The end of a great year

Hola a todos!

I hope everyone had a great new year. I had a wonderful time in Nicaragua over the holidays-- I met two sisters, Kathryn and Monica, who are around my age and from Canada, and we pretty much traveled together from Christmas to New Years. It made my holidays so much better to be in their great company! (oh and Kathryn and Monica if you read this you should send me your email again because I lost it already)

The super tranquilo vibe at the Laguna de Apoyo (where we were for Christmas) set the pace for the rest of the week. I became so relaxed there... laying in the sun, reading, napping in the hammoks, taking strolls through the woods, and swimming and kayaking in the lake. Plus the place I was staying had a Christmas package which included meals, so my food was all served to me and I didnt have to think or worry about anything... it was such a treat! After that I kicked into extreme chill mode, haha.

I split up from Kathryn and Monica after the Laguna de Apoyo and headed off to the isla de ometepe which is an amazing volcanic island in the middle of the lago de Nicaragua. The next day I ran into Kathryn and Monica again because we ended up at the same place and we traveled together the rest of the time. On the isla we stayed on this small organic farm called El Zapilote. It was started and now run by an Italian man his son. The farm is at the base of the volcano so the soil is very rich and they get good sun and moisture so everything is flourishing. They have a great variety of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and ornamentals spread over the land and then they kind of just blend right into the jungle. I took a tour with the older man Bruno and he explained the whole set up to me and we discussed the organic farming practices and the particulars of his land and I felt in my element, haha. Next to almost every plant there was a banana tree because I guess the banana supplies water to the plants around it. So they supplied free bananas all the time and I loved it because I could eat bananas all day long. I also really like the set up they had... there were only a few structures built on the land and they were spread and interspersed among the plants-- it created a very open and natural setting. Out of my whole trip this was probably one of my favorite places to stay, it has this unexplainable energy and feeling that you can only understand when you are there. Oh yeah, also they built a brick oven and one night the son Sabastiano went to town making everyone a true Italian personal pizza and all of the ingredients were from the farm (they even made the cheese) and it was delicious! We all sat around on rock steps and ate our pizza under the open sky to the glowing light of the oven.

One thing about Nicaragua is that they have an energy crisis, so the government shuts off the electricity at certain times every day. On the isla there was never electricity at night, so I would shower by moon light and go to bed early. In San Juan del Sur the electricity would cut off a lot at night as well, but it was even more noticeable since it is a city. Everyone would be hanging out with their music playing (there is always music coming out of almost every house and car) and their lights on and then suddenly everything would go silent and dark and you could hear this wave of despair from the people (aaaaagggh). Then when it came back, the music would commence once more and everyone would cheer-- it was pretty hilarious. A few times as well the water would shut off and I would have to take a bucket shower, but luckily I am a pro bucket showerer after having lived in Africa. Nicaragua is a wonderful country, but it is also the poorest in Central America, so you see a lot of poverty as well, which can be hard.

During the holidays people are setting off firecrackers all the time. Even though I got kind of used to it, every time there was a loud bang or explosion it would startle me... at times it really sounded like I was in the middle of a war zone or something. And on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve at midnight everyone set off their fireworks at the same time and you could get a show almost every way you turned. I especially liked the tradition on New Years Eve to light the giant dolls they made on fire because amidst all the cracklers there would be giant flames arising from the scorching dolls and they would slowly disintegrate down to the ground and I got a kick out of it-- it was their way of ending the last year and bringing in the new one.

Also one night when we were in San Juan del Sur we went on a night tour to the Refugio La Flor where the Olive Ridley sea turtles are protected (well suposedly protected even though you can still find turtle eggs in restaurants all over the place). Since it was almos the full moon and there was a lot of light the nests were hatching all over the place-- thousands of turtles come to this beach every year to lay their eggs. It was such an unbelievable sight as turtle heads would appear through the sand out of no where. They would climb on each other and wave their arms and fidget their way out. When they first got to the surface they would be still until they woke up more and got ready for their big journey. When they were all lying around you could really tell how they are so vulnerable to predators. After a while they would make their big treck out to the ocean. They were so small that even a foot print in the sand made it so they were crawling over mountains. Only about 1 in 10,000 turtles survives to adulthood. Humans are actually one of their biggest threats because they take the eggs to eat them and sometimes they kill the large turtles as well. The night I was there there was this drunk guy stumbling around picking up the babies and throwing them into the water and it was really sad to see. A new nest was hatching every few minutes and there were baby turtles all over the place (at one nest we saw about 60 babies come out)-- so you had to walk really slowly and be carefull not to step on them, but there were these 2 drunk guys in our tour as well who kept stumbling over the turtles and I would run up to them to make sure they were alright and help them out some if they needed to be reoriented in the right direction. We were their protectors for the night and it was an amazing feeling to be out on the beach under the moon light watching the babies begin their lives. Since the moon was so bright we didn´t get to see any large turtles because they get scared when they see their shadows, but I was still very pleased with the whole experience.

The last day of the year we spent hanging out on a spectacular beach that is north of San Juan del Sur. The sun was bright, the sand was white, and the water was cool and clear. It was the perfect way to finish off a great year. I can´t believe one year ago now I was living in Oregon working for my uncle (by the way happy birthday Uncle Chris), then I was living in California, and now I´m traveling through Central America... it has been quite an adventurous year for me, and who knows what the new year holds in store.

Now I am in Costa Rica-- I am really making my way down! And I am very excited because my family is coming here on the 5th and we are going to travel together for about a week and a half. I cant wait to be around some familiar faces... plus Ill get a break from some of these crazy hostels for a bit. So pretty soon I will be on a vacation from my vacation, haha, its just what I need right now! It is crazy for me to think that it has taken me over 4 months to get here and they will fly down in one day, but I guess that´s technology for you. Mom and Dad and Aubrey and Kelly I can´t wait to see you!!! I´ll be here waiting!

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