Nicaragua by land

Hello friends,

I am very late in posting this event which has already occurred over two weeks ago but the lack of internet opportunities and time and must I admit, a little blasé attitude on my part made it impossible.
Before leaving the northern part of Costa Rica, I arranged a two day trip to Granada, Nicaragua. This excursion is by far my favorite land adventure since we started this journey in October of 2013. Enjoy the pictures.

Wednesday morning 6 am I am very excited about the day.  In the distance I see this tall handsome man walking  towards us. We meet our tour guide Leslie Sanchez from Tropical Comfort Tours, bright eyed, wide smile, colorful Columbia shirt, his walk is eager to meet us. Introductions are made, luggage loaded, Skippers and First Mates take a seat in the very comfortable Ford Expedetion. 

Meet Leslie from Tropical Comfort Tours, this 38 yr old Costa Rican is simply exceptional.  This is someone who knows and understands the business of tourism, knowledgeable, nature loving, very alert and charismatic, he takes care of every detail and shares his expanded knowledge on both countries. If the answer to a question escapes him he immediately googles or calls someone for an express solution.  Usually the trip into Nicaragua is one day but Kay and I decided we wanted an overnight in Granada to slow down time and enjoy everything along the way. When I contacted Leslie it was already 3 pm and I informed him that we wanted to go to Nicaragua the next day. Pleased about his YES attitude I was delighted to hear that  he would do the tour himself because the short notice did not leave much time to dispatch, prepare and make arrangements ahead of time. I had a feeling this was a very good thing! The only condition was that we send copies of our passports before 5 pm. Done.

Exiting the parking lot of the marina, Leslie spots this bird having breakfast deep inside a tree.  Nor sure but I think this may be a juvenile Caracara.

                                                                                       

 Caracara, meat in beak.

            An improvised stop; Leslie wants to show us where Costa Rica ends and Nicaragua
 begins since we came by seaway.

Soon after we see several Caracara falcons on the road.  Remember that Bill and Kay rubbed the neck of a caged caracara in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Leslie and his driver were willing to slow down every time we wanted to take a picture.

Looking at the border Nica/Tica.  Beyond the dark 

area is Nicaragua.

Flower of Poro Poro a common deciduous tree, a national
Costa Rican tree with soft bark used
for twine and showy yellow blossoms
said to be medicinal in alleviating swelling

It is best to drive to the border, leave the Costa Rica vehicle in Costa Rica, walk to the border Post to have our passports stamped and walk into Nicaragua where another chauffeur and van with Nica plates waits for us.  I suppose it is a matter of not standing out in the cities. It was strange to walk from one country into the next.

Checking out of the country, Leslie hands our passports to the official. He takes care of every detail, I had never traveled this way before where all I have to do is stand, sit, smile and take pictures.  No stress!  Pura Vida !

                                              No gate, no agent behind a window, no green or red light, just
                                          two officials on the road not paying much attention to our stepping over into their country. 

So little stress that in fact Skippers feel they will come to life only when action is required. Kay and I in the front seat (behind driver and guide) are enjoying the country side, the faces, the fields, the differences between countries.

 On to the city of Rivas, this is where our chauffeur is from.  Leslie had arranged a breakfast stop in Rivas, a city not touristy at all so we felt the stare of many.  I was surprised how many citizens still commute and go about their business by horse-drawn carts. I felt as if I approved of this mode of transportation, every driver and horse team would get a stare from me, I loved watching their relax demeanor perhaps fostered by the inability to speed or pass.

After breakfast, a pleasant surprise, Leslie signals three taxis to approach the restaurants.  While the chauffeur stays with the van for security, we hop on these two passenger tricycles/taxis for a tour of the city.  Leslie makes his driver sit on the passenger bench while he pedals happy to be exercising, his passenger however displayed an uncomfortable but funny smile when ogled by his peers.

The next stop was in San Juan de Oriente for a pottery class.  As soon as the door of the van opens up two little girls move in in front of us, the one on the left named Laudia addresses us in English: "Hello, how are you?  What is your name? Welcome to Nicaragua".  We look to Leslie and the chauffeur who seemed to be amazed and surprised at their english. Don shakes her hand and says his name is Don and asks them a question that I now cannot remember but she answers: " Hello how are you - What is your name, - Welcome to Nicaragua".  All of us started laughing realizing the ploy that had started with the purest of child charming tourist followed by: "One dollar, One dollar, One dollar".  Leslie warned us that we would witness a lot of begging, he tells the girls that we have to go inside now and we say good bye. This practice of giving money should not be encouraged he tells us, they looked well cared for so we comply with the advice.


