Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Lost Iguana Resort- Arenal area

Last night the clouds came down again and produced this most amazing light effect.


Today started at 5.30am when we met our guide Andreas at reception for a bird and nature walk in the Mistico Park. This is a privately owned 600 hectare property dedicated to preserving the cloud and rain forest. It has well maintained paths, bridges and huge suspension bridges along the 2.9 mile hike.

It was as you can see very misty first thing in the morning. It was difficukt to spot the birds as they were so well camouflaged. Andreas did well in seeing many that we were not able to spot. The property is beautiful with a pristine stream running through it that begins at the top of the property with a very fast flowing spring.
After the above photo my camera ran out of battery! So photos of the birds were taken by Andreas on my iphone through the scope.
Breakfast of fruit and a sandwich followed after our walk.
We were then taken on a boat ride around Lago Arenal, again to spot birds.

Lake Arenal is within a reserve area, so picnics and swimming are highly discouraged. This is to keep the area from being damaged.
From the opposite end of the lake, we left the boat to walk along the Arenal Peninsular, once again to enjoy nature and search for birds. Our guide even spotted a new dpecies of bird for him! The area abounds in bird life!

Borenquin to Lost Iguana Resort, Arenal

The rain stopped! A beautiful sunny day awaited us.

Our cabana at Borenquin.
Collected at 10 am to journey to Arenal. What we hadn't been able to see because of torrential rain, was that Borenquin was high up in the mountains and that we had climbed an escarpment to get there. Beautiful countryside, with Borenquin being part of a very large hacienda, set in the forest amid a steaming river.
The trip to Arenal, took us once again, on the Pan American highway. Sunny and clear all the way! We arrived near the shore of Arenal Lake, a man made lake for irrigation, to see Arenal Volcano very clearly in the distance. Arenal is only seen clearly on 77 of 365 days, and we lucked one of those days, in the rainy season!

Lost Iguana Lodge is beautiful and our room is a luxury suite! Wow!

This is the view from our room. We have our own verandah with spa bath and an outside shower as part of the bathroom. Probably the most beautifully appointed room we have ever stayed in!


It has a fully functional kitchen.
We just sat on our verandah for ages admiring the view.
After misreading our itinerary, we were called by reception to say that our transportation was ready and waiting for us. Fortunately we had been up since four am and were dressed and ready for the day. So quickly grabbed the binoculars, camera, sunscreen and deet.
Very embarrassing to be late for the guides, who are always on time. Anyway it turned out that a tour had been organised for us to visit Cano Negro, a wildlife reserve some hour away from the Arenal Area.

Three Toed Sloth, a female spotted in a tree along the way.

A boat trip with some very mosquito infested walking allowed us to see a great diversity of bird and animal life. The boat took us down to the Nicaraguan border and long the Rio Frio (Cold River).

Male iguana.

Caiman enjoying the sun.

Shoe-Billed Heron.

Howler Monkey.

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Borinquen

Went to breakfast this morning which has been pre-paid to find that juice, fruit, toast etc was all extra! Not happy!
So we purchased and extra plate of fruit for each of us and ordered two Typical Costa Rican breakfast, expecting it to be good. The fruit came, which we proceeded to eat and then two minutes later the plate of tipico was delivered on cold plates. The tortilla tasted like stale yesterdays, the eggs had obviously been cooked hours ago and the fried plantains were stone cold and rubbery.
What to do for the day? Well we went to the thermal spirings and hot mud baths. Lovely? Yes. But you can't sit in a hot mud bath all day. The trails were all closed due to the rain and we didn't want to go on the zip lines (again an extra at $60 pp US) Hirse riding in this rain didn't appeal (yes you're right, an extra $60 pp US) A trip to the nearby volcano ($145 pp US).
The resort is beautiful and in a beautiful setting, but obviously caters for the American market. The US couples here were raving about it. But we weren't here for lazing around on our annual 7 day vacation, so unfortunately it is not our cup of tea! Which incidently they can't make either!


Boiling spring water gushing from the earth.

Collecting the mud for the mud bath - misnomer, because you actually smear this stuff onto your body from a small receptacle, before washing it off in a cold shower, before jumping into the hot springs.

The volcanic steam room. The hut is situated over a boiling hot water pool, and captures to hot humid air inside the hut.

