Is there good rum in heaven?

Do you think there is good rum in heaven? In all our travels we found the best in Nicaragua so far. It's even better than Cuban Havana Club and its called Flora de Cana. Why am I talking about rum and Nicaragua now? Must be because we are having an afternoon drink as I write this blog note!

We left San Jose for the OSA peninsula in the south west corner on CR. We took the express bus. In this case "express" meant bus rally or the bus Indy 500. Unbelievable! We travelled on top of the spine of a mountain range that runs north-south in the middle of CR, back into the cloud forest. There was a rosary hanging from the drivers mirror which was located right in front of the metal bar running vertically in the middle of the big bus windows. I started watching the rosary as it became a kind of barometer or plumb line. It was an 8 hour ride and for at least half that the rosary was at 45 degrees on either side of the metal bar. At one point it was at 50 degrees. It was a very winding road. After awhile I started to appreciate the drivers skill at handling a 50 passenger bus through this mountain pass.

At one point, after coming off the mountain road, we went thought kilometers of pineapple fields. Delmonte signs all over the place. It felt like the motherload. At that point I felt like I was on the "pineapple express". There were Super B Trains of pineapple trucks on the road. If you stuck your hand out the bus window you could have touched them. After awhile I just started looking out the window.

We are now safe and sound in Porte Jimenez. I think we found paradise. It is very hot as we are getting close to the equator now. The ocean is warm, about room temperature and calm. There are flowers, toucans, scarlet macaws, and parrots flying around town all day long. We just lay in our hammocks watching the birds fly by. It really is paradise. And, there are not a lot of tourists here, as it is not that easy to get here.

Yesterday I talked Sheila in to going on another fishing journey. We were out for the whole day and I caught my first rooster fish. I can now cross that of my list.

Canadians and monkeys fight over mangos

It's the start of the fruit season: mango, watermelon, passion fruit, papaya, and pineapple. They all taste considerably better when they all grown within a few kilometers, rather than half way around the world. The flavours are amazing.

I'm not sure whats more entertaining, the howler monkeys in the trees eating mangos or the Canadians gone wild over fresh watermelon. Both are pretty messy! Don't stand under the mango tree when they are feeding as they drop the ones they don't like.

Boy it's hot - 35 C. The beach was nice, a couple of kilometers long, great for swimming and not very many people. By noon most people are off the beach and in their swimming pools because it's cooler. We lucked out with this place as it has a pool, a full kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a deck.

There was a group of howler monkeys across the street from us who started calling around 5 am. They are noisier than the roosters.

We discovered the newest thing if you want to invest into a condo. It's called "fractional ownership ". Not time sharing. They are quick to point this out, but really it's very similar. I guess they figured out most people who got sucked into the time sharing thing are not very happy. Anyways we go a free lunch, a bottle of wine, and three free nights in a nice resort in Mexico (if we go there on our own within the next year. Who knows) in return for their promotion for an hour and a half. And no we did not buy in. They figured out that we wouldn't sign on in the first 10 minutes as they first ask you how much you spent on our last three vacations. Let's see, Nicaragua cost us $40/day for both of us, before that we camped in Haines for $10 , and before that we camped in Angoon Alaska for free. They agreed that we weren't high rollers like many of the folks they take to.

Feb 18. Sheila and I are now in San Jose for a couple of nights, just to break up our bus ride from northern CR to the southern part of the country. Unfortunately we had to leave Catherine and John yesterday as they had other plans that involved repeating some of the things we did together with Johns mom when she arrives next week.

San Jose is a big city. McDonalds is big here. Literally, there is a big M in every two blocks. They are all two stories high and very busy. We like them because they have clean bathrooms. Theses are all good travel hints if your planning a trip.

Costa Rica random pictures

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Sloths Poop Once a Month

Most of our hikes have been guided by a local. English is their second language so sometimes things come out differently. The best one so far was the explanation of how many of the plants produce hard shelled seeds that are eaten by birds but because they are encased in a shell the seed passes through he bird via their droppings. In the words of our guide "the beerds pips the seed". He repeated himself several times. It was probably the bewildered look on our faces. There are a lot of fanatic birders here so now we refer to birders as beerders. There are also a lot of Germans here. Consequently, a lot of German beerders. You can pick them out as they all dress the same; matching two tone medium green colored, quick dry pants, shirt, and funny hats. They come to see "the nature".

The protection of the cloud forest in CR is thanks to the Quakers (and the German beerders) who left the USA years ago. Quakers are pacifists so they really don't belong in the US. When this area started to be developed for logging and farming they purchased large tracks of cloud forest in order to protect the forest. Five stars for the Quakers. They have no connection to the oats, at least I don't think so.

