San Juan Del Sur, el veintisiete de deciembre, 2016

It was a great day visiting with Reinie, Barb, Russ, Karen and Roy.

Darlene, our house 'Mom' cooked-

a great supper-

of fried plantains, pintogallo, shrimp, lobster, pasta and lettuce salad.

We all enjoyed it-

Adele, A Jay, Roy, Karen, me, Mark, Michele and Brooklyn, Barb, Reinie, Orville, Russ and Jaclyn.

I almost missed the sunset from the top floor of Casa 72-

One of the main streets-

Looking forward to Isla Ometepe tomorrow!

Playa, playa, playa! El veintiseis de deciembre, 2016

It was a hot and humid day.  Orville and Brooklyn enjoyed the pool-

We spent part of the afternoon playing in the waves at Playa El Yankee-

Then at Playa Remanso-

where I had a great fish taco-

Along the way-

Looking forward to more fun in the sun tomorrow!

Feliz Navidad, 2016

Merry Christmas!  And how lucky am I to be in San Juan Del Sur!

Brooklyn and Jaclyn know the best way to keep cool-

December 25th is not a big 'turkey' day in Nicaragua.  The celebrations start around 3 am on the 24th with a parade in the streets with music and many bombas.  Then they go home, eat and go to bed mid morning.  That's it.  None of the fuss and hype and commercialism that we have to put up with.  

There was a ball game this afternoon-

It's loud with music and an announcer talking most of the time, just like at the Rush games.  Food and beer is available and the crowd is very into the game-

Some get into the beer a little too much-

He was lying in the main entrance and people stepped around him without batting an eye.  I guess this is Nicaraguan Normal.

We thought there was a cock fight this afternoon so went driving to find it but apparently it was yesterday.  

There was more music in the street so I went for a walk and found a band playing-

While kids beat the shit out of this poor piñata-

When the candies went flying, so did the kids-

I don't think I'll try this with my bike.  He's eating corn on the cob-

This is the outside of Casa 72.  The entry door is yellow.  The brown door slides open automatically to let vehicles in-

Supper was great: turkey, dressing, potatoes and gravy, carrots and salad-

Thanks soooo much to the Minish family for a great Christmas!

Tonight's quiet and rest time!  Feliz Navidad a todos!

Fun in the Sun, el veinticuatro de deciembre, 2016

We went for a drive and our first stop was at the bombas market-

It was hard to decide-

They have cows/bulls that are 'wired'-

And men that will be set on fire New Year's Eve-

We spent the afternoon at Playa Maderas-

which is very popular with surfers.  There is no undertow-

On our way home we stopped for a beer and listened to howler monkies in the jungle-

Brooklyn is so cute and good-

Mark made sure the bombas work-

While visiting one of many bars, we saw Mary passing by on a donkey-

followed by angels and musicians-

She met Joseph at the inn-

My 'check liver light' came on last night I'm pretty sure.  We had supper prepared but not cooked and for some reason, kept leaving the house and going downtown.  The town was rocking!  We met Jeff Morley, a journalist from Washington, D.C. who has written a few books-

He came home with us and we gave him a Saskatchewan point of view on climate change and politics.  Not sure what he thought about our visit!

Looking forward to a ball game tomorrow!

San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, el veintitrés de deciembre, 2016

I met Minishes at their hotel, then once the lost luggage arrived from Houston and the van was loaded, we were on our way.  Poor Mark woke up like this-

He was bit twice in the night by something.  His eye slightly opened by the afternoon but was closed again this morning!  I get quite a kick out of him because he reminds me so much of Nico #1.  He listens to the same music and talks the same.  It's kind of like déjà vu!  

First stop was to Pricemart, Nicaragua's Costco, for supplies and lunch.  Good old fried chicken!               

Orville and Michèle's friends from Rosetown, Reinie and Barb Janke live on a mountain top by Catarina-

They've been building their place for a few years-

It is gorgeous!  We left Janke's for San Juan Del Sur and arrived at Casa 72 in the dark, had a few drinks and went to bed.  I had my first hot shower in 8 weeks!

My bedroom-

The house is massive and very unique-

I'm sure 20+ people could sleep here.  There are numerous sitting areas-

The kitchen is very well equipped-

The dining room-

This morning we went zip lining-

A-Jay, Mark, Orville, Michèle and Adele.  

Jaclyn stayed home with Brooklyn who is 5 months.  She never cries or squawks and is so cute-

The view was great-

This is the second largest Jesus statue in the world.  The largest one is in Rio.  

There were 16 zip lines-

I was really nervous thinking about it but it wasn't scary at all and lots of fun!

Late afternoon we went for a walk and beer-

The church is in the town square-

And there are a couple nativity scenes too-

Looking forward to a great supper and another day in paradise tomorrow!