The pools, not heated, very lovely but not very clean. We avoided this.

Nicaragua to Costa Rica

Views from inside the Hotel Colon, Granada, Nicaragua.


Views from the front of the hotel looking towards the central plaza.


Granada was fun!
Alex, our wonderful guide and the lovely driver, Manuel insisted on taking us to Masaya Volcano again, for one last try at seeing the crater. It wasn't raining, a good sign.
WOW!!! We are thrilled that they insisted. What an amazing sight to be able to look into an active volcano.

Leading up to the crater, we passed lava flows.

The cross at the top to remind indigenous folk not to throw living humans as sacrifices any more!

Steam and fumes being emitted.

At the edge!

Looking into the crater.

Moulten lava. Imagine what this would have looked like at night!

Substance being spewed from the volcano all day - referred to a Maiden's hair. (Note repaired thumb!)

The icing on the cake. Sharp-eyed Manuel spotted the national bird of Nicaragua, the Blue-crowned Motmot.
Then it was off to the border for a very disorganised border crossing. Alex and Manuel were wonderful, but we were met in Costa Rica by a grumpy and impatient young driver, Edwin.
Torrential rain again, with mudslides along the road and many fallen trees. After many hours on bumpy roads with no toilet stop, despite asking for one we finally arrived at Borinquen Mountain Resort & Spa.
Torrential rain, nowhere to go and nothing to do, nothing in the barfridge, no local village. No car, no one about. Here we felt like captives. Told we had to book in for the restaurant for dinner at six. When we arrived, found only two other couples in the whole place. The wines on the wine list were not available, neither were all of the advertised beers. Waiter grumpy! Dinner expensive and not included in cost of trip.
We felt like we had arrived at an American equivalent of Bucklands camping!




Masaya, White Town and Catarina

Today was a day for excursions. Not raining when we left the hotel for the Masaya Volcano, White Town and Catarina areas.
Masaya volcano is very active and last erupted in 2012. The land around is very fertile, so most things can be grown here. This mountain area also receives the most rain in Nicaragua with 2 meters per year!

Our first stop was to a local Ceramics factory. The pottery is made using pre-Columbian techniques. The clay is sourced locally and very fine sand is added to it. A foot wheel is used to create the article. When the pot has air dried, a sealing coat of very fine runny clay is applied by dipping the item into the solution. Again it is burnished. Ochre dye colours are added in layers. After each ochre dye layer it is burnished again. The pottery item are left to dry for eight days after which they are fired. The high gloss on each pottery piece is achieved not by a glaze but purely be burnishing at each stage.

A viewpoint in Catarina reveals a pristine crater lake called Apollo. A very few small eco hotels are at the edge of the lake. Pollution is strictly controlled on the lake. No power boats of any kind are allowed nor is any kind of fishing.

A quick stop by the side of the road allowed us to see a family if basket makers at work. These baskets are made from fresh bamboo, are used for carrying and selling fruits in the local markets and sell for $1.10 each. Each basket takes at least 20 minutes to make, not including the time needed to cut and prepare the bamboo. The family makes about 17 per day. As you can work out that does not bring in much income at all. Three members of the same family was involved in this operation.

Lunch was a typical Nicaraguan meal in a restaurant called El Viejo Rancheros. We enjoyed the food, however there was a problem with the voucher supplied by the tour group. Inside the chashier's office there were eight people dealing with the meal bills! Paperwork overload! Why the restaurant wouldn't accept the voucher was beyond both us and the guide. It took Alex, the best part of the lunch and then some, to deal with it. In the end the voucher was not taken and cash had to be given. Alex, normally quiet, mild mannered and charming was really peaved and uncharacteristically vented in the car about disorganisation and stupidity. I expect the feedback to the tour company will be less than flattering!

In the Catarina area, anything grows, so we saw many family run nurseries selling exquisite plants.

