masaya, tomorrow mombacho which is dormant and has beautiful crater lakes to explore. before we leave Granada we will also take boat tours of the islands in lake nicaragua. Ah to be around people who arent like me....

you know you´ve arrived in central america when...

the electicity goes off in the hotel 10 minutes after arrival and the gun blasts begin an hour later!
If I recall correctly I began a blog some 2 years ago in a similar vein. although at that time it was technically cannon fire to signal the start of holy week. Some things never change.

noticing the difference in the peoples is the first thing. they are mostly mestizos or mixed rather than indigenous or indian looking. the weather is the next. its broiling hot here. feels like perpetual hot flashes and soaking in your own sweat. however; the volcanoes, the lakes and highlands will be waiting...

Big quake in Guatemala but no tsunami warnings. makes people edgy round here as quakes are pretty destrtructive but hopefully that will be that for the time being.

Thinking of everyone at home and making new friends already!

the cycle begins anew

today i start my first leg to L'ville. Wed, managua nicaragua. write more from the flip side!!