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,
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| Christ monument at San Juan del Sur |
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| View of San Juan del Sur from monument |
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| Somoto canyon |
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| Roadside view |
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| Parade in front of our hotel |
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| Somoto sidestreet |
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| Flor de cana, sugar cane flower, also the name of Nicaragua's Rum. |
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| In a mountain waterfall/botanical garden near Jacó |
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| My favorite beach here, at Playa Herradura, just north of Jacó |
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| ATV stop at a cold waterfall! |
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| Feeling zippy. |
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| The summit of our horse ride into the mountains. A welcomed butt break! |
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| Toucan resting, on the horse ride back down. |
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| Scarlet Macaw just outside Quepos, where Dave went rafting (by himself), yes I chickened out. |
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| A friendly fellow offered to take our photo in Granada. |
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| Second volcano trip much easier than first. Drive up most, then horses, then only a little climb. |
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| Smoldering Masaya volcano, erupted last in 2008 |
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| 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.
