My friend Debbie, who is the Interim Director of Friends School (until June) needed to leave Costa Rica for 72 hours this past week in order to renew her visitor's visa. Apparently this is type of renewal is done all the time if one lives here, or at least resides in the country part time. So, folks seem to head to Panama or Nicaragua for a long weekend.
I decided to go along and see what the Republic of Nicaragua is like. After all the warfare I wanted to see what or why there was such long term conflict and, of course, to see what the country is like. I didn't realize it is the biggest of the Central American countries and it has two huge lakes and some smaller ones in calderas and a ton of volcanoes, some active, others not . Plus there are all kinds of resources - most of which seem to be heavily exploited as is most of the country. What struck me more than anything is that all the trees are cut down. There are trees to be sure but I didn't see any forests and lush agricultural lands as one does in Costa Rica. Needless to say without the trees the land is dry, dry, dry and windy. It doesn't begin to compare to the richness and diversity of the land I am used to living here in CR. The no tree bit plus the plastic bags reminded me of Africa. In fact, it turns out that Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Central America and has one of the lowest standards of living. For example, education is only mandated and government sponsored until Grade 6 (compared to Grade 11 in Costa Rica) . After that parents have to pay. Most kids don't go beyond Grade 6 and many kids never go to school. Hardly a way to improve the future of a country. One wonders what they fought over....and how life has improved. Oh, one more thing. Poor dentistry. Lots of people with missing teeth.
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| The is one of the buses |
However, Nicaragua is the hot new tourist destination. The weather is good (hot) and it is cheap food and living so lots of expats are moving there. The hotels and B&B's are also inexpensive, at least 50% less than Costa Rica. New development is happening so who knows. The roads are definitely better in Nicaragua, no doubt foreign investment and I suspect the government wants good roads to move the military around the country.
We stayed at this amazing newly built Eco Lodge about 8 klms outside Granada. The young couple who built it did their homework. Solar energy, rainwater capture, greywater for their fruit trees. Livestock and a huge vegie garden during the wet season. He was French and an amazing cook. She baked!!! They took very good care of us. It felt like staying with family after one day.
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| This is the living dining area. The hotel has 3 rooms |
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| The kitchen |
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| The bedroom, it felt like being in a treehouse |
The city of Granada is a lovely Spanish Colonial city. In many ways it reminds me of Oaxaca. The tourist area has been cleaned up and the buildings are painted bright colours. It is all great until you look on the side streets which are not paved and probably don't have indoor plumbing and only the barest of electricity. Oh well, downtown was pretty and we were there on a Sunday, International Women's Day and celebrations were happening.
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| The bandstand in the Central Square |
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| One of the many old churches |
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| Dancin In the Streets for Women |
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| The Central Square |
One interesting and good thing is that there has been a lot of work done recently on their cultural heritage. We visited a ceramic museum and saw exhibits of work done by the U. of Calgary anthropology department. Interesting stuff but it can wait for another day.
akkkkk. just saw a scorpion in my house. Got my broom out and swept it out the door. Freaked me out. They are nasty buggers. It is my first in this house. Not sure if I will be able to sleep now. Yuck.
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