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.

BEASTS OF BURDEN

These are common scenes in our neighborhood. Most folks here can’t afford gas let alone a truck. Have grass? Get ox. We now understand the term- strong as an ox. Amazing how much these beasts can move.

It’s about a 20 minute walk from our beach cottage to the real estate office where we can get on the web. About twice a week we trek up there to make these posts and check our email. Very Sad when we don’t get any… So keep your comments coming…good or bad. Hasta luego, The Podos

ASTILLERO

Astillero is a fishing village just north of us.

Our friends Rose and Joel showed up last week and stayed next door at the Toro Hotel. They treated us with a day trip up the coast to the sleepy fishing pueblo of Astillero. We hiked around the point at the north end of the bay there to catch some surf but alas, the tide wasn’t right. So Lance’s Left will have to wait for another day. On our way back to Popoyo we stopped at a secluded nature lodge called Punta Teonoste. Place reminded us of Kona Village. South Pacific open Fale’ style with separate beach cottages. Awesome very private secluded white sand beach. A little spendy for this area (cottages start at $ 193.00 a nite). So we just had a drink at the bar and traveled on.

SLATE ROCK WALK

You guessed it, more stone!! These shots might give you a perspective of how massive this chunk of rock really is. As you can see we are having a good time.