We also went on a guided night walk in the forest. We saw fire flies, armadillos, another pit viper, tarantula, serval very large and strange insects, a humming bird sleeping in it's nest, several forest mammals, and a sloth. Sloths are the hardest animals to see because the are high in the trees, sleep 18hrs a day, and appear as a big ball of fur. They become slightly more active at night. This one appeared to roll over onto it's other side and went back to sleep. Our guide told us they have an average of 900 parasite insects living on their fur. The insects probably think it's a dead animal. I guess it's because the sloth is a solidarity animal and therefore doesn't get groomed like monkeys. Anyways they don't look like the picture you see in the advertisement brochure. Heres a piece of Trivia. Sloths poop once an month.

We went on a self guided walk the next day and tried out some of the tricks our guides had taught us on how to survive in the forest, such as how to entice a tarantula out of it's burrow. The first hole we saw in the cut bank we shone our flashlights in and to our amazement there was a big female tarantula. You take a long thin stick and flicked it around in front of the monster spider to imitate an insect. It worked. We retreated quickly. Apparently they can jump up to two feet. We were pretty proud of our new found skill, but I'm pretty sure we won't be using it that often.

Feb12. We are now in Plays Coco on the west coast of Costa Rica. We are here for 6 days but it's the kind of place I could spend 6 months. Catherine found this amazing place to stay. It's a condo that they rent out by the week or month. It's just like home, except it's got a swimming pool! It's for sale for $150,000. So far this is by far the best place we have stayed in for the whole trip. It's got a full kitchen so we will be cooking most of our meals.

Random pictures from Nicaragua

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Oh my god we caught a tarpon

Feb 1 We spent most of the day on a walk through the jungle. This was a new experience for us. The jungle is hot and humid. We were in 4-6inches of sticky red clay mud the whole day. Besides the jaguar track we saw, and heard and/or saw numerous species of birds, ants (one is called a bullet ant because it you get bitten it feels like you were hit by a bullet), a vast varietmy of plants (including the walking tree and many medicinal species), turtles, howler monkeys, spider monkeys (John's favorite), a giant rodent, and both species of poison dart frogs (my favorite). They are both the size of your thumb nail and the have enough poison to kill you. One is red with blue legs (the blue jean frog) and the other is black with bright green lines running across is body.

The power went out in El Castillo around 5 yesterday afternoon and was still out when we left this morning. Apparently it can be off for several days at a time here. We are here for two more days so that means we don't eat meat until we leave as refrigeration is essential to prevent meat from rotting.

Our hotel is the second floor of a house. It has a balcony overlooking the street below Which makes it great for watching people. This place is a vibrant working Nicaraguan village. Everyone is busy from dawn to dusk. I'm watching a elderly man across the street making cinnamon sticks from chunks of wood. It's a process that involves tapping the bark with a piece of wood, shaving off strips, and drying them. Then he repeats the process a couple of hours later. He was doing it when we left this morning and he is still doing it 8 hours later. It looks like he has about 8 cups of dried cinnamon. On the floor beside him is about 15 cups of cocoa beans drying on a nylon sack.

Feb 2. Oh my god! We caught a tarpon. John was holding the lucky rod. We all have had one on but they are notorious for shaking it. But what a tarpon! They estimated the weight at 140lbs. We could have produced an incredible fishing movie, if only we had a movie camera. It came flying out of the water a half dozen times before heading for "the rapids". We ran the rapids while tied to this 140 pound river monster. Fortunately for us we all exited the rapids at the same time. We took on 5 gal of water in the 20 ft panga (boat). It took about an hour to wear the fish out. Unfortunately it was hooked to deep in the gills to release it, as this is a catch and release fisheries. It's a pretty serious thing when you kill one of these dinosaurs. You immediately go to the army station to report it. Actually they were waiting for us as the whole rodeo took place right in front of town, so it was common knowledge by the time we got to shore. Anyway, the army takes the fish and supposedly ratios it out to the local people. No one is suppose to profit. I got some pictures. It's gigantic !

We had a guide and a driver. I'm convinced they hadn't caught to many big fish as they went crazy when we hooked on to the fish. It was truly a rodeo. But somehow they managed to stay with the fish. I was sure their rod and reel wouldn't survive the battle as the drag on my reel stripped in the first 10 minutes of our morning fishing trip.

