San Juan del Sur

We rented a taxi one morning and changed towns. We have arrived at San Juan del Sur. It is a popular destination for many white folk both young and old. Basically, it is a hippy town that has changed with all of its outside influences. Here we can buy yummy bread at le Pan de Vida (very similar to 'With the Grain') or have a great cup of coffe, or cappuccino at Gato Negro (think Planet Bean). There is a mercado where we can buy our local vegtables every day (not unlike our Farmer's Market). And so on, and so on.

Today we found the liberia and signed up . So, now we can get some books out and return them within a week. To sign up I gave them my name and home address and phone number. They did not ask to see any identification.

More Pics

Averyl really enjoyed the horses

I'll never tire of $12 lobster dinners!!
Some colourful characters that we met in town

Beach Beach Beach

One of the challenges of being on vacation is what to do with your time. Some people golf and can spend the whole day getting to the course and then playing. Some people ride motorcycles and plan day trips and check out all the corners of the earth. In our case, we have kids and the options aren't open to us. Luckily there is the the beach. La playa, as it is known here, offers endless hours of distraction. Favourite pastimes are collecting shells (Pop has put a limit on just how many that they are able to bring home). The age old 'cover some willing victim' with sand is a great hit. The kids seem to make friends where ever they go. This girl's name is Nayla and she also likes collecting shells with the girls.

Averyl, Elsie and Nora also found that just horsing around was a lot of fun.
One issue that exists all over the world is the amount of garbage. It is sad that the amount of plastic in the worlds oceans can now be measured as a percentage. These guys seem to be the only ones actually picking up around here.

Waterfall

At every river, in every town, is a dam where most of life happens. People bathe, kids play, women wash cloathes, and everyone cools off from the heat. More than most do not wear bathing suits, but just walk into the water fully cloathed. My guess is that their cloathes dry so fast that it is not an issue and it feels good against the heat to be slightly damp for the next couple of hours. So, we all tried it and went in fully cloathed - well, not JD. He has issues with water that most of you know about. It was great fun, refreshing, and no salt and sand.

Lighthouse

Today we walked along the beach. We waded through two rivers and arrived at a lighthouse. Against all precautions for danger, we climbed to the top to have a look. Half way up I decided this might not be the best parental move I had made and hoped that no one lost their footing. It was a straight ladder essentially up four flights.

Here's a view towards the north. Basically, while there is nothing to see, our property is at the far left of the photo, approximately 15 km from Masachapa.

Here's a view looking south. We are staying just around the last visible point.

Breakfast as usual

We had a woman next door prepare us supper. I asked for a fish dinner that would feed five of us. She went off and about forty minutes later came to find us on the beach. She had grilled a large red snapper complete with head, (that kind of freaked the kids out) that hung over both sides of a large serving platter. It came with rice. salsa, limes, and fried plantano chips. I had to server the head and serve the meat before C-A and the kids would eat it. I am very happy here.

This morning I found the same woman and asked for a platter of eggs, beans and plantanos. This is working out well for me. I just ask and I receive. Don’t anyone tell Cathy (from the Apollo Restaurant) that she has been replaced - well at least temporarily.

Ode to Roberto Burle Marx

While this is only a small fishing village on the Pacific Coast, someone has some good ideas about what to do with recycled materials. What a cool look! All the tiles are broken and no doubt came from many different found sources. Surprisingly, the installation is level but be careful.. stepping off the sidewalk is a hazard as the curb height ranges from 6 inches to 14 inches.

Roberto Burle Marx was a landscape architect, designer, artist born in the early 1900's and died in the 1990's. Google Copacabana Promenade, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil for a good look at the 1970's famous sidewalk. Here's a picture that I copied.

Masachapa

The kids hit the beach with ferocious zealous. The wave jumping was -and still is- an excellent attraction. They have easily slipped into life on the beach. Here are some photo's of our surroundings.

We had a lot of fun on this rock for the obvious reasoning that it looked like a sunken skull. The girls kept stepping in and out of the 'eyesockets' with glee.

Nicaragua 2010

Hello Everyone,

We have arrived safe and sound. The travel went fine. Averyl has officially overcome her tummy trauma’s at take-off and touch-down via air travel. Yeah! The only complaint is airport food really does suck and it is expensive. We shared our first plane ride from TO to Atlanta with a celebrity - Justin Beiber. Strangely, nothing to report on that, just name dropping. Our kids were unimpressed as they did not know the teen idol.

Upon arrival we were greeted with warm sweet air. It truly is wonderful here. We hired a taxi to drive us to our first destination: Masachapa - a small fishing village on the Pacific Coast. We had to ask the driver to stop so we could take off all our travel cloathes before we expired from heat exhaustion. Socks are just not something of importance in Nica. Nor are long pants or sweaters.

Casa LaSasso. We are staying at a typical Nica establishement - unrefined, casual palapa on the beach. These places can often cause me grief in terms of keeping our stuff organized and clean, but I also think that is precisely the reason I am travelling - to come to terms that life in Guelph is very organized, clean, safe, and predictable. And knowing that it exists and is waiting for us upon our return makes me take in all aspects down here with a zen like perspective.

Christmas 2010

Christmas eve at home with the family. The kids each opened one present. Elsie got a camcorder and is making movies. This should prove to be amusing over the next few weeks. Evan is showing off his new pook toque- 27 different styles to be worn. Averyl received "The Lightning Thief" series by Rick Riordan and is no longer noticing anything going on around her, and Nora is dancing to the tunes of her new music box. C-A and I are looking forward to the traditional Shifflett champagne breakfast tomorrow.