Sr. Carlos, the owner of El Encanto, is a polymath. He's come a long way from the farmboy in El Salvador. He moved to Vancouver BC, worked as a chef and carpenter -- there's an unusual combination that he would later combine to build a hospedaje. Then he learned programming, systems engineering, and graphic design. Moving to Washington state, he worked as a technical translator. Somewhere along the line he lived in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico for 9 years studying art. Seven years ago he bought this land and transformed it into a garden with attached hotel and restaurant. Ometepe reminds me of Pulau Pankor in Malaysia (which probably accounts for why we're here). The past is still clearly visible; tourism is nascent but not dominant. One difference: since Nicaragua's middle class is so small, there is ... read more

Walking on the (only) road around Ometepe's two volcanos, one encounters lots of livestock wandering freely: pigs, chickens, sheep. Sr. Carlos says they're not feral, they do have owners, people who give them shelter at night and sometimes feed them. A pig is like a savings account. You're saving him up for a special occasion. Your neighbors know he belongs to you. Billions live this way, of course, but we aren't used to it. I've been itching to rent a motorcycle since we got to Ometepe, wanting to re-live the great fun I've had before doing that in Malaysia and Thailand. People say motorcycles are dangerous, but that's mostly when they have to share the road with murderous cars and trucks. Here, you can wait an hour for one to come along. Sr. Carlos arranged for ... read more

Last night we paid extra for A/C, and we learned why that is not worthwhile. The electricity went off in the middle of the night for a few hours. I made another little mistake this morning: asking the lady at the front desk how much a taxi costs to Santa Cruz. She said she didn't know but would find out. I went to the room to take a shower. A few minutes later two men are knocking on our door, their minivan running on the street outside, ready to take us to Santa Cruz for $25 (with, presumably, a commission for the hotel). Melody has to answer the door (I'm dressing) which naturally makes her uncomfortable. And it's my fault. And in hindsight it's not a good price either. We got in and headed for Santa ... read more

Two orders of business today: deliver three suitcases of school supplies, toys, and clothes to La Esperanza Granada, and visit the house we rented for a week after our return from Ometepe. Then it's off to Ometepe by bus, taxi, and ferry. Victor and Katya, the hotel owners, are worried that the house is in a "bad neighborhood". I asked Pauline, the expat director of La Esperanza. She reassures me that bad guys don't attack families, and never use guns. We should just use common sense. After we visit the house, we're not worried. True, it's not a great neighborhood, but there are plenty of people around, and we can always take a taxi after dark. Pauline tells us they can't just deliver donated stuff to a school and expect it to reach the children. (If ... read more

Today is Andrea's 14th birthday, a fact we tried to keep in mind through the day. I told all the flight attendants. They gave her free snacks. I remember when ... oh, nevermind. It was an uneventful flight to Managua, landing after dark. After we cleared customs and walked out of the secure area, a crowd of people standing outside pressed their faces against the glass wall, looking for passengers. (The're not allowed inside, apparently.) One of them held a sign for "Hotel TerraSol" - our driver. Upon arriving in a new country on the first day of a trip, an early dramatic moment always comes when you see whether the airport ATM will stake us to some local currency. It did. With 8,000 Cordobas in our pockets we piled in his minivan for the ~1 ... read more