The same afternoon we left for San Carlos, at the start of the river, still in Nicaragua. The next morning we got up and took a ferry to Los Chiles, Costa Rica. Going from Nicaragua to Costa Rica is like going from one world to another. To make the point, Coming back to San Carlos we were in a 40 passenger river boat but there were at least 60 people on board. It's a 3 hour trip which we started with only one of the two outboard engines running. Some poor guy was trying to fix the second engine while we were motoring along. He was half sitting on the top of the outboard. I thought for sure he was going to left behind. All we would see is a head in the wake of the boat. I wouldn't bank on them stopping. Anyway, I deviate. Compare this to the boat we took to Costa Rica (CR). There were seats for 15 and we were the only four people on board. Everyone even had a life jacket.

Hers's another comparison. Just before leaving Nicaragua I made a bathroom stop at the ferry terminal. It's one of those deals were you pay a bathroom guard 5cents for your very own square of toilet paper, which you take with you into the cubical and lock the door. The bathroom guard is usually a young girl or an older women who sit all day on a chair handing out paper. Everything was cool until I tried to open the door and the door handle came off in my hand. So, the rest of the family are patiently waiting for me to return 4 blocks away as we needed to get through customs before the ferry left. I won't say that I panicked but I gave the door a good hip blast and the door flew open and I flew out of the terminal. I think it scared the guard. Again I diverged. So compare that to CR where the first bathroom break I had there were no fees, no bathroom guard, and no locked doors. The best part of the bathroom break, other than the obvious, is there was hot water in the tap and it was under pressure. In Nic. all the water is cold, if you have any water, and it is gravity fed. Don't you think it's a bit ironic that in the socialist country you have to pay to pee but in the capitalist country you pee for free.

Here's another comparison. In Nic fruit seemed in short supply and we didn't see any plantations. Across the river in CR there are field after field of pineapple, papaya, oranges, etc. There is fruit everywhere. Mind you, it's not as cheap in CR as in Nic. either.

I think the differences between the two counties is that Nic. was consumed by conflict and wars for years while CR abolished it's military decades ago. CR has focused on tourism, education, and agriculture.

CR has suffered from continual inflation and the fact their money was never devalued. It takes awhile to wrap your head the fact that the exchange rate is 500 CR dollars to 1 US. We went to the ATM and first withdrew 20,000 CRD and soon realized that wouldn't go far so we went back in line and withdrew another 100,000 CRD. Supper was 50,000 dollars?...

Thinking of you in Costa Rica. So far we have spent a couple of days recharging our selves and our batteries in CR. we decided to spoil ourselves by going to an amazing hot springs. It's actually a high end resort but you can get a day pass for people like us. There are 27 separate hot springs and a waterside. Some of the pools are so hot you could cook yourself if you stayed in too long. Then we went on another jungle walk and saw two pit vipers(poisonous snake). The guide almost step on one of them. And that is why you hire a guide! Will Smith and his son were in the process of filming a movie in the same area. Lots of trucks and people running around.

We are now in the "cloud forest". Matthew couldn't figure out why we would want to walk around in the clouds. He had me a bit worried but it wasn't like that. It's a very dense wet forest, and yes it's very close to the clouds. We saw a sloth, tarantula, quetzal (beautiful bird which symbolizes the CR cloud forest), many other bird species, and a forest that is reminds me of the west coast rain forest but different species of trees. One of the highlights was the humming birds that think John's red hat is the mother of all flowers. He had several close encounters (within 3 inches of his eyeballs) with a humming bird.

Hunting tarpon

We arrived in San Carlos at 5 am. Found our hotel, which we booked on line for $18/night, and had a nap. Or at least we tried. Turned out the saying that you get what you paid for applies here. The place was just big enough for two single beds and a walk way between them to the bathroom, and no air circulation. Hot and claustrophobic. Had planned to stay two nights but we were able to get all the information we needed in one day, thanks to Catherine's excellent Spanish. The next day we got on a river boat, the equivalent of the chicken bus, and motored to El Castillo. Where the tarpon live.

