Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1940

We managed to check our of our dungeon room and into the much nicer Villa Paraiso in the morning. It was about 1000 times better and only $21 vs $20 next door. We borrowed some bikes and went for a ride along the smashed up, rocky dirt road. The people on the island (and Nicaragua in general) are very poor and live in very basic conditions. They wash their clothes on rocks either in the creek or the lake, and live in simple shacks. Their farming is all done by hand with no machinery. We saw one farmer walking along with a pole poking holes in the ground, while others followed him dropping seeds in. Because it is so tropical, things grow very rapidly and you constantly see people hacking away at the vegetation with machetes. ... read more

So apparently the city wakes up with the roosters. I awoke to loud noises and had no idea what was going on. I turned off my fan (it's really powerful but pretty loud, although apparently not loud enough) to hear roosters crowing, birds chirping (tons I've never heard before), and all sorts of animals making noises. Oh man... so loud. I thought someone was fixing something in our kitchen... nope! Just the sounds of things outside. I turned back on my fan and tried to go back to sleep. The animals got quiet around 6:45 but by then I was up. I had a shower and figured out two things: 1) How to get the hot water to work. There's only one tap so no hot and cold tap, however you can flick a switch on ... read more

The past few days have been an education to say the least as we have been driving all over Costa Rica in search of the perfect truck. So far we have been to Grecia, Sarchi, Escazu, Santa Barbara, Guadalupe, Palmares, San Ramon and San Isidro. Some of these places are up to an hour away. Purchasing a car here is very different that buying in the States. There are basically three places to buy cars here: the large dealership, the small dealership and individuals on the street. Large dealerships are a lot like those in the States but not nearly as big and fancy. We’ve found that these places tend to charge much more for their cars and their guarantees seem to be for only 30 days. Don’t let the large dealership give you a sense ... read more

Note Pictures to be posted at a later date. Bienvenido a Costa Rica Surfer dudes, bird nerds, hiking fiends, mountain trekkers, back-to-the-land nature fanatics, beach bums and party animals all seem to have found something in common in Costa Rica. The waves are prime, the natural beauty is staggering, the pace of life slow, the beer plentiful and the locals friendly. A stronghold of peace in a region torn by strife, this tiny nation attracts a stream of more than a million eager visitors every year. The country stands apart from its Central American neighbors on various points. The first is that it has no army. Armed forces were abolished after the 1948 civil war, and Costa Rica has avoided to despotic, dictatorships, frequent military coups, ism and internal turmoil that have plagued other countries i ... read more

My goodness, what can I say about Armenia village? It's in the mountains surrounded by green & palm trees. The church we're working with is nestled on top of a hill & the view from the church is spectacular. You can truly see God's beautiful creation in Armenia. It's a spanish speaking, very poor village so it's been a challenge for our group to communicate w/ all the people, but we're all managing. Yesterday we went to the Belmopan orphanage....52 kids crammed in to a small building. There was an article written about Praying Pelican Missions (the organization I work for) which should give you an idea of the things we're doing here. http://www.windsortribune.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3902 Check it out. They were on our first trip this summer. So, I have 10 days left in Belize. It'll be sad ... read more