GRANADA

On our way home we spent our last few days in Granada, Latin America's oldest colonial city, started in the early 1500's. As you can see from the photos, it has some wonderful old world architecture and there has been strong support to preserve the beautiful old buildings. We were fortunate enough to spend part of our time there "house sitting" a grand old Spanish colonial home with a traditional central courtyard & garden....Thank you Rob!

When we arrived in Granada we discovered the city was hosting an international Poetry Conference so things were jumping. There was a craft fair in the central plaza, street entertainment, poetry readings and a great parade one evening down the main calle to the lake. We were quite impressed by the colorful costumes and parade characters. We had a wonderful time wondering the streets, museums, churches and central market. There were many good places to eat but our favorite was The Garden Cafe, run by our friends Damien & Xiomara. Next time you are in Granada check it out! You won't be disappointed.

We took a bus from Granada to San Jose, Costa Rica where we caught our flight home. Our journey was more rewarding than we could have imagined. We made so many wonderful new friends whom we will miss but hope our paths will cross again soon. Since our return, the biggest culture shock has been sticker shock! Gone are the days of living on $800 a month, but the power hasn't gone off and we've had water every day since we've been back......even hot water.

Hasta luego & aloha!

P&G

P.S. We will continue to post news worthy events and our mis-adventures as they occur. Stay tuned for wedding #1.

LIVING IN LUXURY AT BUCK'S HOUSE

We were very fortunate to spend our last 10 days in Nicarugua at Buck's oceanfront home on the beach at Gavilon. Buck was gracious enough to open his home to us when our current living situation became uncomfortable. The story goes....

About 3 weeks before our scheduled departure from Nicaragua we had been having very strong winds. The power went out and on the second day of no power we had no water. It was so windy we couldn't walk on the beach without getting sand blasted and our house was filled with a fine dust that seeped in everywhere. We were without water and power for a week and thank goodness for the folks at Hotel Toro Surf next door. They have their own generator and well and were kind enough to let us use their freezer and get buckets of water to flush our toilet. We kept cool and clean by swimming in their pool & using their outdoor shower. To make matters worse, the property owner behind us decided to do some burning. With the help of the strong winds, the hillside behind us was soon on fire and our house was filled with smoke, ash and dust. The final straw however, was yet to come. Because we were unable to go to the beach (too windy) and could not sit outside on our lanai (too dusty, windy & smokey), we were sitting on our bed reading in the mid-morning when suddenly there was a very loud noise and almost immediately 2 large pieces of the roof came smashing down onto the bed. What had happened was a strong gust had pulled a large piece of the eve off the roof, thrown it up in the air and it came crashing through the roof above the bed. Luckily, Grey had just gotten up and gone out on the lanai, because one on the pieces landed on his pillow where his head had just been! The 2 pieces of sharp roof tile landed less than 12 inches from where Pam was sitting on the bed. She jumped up and said "we're outta here!"

That was when we contacted Buck. We had only met him once a few weeks previously but he was so gracious to welcome 2 almost strangers into his home. Over the next 10 days we spent many hours enjoying each others company. Our favorite time was sitting out on the deck stargazing and eating hot chocolate chip cookies. Anyway, we felt blessed by Buck's wonderful hospitality and hope to be able to reciprocate someday.

These photos are of Buck's home "Casa Cook," Gavilon beach and his friend Tom's pool next door. The "before" photo was what the pool looked like after no electricity for over a week. Buck & Grey worked for several days to bring it back to the "after" condition. "Casa Cook" is available for vacation rental. Go to: http://www.casalachabola.com/La_Chabola/Visit.html

LAST DAYS AT POPOYO

These are scenes from our last few days on the beach in Popoyo. The monkey and parrots live at a restaurant on the river at the south end of the beach. It's a great outdoor spot to have a cold beer after surfing. As you can see, some of the outside tables are collapsing into the river due to extremely high tides. Our stay in Popoyo turned out to be rewarding in many ways. Life was simple and stress free, except when we had no water & power. Our diet was limited but health helping us to shed many unwanted pounds. We will miss our new friends in Nicaragua.

EARTHSHIP - ROY & LINDA'S CASA

Here's an inside look at a unique house built by our friends Roy & Linda, who have made Nicaragua their permanent home. It is constructed mostly of recycled tires, glass bottles, aluminum cans and adobe. They have done the whole project without having water to their property. Imagine carrying 5 gallon buckets of water up their driveway!! And they have only had power for less than a year. Our hats are off to their perseverance!! For more of their story please visit their website:

http://www.casalachabola.com/La_Chabola/Home.html

They have a property management company specializing in luxury beachfront vacation rentals. You can get more information on their website. Click on the "Visit" link on their homepage.

Roy is an avid surfer, diver/fisherman, chef and we have been lucky enough to share in some of his bounty. Linda is quickly becoming an accomplished baker, webmaster and tour guide. They are great folks and we enjoyed our time together and hope our paths will cross again soon.

HOUSES & HUTS

On one of our morning walks down the beach we decided to take the camera and photograph the beachfront properties along Guasacate Beach. As you can see, they run the gamut from shacks to mansions. Most of the nicer homes are vacation homes, some of which are vacation rentals. There a a few hotels and the rest are just basic shelter for the local folks.

**don't forget to click on any image to enlarge and then click on "slideshow" on the right side of the page to get full screen photos

FROGS, RAINBOWS & SURF SANCTUARY

Our first house guests arrived acouple weeks ago and have taken up residence in our bathroom. Aren't they cute little critters? Haven't been able to figure out how they are getting in so we just use the "catch and release" method to avoid stepping on them in the middle of the night.

The rainbow shots were taken off our lanai a few days ago. All of our weather blows in from the Caribbean side, east to west. This time of year there is a strong wind coming from that direction most of the time so it keeps our casa comfortable without air conditioning.

A few weeks ago Anthony, our rental agent, took us on a day trip a few miles south to one of the local surf camps. These are the mainstay of the local economy here with gringos coming from all over the world to experience a Nicaraguan surf holiday. Most of the visitors are single 20 "somethings" and usually stay about a week. Usually everything is included, housing, meals & transportation to the various surf spots. Here are some photos of "Surf Sanctuary." They not only run a surf camp but also sell lots and house packages for those interested in ownership. We had a relaxing afternoon with the owners Tony, Nancy & their family and friends. They served us a delicious lunch, fresh fish they had caught the day before.

The last beach photos are of Rancho Santana, a highend development close to Surf Sanctuary. We haven't been there yet but are planning to visit next month and check things out.

SHELL COLLECTION

One of our new found pastimes is collecting shells. We usually take 2 long walks on the beach everyday and can't walk by a pretty shell. These photos are just a smattering of our extensive collection. We are clueless about proper nomenclature and have selected our own names to identify them, a very unscientific method. Yesterday we decided we couldn't take them all home with us so we started sorting and trying it eliminate some of the "more abused subjects." And everyday when we head out to the beach we say to each other, "now let's be very selective and only pickup the perfect shells." But of course we still come home with a bag of potenial keepers each.