We found our hotel and headed for a restaurant on the river for a cold beer. Our mission was to find a local fisherman who would take us tarpon fishing, while avoiding the lodges as they charge way more than our budget would appreciate. Within about 15 minutes Catherine was talking to a couple of young guys who just docked their dug out canoe. They had small fish in the canoe. She thought here is a good place to start. Before I could finish half my beer I found myself out in the middle of the river, in rapids with these two guys in their canoe. As soon as they learnt I like to fish they thought it would be fun to take me out with them and watch them fish their way. One would drive the boat (15hp) motor while the other threw out a circular weighted net tied to his wrist. A half hour later he had caught 6 fish, sold 5 to a local on shore, and they gave me the other fish for supper. The restaurant BBQ'd it and I got to finish my beer. I knew this was going to be a place I would like. Turns out the two guys knew someone who would take us tarpon fishing. Perfecto. Six am the next morning we are on the river trolling for tarpon. Within an hour my dream came true, I hooked on to a big fish. After 5 minutes of ripping out line it exploded out of the water, just like on TV. It shook the hook and back to the river. A collective sigh from everyone. If you have never seen a tarpon explode out of the water, it's like a miniature whale breaching except it goes straight up. By law all the fish caught here are released. So I guess that's what happened. It would have been nice to get a picture, but regardless it was exciting. It took awhile before my heart rate settled down. In about another hour Johns reel was screaming. This one never broke the surface so we never got to see it. The guide estimated mine was about 120 lbs. We spent 11 hours in the boat and had a couple more hits. It has been an exciting 24 hours so far in El Castillo.

Our room is another story, or should I say adventure. It was another $18 room. The problem with this room was not the lack of air circulation but the excess air flow through the room due to the construction technique of not completely joining the wall to the roof, or parts of the floor to the walls. The walls are built of 1 x 4's. You can hear the person snoring in the adjoining room, about 12 inches from your head. Another reason why ear plugs are essential part of your travel gear.

We arrived in San Carlos at 5 am. Found our hotel, which we booked on line for $18/night, and had a nap. Or at least we tried. Turned out the saying that you get what you paid for applies here. The place was just big enough for two single beds and a walk way between them to the bathroom, and no air circulation. Hot and claustrophobic. Had planned to stay two nights but we were able to get all the information we needed in one day, thanks to Catherine's excellent Spanish. The next day we got on a river boat, the equivalent of the chicken bus, and motored to El Castillo. Where the tarpon live.

We found our hotel and headed for a restaurant on the river for a cold beer. Our mission was to find a local fisherman who would take us tarpon fishing, while avoiding the lodges as they charge way more than our budget would appreciate. Within about 15 minutes Catherine was talking to a couple of young guys who just docked their dug out canoe. They had small fish in the canoe. She thought here is a good place to start. Before I could finish half my beer I found myself out in the middle of the river, in rapids with these two guys in their canoe. As soon as they learnt I like to fish they thought it would be fun to take me out with them and watch them fish their way. One would drive the boat (15hp) motor while the other threw out a circular weighted net tied to his wrist. A half hour later he had caught 6 fish, sold 5 to a local on shore, and they gave me the other fish for supper. The restaurant BBQ'd it and I got to finish my beer. I knew this was going to be a place I would like. Turns out the two guys knew someone who would take us tarpon fishing. Perfecto. Six am the next morning we are on the river trolling for tarpon. Within an hour my dream came true, I hooked on to a big fish. After 5 minutes of ripping out line it exploded out of the water, just like on TV. It shook the hook and back to the river. A collective sigh from everyone. If you have never seen a tarpon explode out of the water, it's like a miniature whale breaching except it goes straight up. By law all the fish caught here are released. So I guess that's what happened. It would have been nice to get a picture, but regardless it was exciting. It took awhile before my heart rate settled down. In about another hour Johns reel was screaming. This one never broke the surface so we never got to see it. The guide estimated mine was about 120 lbs. We spent 11 hours in the boat and had a couple more hits. It has been an exciting 24 hours so far in El Castillo.

Our room is another story, or should I say adventure. It was another $18 room. The problem with this room was not the lack of air circulation but the excess air flow through the room due to the construction technique of not completely joining the wall to the roof, or parts of the floor to the walls. The walls are built of 1 x 4's. You can hear the person snoring in the adjoining room, about 12 inches from your head. Another reason why ear plugs are essential part of your travel gear.

Ferry ride to Ometeppe Island

January 23. We caught the ferry to the island of Ometepe which is half way between Granada and our destination, the Rio San Juan river. I arranged for someone to meet us at the ferry port (that's pretty generous as all I could see is a tin roof shack and a couple of beat up vans). One of those vans was ours. We had read that it would take about an hour to go 10 km. I thought how is that possible? Well it is! So image arriving, in the dark, in a place you have never been. As far as I could see there was no road, just a path through the trees where the trees had been removed. The holes in the "road" were as big as the van. I'm not sure why they only had 12 inch tires on the van, but it probably contributed to the missing shocks, springs and fenders on the van. After 10 minutes of dodging pot holes and other vehicles, there was a speed bump!!! Don't ask. We eventually got to a better road, with more speed bumps and lots of people on bikes. Now remember, it's dark, the people are dark, the cloths they wear are dark, and they have no lights in front or back of their bikes. The on coming vehicles all seemed to only have one headlight which they left on high beam to compensate. Now the bicycle people vanished. I started thinking about the poor lady we ran over in Cuba and braced myself for the "thud". Fortunately it never happened. Then there was a new van with flashing blue, red, and green lights that passed us. I thought at first it was some sort of ambulance, but no, just a happy van. We got to our casa, had a great supper and went to bed. There was an abundance of ants scurrying across the floor. Except for Catherine's bed they stayed down on the floor all night and didn't bother me. You know you are traveling with a seasoned traveler when she took it all in stride, crawled into her sleeping bag, put in ear plugs so they wouldn't crawl in, tucked her head inside and went to sleep. We were in a dorm the first night ($8/person) before there was room in the inn.

