Headed south for Christmas, Costa Rica.

Can't believe it has been a month since the last update. After Granada, spent a relaxing week in San Juan del Sur. Nice little beach town in southern Nicaragua, quiet bay for great swimming, lots of shops and restaurants. Then a drive and stop in León for a dentist progress check, so far so good, and then a week tour of northern Nicaragua. My favorite place was Somoto, a little mountain town, not far from Honduras. There is a national park nearby with a river canyon, wow, absolutely beautiful!
Stayed for the weekend because of a festival on Sat. and horse parade on Sunday. Also visited cities of Esteli, Matagalpa and a general tour of the coffee country, including a chocolate factory tour, very small time operation but extremely interesting. Finished it off with a couple of days on the coast at Las Peñitas, near León.
Eventually made it back to Managua and hopped on the TicaBus for a 10 hour ride to San Jose in Costa Rica. Actually, 2 or more hours were spent at the border for customs and immigration. Not a bad deal though for a total of $29.00. Sticker shock set in immediately when it cost me $25 for a taxi ride to the hotel. Met Dave Ladick, friend from St Point the next day and headed to my new month long residence at a condo in Jacó, on the Pacific Coast.
Anyone that knows Dave, is aware he does not let any grass grow under his feet. We did ATV rides in the jungle mountains, zip lines in the jungle mountains, horse rides in the ..., visited parks, animal preserves, waterfalls, a cliff-side 2000' high sunset view, beach hopping, etc. It was great to see him again. I even got a photo of him in the hammock, maybe only for 5 minutes, but it happened.
I am still shocked at the prices here, way more than I remember two years ago. This is a great place to visit, but I don't think I would settle here.
Next the kids arrive late Sat nite so I am really excited, and I hear they are too.
Now for a personal update, I have a friend Gloria that has been here with me since the 1st of November. We first met last May when I hired her to clean my condo in Florida. That was all, but she kept my email. She is from Colombia and was in FL chasing the American dream, which didn't really pan out. She returned to Colombia in late May. Sometime in June she emailed, and asked if we could keep in touch, I thought sure. We wrote back and forth as the summer progressed. As I got to know more about her I realized we had a lot in common and she seemed very nice. Then she decided to visit her friend in Orlando in Sept.  I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet,

Christ monument at San Juan del Sur

View of San Juan del Sur from monument

Somoto canyon

Roadside view

Parade in front of our hotel

Somoto sidestreet

Flor de cana, sugar cane flower, also the name of Nicaragua's Rum.

In a mountain waterfall/botanical garden near Jacó

My favorite beach here, at Playa Herradura, just north of Jacó

ATV stop at a cold waterfall!

Feeling zippy.

The summit of our horse ride into the mountains. A welcomed butt break!

Toucan resting, on the horse ride back down.

Scarlet Macaw just outside Quepos, where Dave went rafting (by himself), yes I chickened out.

A friendly fellow offered to take our photo in Granada.

Second volcano trip much easier than first. Drive up most, then horses, then only a little climb.

Smoldering Masaya volcano, erupted last in 2008

Another crater in the Masaya volcano.

so on my way to Nicaragua, I stayed in Orlando for about 10 days. We visited a lot and toured some of the area and got along great. So after my school was over, so was her visit and she came to Nicaragua and we have been travelling together since. She just left last Friday to visit with her family for Christmas in Pereira, Colombia. She has two adult boys, one with a grandson. So after a week back in Nicaragua in Jan to finish my implant, I am headed to Colombia to see her world and family. I haven't written about her because she wanted to tell her parents in person, so there hasn't been anything on Facebook or here till now.
So now, the guy from Wisconsin, that doesn't drink beer is headed to Columbia and still doesn't like coffee.
Merry Christmas everyone, may the blessings you share be enjoyed this season and the whole year through. I am blessed with the visit of Austin, Jennifer, Carly and Patricia for this Christmas and I can't think of a better gift than that.

A Taste of the Old Life

Arrived in Granada for a week on Sunday Nov 2. Beautiful historic old colonial city nestled up to the west shore of Lake Nicaragua. The only fresh water lake with sharks. Lots of expats here as this is a choice destination. Loads of restaurants with indoor/outdoor seating, coffee shops, galleries, museums, parks and great for walking around. Old time horse carriages offering an hour tour of the city for $20. Very picturesque with views of the architecture, lake and volcanoes. One day headed to check out nearby Mombacho volcano. Had to park the car near the base, 4x4 only. Was told an hour and half to top walking, ok. Three and a half hours later, with feet slipping on the paved road because it was so steep, finally reached the top. Resting a bit, then hiking the trail around one of the craters was awesome. After slipping and walking down the 4 kilometer steep half  back down, got a ride back to the car, that too was awesome! The next couple days was pretty local without much walking. Other trips were to Laguna de Apoyo, a warm crater lake great for swimming, and a drive up the Masaya volcano. Car got to the main crater, but for a better view took a horse up higher and then walked/climbed up to an incredible overlook. This one is active, the main crater is smoking a lot. It last erupted in 2008.

Schools out for winter!

So the spanish class is done for now and my skills remain very weak. Looking back I think I should have stopped after 3 weeks, but I have learned a lot about the history and the area. My comprehension is way better, so it will come with time.
Starting off with a week in Granada, plan on visiting Ometepe then head into the north part of the country. Just heard about a canyon they just discovered in the last decade near Honduras that sounds awesome, along with other parks and reserves. Have a car rented for a month for less than $300, should aid in the exploration capabilities. Plans are set for a month in the beach town Jacó in Costa Rica for December.
The implant started well, but is on hold for now. Went in after a week to get the impression for the new tooth and when he screwed the new post into the implant, the implant came loose. So he did a bone graft and I will let that grow till after New Years and come back to wrap it up. A bit of a setback but should work out well in the end, not going to rush it at this point.

Been enjoying activities with Wi/Nic Partners on weekends. Last week they had about 60 kids at a "Bike/Hike" event where they had games and activities all afternoon on Friday. The local scout troop helped out too. Saturday was a monthly meeting of most of the leaders of the various learning centers in Nicaragua, to share ideas and progress. Am headed to one northwest of León on Saturday, looking forward to that.
Have had some other students in the house the last month, a couple from Ireland/England, Nick from Australia that has been working in Belize, and just this week a couple from New Mexico. Been checking out many different restaurants in town with Nick the last week enjoying some good conversation and fare. Being here the longest, I have been named "The Don", I prefer "Don Ray de León".