Inside we meet this nice family man who carries the tradition of his ancestors. Him and his family
make all shapes and size of pottery according to ancient

techniques employing only natural elements;  from harvesting the clay from the earth, to stomping it like grapes, to shaping, glazing with color giving stones or plants from nature (nothing artificial), to firing, and polishing. I was absolutely amazed at their ability to explain in a very clear and slow spoken spanish all processes that lead to their shop where their livelihood translated into beautiful pieces of art.

Bill motions to me to look up behind the potter.  My exclamation interrupted the "class" and I took a picture of this beautiful bird listening in.  Leslie told me to email him the picture he would find out what type of bird it was.  And he did... this is a Rose-breasted Gros Beak.

Man made kilns - bricks are piled in front of opening to seal the kil

We all bought several pieces, let me show you my favorite

I have shaken the hand of the potter, his signature is at the bottom, it comes alive when I look at it, I see his entire household, his children and even the dog. I was happy to find out the color was a perfect match to the backsplash

To be continued...

Thinking of you...

Marina Papagayo, Costa Rica

SpringDay at rest after a fresh bath

Here in Papagayo, we are busy resting, SpringDay got a well deserved bath after her one hundred hour run. Resting at the pool, resting at the restaurant terrace, resting on the portuguese bridge and zooming in on Venus from end to end top to bottom and all over again. Two young captains tall and handsome in the pilot house preparing for departure; notice the seven computers on the flybridge. Watching the dockhands and deckhands liberating Venus was very entertaining, and so all this peaceful and relaxing resting took half the morning.  

Venus is pulling away

 Task du jour: there are many beaches to explore in Costa Rica and Skippers realize that their dinghies are too heavy for beaching. We need the very light kind that once you add foldable wheels to, it can be rolled up on shore and pushed back to sea effortlessly. Now we wish we didn’t have the big heavy Walker Bay that we have. They discover that the Apex factory is right here in Costa Rica, naturally we drive to their location, a three to four hour drive to meet with the owner and look at their product. Deal pending.  

We stopped for dinner and eat outside where a waist high chain link fence separates us from half a dozen iguanas.  We threw at them our shredded beets, lettuce and even fish leftovers, they really eat anything, but beets seemed to be their favorite.

 All and all, the drive inland was very disappointing, dry and unappealing roadsides, very uneven pavement, mixed with a lot of road construction and dangerous driving à la Costa Rican.  Not only do they not respect speed limits, they do not exercise any prudence when passing. Passing in curves, passing uphill, passing in any no passing zones! The sight of a possible head on collision happened more than once. Fourteen hours later this white knuckled back-seat passenger was happy to be back on SpringDay, totally exhausted and adrenaline depleted.  But the calm of the Marina and peaceful and quiet surroundings soon made me forget about the dreadful drive.   

Racoon hiding in rock wall of marina

View from my bedroom porthole - Love it!

It's really too bad more people don't stop here, it's a lovely marina and hotel and the personnel is at your beck and call. The closest town is 25 minutes away, seclusion may not be what everybody wants. You definitely need a car to go explore, 

The dechands even wash the ramp and handrails

Playa del Coco, Costa Rica

Foot cleaning/shower station

I need to mention how stringent the laws are about checking in and out of the country. We first approached Papagayo marina one week ago, but we could not moor without proper papers i.e. immigration stamped papers. We are told to go to Coco Beach  45 minutes away by boat where a pre-arranged Immigration appointment is made.  There, there is no dock and no dinghy dock, just a beach to land on. We anchored and got in Bill's dinghy, beached it without securing it (can't believe we did that) theft is very prevalent in Costa Rica. The immigration officer drove 70 km on a Friday night to accommodate us, our crew Mike and Louann could not leave the country without seeing the immigration officer.  Worried that the dinghy would get stolen, we send Tomas back to the beach just in time to see that the dinghy was about to float away and the surf was beating it and filling it with sand. The next day we discovered panga service from boat to shore and back for $25 a day.  They know how to land it carefully on the beach, timing it just right, stern facing the beach, hovering and waiting for the right wave, no one allowed to move, the "panguero" raises the motor just at the right time, the surf carries the panga, it touches ground, then an order to get out in 2 ft of water is given.  Immigration papers, Check!  Now we have to wait until Monday to have proper papers from the Port Captain... Check!

