Beach time

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Hi all,
This system was not working for a while so we did not bother adding any entries, so this is a bit of a catch up message. After Klaus finished his classes, we did a day tour in Granada that was memorable. In the morning we travelled for 45 minutes in the back of a landrover along what was supposed to be a road, but in actual fact seemed more like a dry river bed to me, until we arrived at the canopy tour in the heart of a large coffee plantation. The coffee there is all shade grown and the total crop is sold to Starbucks. We got out of the truck, had a fortifying strong cup of coffee and got our gear on which consisted of a very elaborate harness and helmet. Then we climbed the ladder to a tiny platform encircling a huge (and I do mean huge, both wide and tall) tree. From there the idea was to be attached to a cable and swing across the tree tops to the next huge tree. Naturally, you had to land on the little platform which seemed impossible. They showed us how to slow down, but it you do it too soon you get stuck mid cable, just swinging in the breeze. Klaus got stuck on the first one just a couple of feet away from the platform so they were able to get him in easily. I did not slow down enough and as I result I think I probably knocked the wind out of the kid who was to catch me. We repeated this about 7 times, once having to climb a tiny ladder even higher....that was frightening....then we were at the last platform and somehow I thought we would gently glide to the ground. No such luck, we had to rappel the 18 meters to the ground. Actually that sound more dramatic than it really was, they essentially just lowered our harnassed bodied slowly groundward...but it was exciting. One of the girls with us, started to cry when she saw how we were getting down and said she could not do it.....she did it of course.....like a cat in a tree....the thought of staying there forever works wonders to counter terror....

After more coffee and a great lunch back in Grenada we headed up to the volcano and walked around it´s rim. It was interesting but after the adrenalin rush of the morning, rather tame.

The following day we moved to San Juan del Sur, a small fishing village-tourist centre on the atlantic coast. Evi and Ivan from Gibsons had gone there the day before and sure enough we ran into them almost immediately and ended up having dinner with them both nights which was fun. Our little hotel was lovely, run by a German woman, 20.00 US. The beach there was not great and the lovely beaches all were accessible either by water taxi or regular taxi over very bad roads, so we decided to head north to Leon and do our beach days there which we think was a good choice. There is very little tourist infastructure here, so naturally there are no palapas and chairs on the beach. So you just hang out in the little bar-restaurants if you need shade and of course we do. It is an interesting system, but it seems to work as people eat and drink there in return for occupying the chairs. Still it would be lovely to have a beach lounge chair and umbrella nearer the water. Two days was enough for us, but Evi and Ivan loved the place and were settling in for a full month as they were doing their language school thing there for at least one week.

The morning we were to leave was exciting. We were just heading off for the last direct bus to Managua when I realized I could not find my glasses.....we tore the room and our cases apart....no glasses....just as we were resigned to missing the bus, there they were....on a chair under the desk where they had been blown during the heavy night wind. At the hotel we met some women working for a volunteer group called VOSS and they were doing eye exams and glasses for the people in the villages. Very interesting group. When we finally ran up to the bus and asked if this was directo Managua, the driver said, si si directo, grabbed my bag and put it and me on the bus. Suddenly another driver appeared, took me and the bag off the bus and said, no directo...seems the first guy was trying to snag a fare from the direct bus....glad we got on the right one. So we took the bus to the outskirts of Managua, got off and took a cab to the minibus stop for directo collectivo van to Leon. We started our trip at 7 AM and were at our hotel by 11 30.

So, that´s about all for now. We leave Leon for Matagalpa which is in the hills and thus cooler. We will be there for two nights, then we are staying at a coffee plantation for two nights....it is supposedly German run and wonderful with homegrown organic food.

The guidebook says that no one comes to Nicaragua for the food and boy are they right. You can get very very cheap local food in the market and the street stalls, but regular restaurants are not all that cheap. Last night we thought we would splurge and try the seafood restaurant that the guidebook and the tourist bureau person said was the best in Leon. We both had shrimps and were they awful....very very overcooked.....which made them tough. The best meal we have had was at Pelican Eyes in San Juan del sur...Jack and Marilyn´s recommended hotel. We hope that the organic home grown food served at this coffee plantation, www.selvanegro.com will be great.

So, now off to find someplace to eat lunch as we only had a fruit salad and pastry for breakfast.
hope all is well with you dear friends,
love
klaus and fran

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