We moved to a room in the Inn today. Nice room. Although I got a real surprise when I lifted the toilet seat and a little frog leaped out at me. I'm not sure who was most startled but I know I'm sure glad I have a good heart. Or at least I did! Turns out the we're small frogs in the shower as well. After a while you don't really notice them. These were dull colored frogs. It's the brightly colored ones that are poisonous. We hope to see those in the jungle over the next week.

One of the attractions on the Island is a natural spring which runs close to one of the two volcanoes which are the well known landmarks. We spent part of the afternoon at the these natural springs which were the perfect temp for swimming. The only hazard was a parrot having lunch in a tree overhanging the pool.

January 26. We took the night ferry from Ometepe to San Carlos, at the head of the Rio San Juan River. The ferry only goes twice a week, but a great trip, even though we got about two hours sleep. The trick was to get on before the crowd so you could rent one on the chairs for $1. We sent John on that mission. He was successful. The best spot was on the upper deck which is open on the sides and back. If you don't get a chair, you have to either sit on the steel floor, or go inside with the crowd and share a bench with a half dozen other travelers. Oh yes, the entertainment was a 1950's B movie of cowboys and Indians dubbed in English. We waited for a half hour while they hand loaded the cargo deck with bananas. After the workers finished loading, they brought on bundles of banana leaves for beds. A family, with a little girl, and some of the workers bedded down for the night. John and I enjoyed a cigar while watching the activities.

Granada

January 20. After a very long day we arrived in Managua. Bizarre, but we had to fly over Cuba twice to get here. From PV to Miami then we turned around and flew back to Nicaragua. It' just one of those traveling things i.e. it was cheaper to fly indirect than to go from PV to Managua. After taking a taxi to Granada we met up with Catherine and John. We are now in the land of hot and humid, but no hot water in the rooms. Nothing like a brisk shower to wake you up just before jumping into bed.

Granada reminds us of Cuba, minus all the neat cars. The people are kind, the cigars and rum are superb, especially when enjoyed from a beautifully handcrafted rocking chair. The casas are hidden behind 10 foot wooden doors, the inside of the casa's are beautiful, clean and usually have gardens with flowers and trees growing in an open court yard. Yes, Sheila is back to her old habit of smoking cigars. We could blame it on her recent retirement except that she started smoking in Cuba two years ago.

Like Cuba, the Russians left their mark in Nicaragua. The most obvious is a dry docked hydrofoil on the fresh water lake(the largest in central America) next to Granada. The Russians could have been testing them out here in preparation to invade the US, or to defend their interests here (I made that up as I really don't have any idea). I did google the boat and it is true they cruised at close to 60 km/hr. Now it is rusting away, like the Russian empire.

Tonight there are a lot of fire crackers going off in the streets. Something to do with chasing away the bad spirits. Whatever it takes is fine with me!

We have spent the last two days making arrangements to travel to a remote part of the Nicaraguan jungle. I should clarify that Catherine has done most of the work. Such a great organizer! It helps that she speaks Spanish fluently. The process is made easier with Skype and Wi Fi.

We took a boat tour of a complex of small islands close to Granada. Saw lots of cool birds but the most unique island was called monkey island. I was pretty excited to see the island, maybe even walk around it and see monkeys in their natural habitat. What they don't tell you is that the island is about the size of a semi truck habituated with 4 monkeys and 3 mango trees. That's it. Having said that, the monkeys are pretty entertaining as they try to get as close to the boat as possible. Obviously they have been fed by the tourists. One on the monkeys jumps onto the boats and try's to get whatever it can put it's paws on. I'm pretty sure it's trying to escape from the island. Maybe it was voted off the island by the other monkeys. They were put there by some deranged veterinarian 4 years ago, just to see if they would survive. People never seem to learn. After getting back, our host at the casa took us up to an ancient crater for rum. Eight of us jumped in the back of a pickup for the 20 minute ride. No seat belts! Felt pretty weird.