Papers in hand we return to Marina Papagayo.  Paperwork is handed to manager, copies of everything are made....Check! Oh wait something is missing he says, we need your exit papers from Coco Beach. What? Even though we were anchored for four nights, it was necessary to return to the port Captain and obtain exit papers. The manager offers Don and Bill to drive them to the Port Captain's office to get the "Zarpe" or departure document. In other words, in Costa Rica, you need papers every time the boat moves,  from marina to marina, from beach to beach. It's really strange. The immigration officer gets audited, the marina manager gets audited, immigration is so controlled that no one dares disobeying the laws.

Screwup. The immigration officer asks how long we intend to stay in Costa Rica. Two weeks. To which she says, all right I will put down one month, we think nothing of it. The plan was and is to continue on to Panama.  But by now, SpringDay and Ana Mae are feeling the effects of perhaps rushing too much and not spending enough time in one place, and that the east coast by June 1st seems more like an impossibility now. It is decided we are slowing down.  We inform the manager that we would like to leave our boats here in Papagayo while we return home for a few weeks. He says but you have to leave the country in 25 days, your papers say one month.  Then you have to be gone 90 days before you can reenter Costa Rica. Don and Bill tried to have it changed but to no avail. The manager mentions that there is a way to stay longer.  Buy a two year visa for the boat at 900$ !!
700$ for Ana Mae. Ours is more expensive because the boat is incorporated. In order to obtain said visa we need papers sealed by the state of Washington for february of 2014. Our Seattle lawyer is called and papers are fed ex'd in the next three days. So 900$ plus lawyer fee, plus 100$ per sealed document by the State of Washington. It never ends...  Had we been informed of the importance of choosing between one, two or three month stay maximum, all of this would have been avoided.

Paula, immigration officer, undoubtedly the sweetest officer the world has ever known. She could not have known that we were to change our minds about the length of our stay in Costa Rica, she felt so badly about the whole ordeal. 

We will have to put that behind us and relax...

Thinking of you...

Costa Rica

Happy Birthday to Mark!  Happy Birthday to Mark! Happy Birthday dear Mark, Happy birthday to u!

Mark

My gift to you for your birthday is this beautiful Costa Rican sunset, capture this feast for the eyes through my eyes. Close your eyes and imagine, you and Rita are sitting under the bamboo roofed bar-restaurant at Marina Papagayo, it’s 85 degrees with a breeze that brushes lightly over your skin, in exchange for Rita’s Happy Hour coupons she received upon checking in, the waiter delivers two Piña Coladas, creamy and sweet, frothy and frosty Yum! 

                        Your eyes are glued to the sun, it's going down fast, Rita is taking pictures.

You are looking over to the Marina, glancing at SpringDay, her bow glancing at VENUS, confused. Venus is 256 feet long I believe and is heading for La Paz, Mex. The only thing SpringDay has in common with Venus is that they each have their own dock. No one else on D dock but SpringDay.

You split an order of 'Mahi Mahi Catch and Chips' with Rita because you are watching your weight (truth be told it's more for Rita), oh so good, so hot you can't pick up a piece for a while, you dip fish and fries in a thick and creamy tartar sauce, the best you ever had. Another sip of Piña Colada to soothe the heat of the golden oil.

Across the bay a fire rages on the hill tops, this is Costa Rica's dry summer season.

The marina manager comes over to your table with his dog, and tells you he can arrange a round of golf in the afternoon with the engineers of Venus.  All of us beg you to win tomorrow the wishful wager that could promise a tour of Venus, we are all dreaming of course! Yes, so not only is there an Arnold Palmer signature golf course on the Peninsula Papagayo but also a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Now we tease Rita and beg her to let you have restful sleep tonight and abstain from romance. 

Tom, marina Manager Dan, and Bill golf course owner and developer in Portland

           To appear bigger for fear of intimidation, SpringDay wants her lights turned on.

           You go for a walk on E dock to gawk at Venus. Sorry about the blur, I will take another one tonight if Venus is still here.

You discuss with Don and try to answer his dozens of questions about how one engineers such ship, both of you try to make sense of the shape and style.  The late Steve Jobs always on the cutting edge of Apple innovation could not possibly have rendered a ship design other than cutting edge and slick as software.
This evening was absolutely perfect for you Mark, you had fun, you laughed with us, you saw what we saw, you heard what we heard, your back relaxed against the chair. A beautiful mind can travel extensively right where you are.

Good Night Mark, Happy Birthday and Sweet dreams tonight. Thank you Mark and Rita for being such awesome friends.  And oh by the way A.L.S. stands for Awesome Love Syndrome, Praise Him 

Unmistakably thinking about you….