January 23 - February 13, 2012
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Central America
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Roger’s
town
Little Corn
Island
Capitol &
airport
Ometepe
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Roger’s town of Ocotal
Ocotal bus station
These are old school buses going
between cities, but there are also
more modern buses doing likewise.
Central Park
Street view near Roger’s
Note the volcanic hill behind.
Lunch in neighborhood resto
Typical meal was a mix of rice and
beans (very tasty) and stewed beef or
chicken in a sauce.
Half a block from Roger’s house. My hotel faced the park on the center of one side. Although
Roger has a second bedroom, he has no second bed, and we both enjoyed having some time on our own.
Roger’s house
Usual (side) entrance
The house has backup system for water outages, and Roger added
backup system for power outages. He’s all set!
Living room
Where Roger
You climb up 10 tall steps from the street, often plays chess and I relaxed
walk along the edge of the house, turn left during the day.
at the corner and there’s housekeeper Ana
Luisa washing Roger’s clothes at the outside
sink on the built-in cement washboard.
Spare room
Roger bicycled
or I did my physio exercises.
Front entrance
You can see
the other half of the duplex also.
Bedroom
With air conditioner,
window fan and floor fan (and
TV) - ready for all weathers!
Karen relaxing
Getting ready
for cookies, bottled water, and chat.
Ana Luisa and son, Javier
Grocery store -
upstairs,
shopping for the school uniform.
Ana Patricia a chat.
Dropped by for
Grocery store -
downstairs,
shopping for groceries
Frank -
Shining my shoes at
Roger’s house instead of in the
park where he usually works.
Back at Roger’s house
Sunset kitchen.
Outside Roger’s
Little Corn Island
The trip
In the Carribean, settled by English pirates, so more English-speaking than Spanish
Several hours in the plane, a 30” boat ride, then a 30” walk through the jungle to the other coast.
Ours
Our bungalow
Roger gallantly slept in the loft; empty water bottles formed a transom above our door.
Just outside our front door
- The Carribean
Lodge restaurant
Open on 2 sides - Great food!
Ometepe
On the side of an old volcano, in the middle of Lake Nicaragua
Our cabin and the lodge restaurant
More great food at this restaurant! The resort is completely
self-sustaining - solar electricity, rain water collection and gray water re-use, composting and garbage
recycling. The property (including a farm using sustainable methods of farming) is owned by Dutch partners
who are trying to be a good role model for local farmers and for other resort owners.
The other volcano
on
the island, always crowned with
a cloud.
Banana palm tree
We could pluck a banana to eat.
The bananas were about 5’ from
the ground.
Lodge swimming pool
With the island’s other volcano in
the background.
Costa Rica
After Ometepe, we took a bus from Rivas, 8 hours into Costa Rica to see Roger’s good friend.
Our bus -
TransNica buses go from a couple
hours inside Honduras to deep inside Costa Rica,
crossing Nicaragua from top to bottom.
San José, Costa Rica -
Yanitza -
Moved from Ocotal for a better job a
few years ago, cured of leukemia with a bone
marrow transplant last year.
The view from our hotel room.
Side trips
Driven by Carlos in his immaculate, air-conditioned, 2002 Corolla taxi
Masaya volcano -
Must park facing exit, stay only 20”!
There are as many
as 50 volcanoes in
Nicaragua, with 7
being still active.
It’s part of the
Pacific Ring of Fire.
Granada -
León -
Second oldest city in Nicaragua and a favorite of American retirees
Oldest city in Nicaragua
Town Square
Restored
building
Basilica Catedral de la Asunción
1847
Catarina Mirador - Restaurants, crater lake, and souvenirs
San Juan del Sur
Resort town with many Americans, on the Pacific ocean
Lunch - El Gato Negro
A restaurant/book exchange
We apologize for any delay in the food service. Our kitchen is a converted
laundry closet. It was never our intention to become a restaurant, and as
such we are doing the best we can in 18 sq. ft. of working space.
Managua Hotel
Tiles!
Right across the street (the Pan-American Highway) from the airport. Very handy!
Roads and sidewalks are usually tile, either ceramic or concrete blocks - made off-site and placed by hand.
Flowering trees
The highway was full of flowering trees of various kinds, usually either pink or yellow.
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Back to ice and snow!
The day after my return:
Montreal: -2 C (28 F) and a few flurries
Managua, Nicaragua: 33 C (91 F) and sunny
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