In the Masaya Artisanal and Craft market, there are wonderful hand made items to buy of every shape and description. A 100% woven cotten blanket costs $15. Beautiful leather goods, hammocks, costumes, cigars, coffee, clothing etc etc abounded. Unfortunately no room in the suitcases!
By this time it started to pour with rain!
That evening, we were due to go on a trip to Masaya Volcano crater. So we drove in torrential rain the the National Park to find it closed. A Yellow alert had been placed on the park by the government. At first we thought that this meant the volcano was deemed too dangerous. But no it was because of the rain. The rain evaporates as it hits the moulten lava and produces steam containing excessive amounts of sulphur which are deemed dangerous to humans. And it rained and rained and rained!
It was dark and still pouring with rain when we reached the hotel. Everything in the central plaza was closed even though it was not much past six o'clock due to the rain. No one was out on the streets. We tried several places to get a simple bowl of soup, to no avail until we reached this group of seedy bars. Yes we were told, we could get sopa de pollo. So we went in to sit under a somewhat leaky canopy with mud at our feet.
Peter started to get quite grumpy, it was cold and wet and not that clean! A person ditting at the nearby table with not particularly good English decided that he would practise his English on us. He told us that he was a doctor at the local hospital, a General Practicioner. He also asked did we know that all medical services in Guatamala were free. I related the story about the monkey and about going to get an x-ray in Leon. Told him my hand was still really sore and that I couldn't move my thumb. So he asked to look at it. In the meantime, his friend, a "Professional" driver came and told me that he was a physiotherapist. So I asked him again, was he a doctor, yes he replied I work in the pharmacy and emergency department and sometimes in radiology. Feeling very perplexed by this time, Peter said, "Do you trust this man?"
Well he said he could fix my hand and as it was really painful and I couldn't move it, thought might as well let him try. So he felt along the tendons asking where it hurt, until he found the really painful spot at the first joint of my thumb. So with that he proceeded to pull the thumb HARD, and swivel. PAIN, PAIN, PAIN!!!!! Breathe said Mr Doctor, deep breathes! Then suddenly POP! "Did you hear that?", he asked. "It's better now!" "And be sure to do this exercise 3 times a day now", proceeded to show me what I must do.
It turned out that my thumb had been dislocated and now was back in position. No pain now and I could move it again!
I turned to his Professional Driver friend and said, "He must be very intellligent to be a doctor and a physiotherapist and a pharmacist etc etc. P driver said "No, he isn't". And with that both proceeded to laugh raucously.
We bought them both a drink, Much to their further amusement.
Don't know for sure, but I think this kind man was in fact a Specialist Physician! He certainly did work at the hospital and he did fix my hand!

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Granada

Later on the journey to Granada we pulled off the Pan American Highway and headed up the mountain to a place called Vista de Angeles. From a vantage point you can see the side of the very active volcano. People here are all trying to sell their properties, because there was a very recent eruption in 2015 and the next eruption is predicted to be catastrophic.
The view was magnificent, overlooking the first national park of Nicaragua and looking over towards the volcanic lava flow on the side of the volcano and then into the sunken caldera below where recent lava is still visible.
Our hotel in Granada is Hotel Colon. It is situated right in the central plaza of Granada looking directly towards the Cathedral. The plaza is full of life with horse-drawn carriages, street venders and small cafes.
We stolled around the city in the late afternoon looking for somewhere to eat and decided upon Wok and Roll (we think it should be called Wok and Woll!). This is a roof top restaurant facing the volcano Mombatombo. But unfortunately we couldn't see the red hot lava pouring out of the crater. Not a particularly good choice of restaurants, tasy enough, but not enough veggies, which is why we went there in the first place. The local plantain chips bought from a street vendor for about .30 cents are delicious.
At eight o'clock the next day we were collected by Alex our guide for a walk around Granada city.

Granada is a beautiful city, very old and building are predominantly made from adobe bricks, covered in stucc and painted in typical Spanish colours.

Our tour guide lead us to an arts centre bought and paid for by an ex-Danish resident, who set up this charitable organisation to ensure that everyone could have a chance to practice their culture through art, music, theatre, dance and poetry. Lessons are available free of charge in the aftenoons, for any interested children, who can take advantage of exellent tutoring and mentoring from renown Nigaraguan artists. The arts centre was an inspirational place to visit with practising artists painting, drawing and printing whilst we were there and who were able to explain the various techniques that they were using.

A visit to the central gallery filled in some of the missing history of Nicaragua not given to us by our previous guide in Leon. Here we were able to see the very strong Aztec influence from Mexico with totems brough to this place from the biggest island in Lake Nicaragua. Archeology seems to have stopped in Nicaragua for the time being. The envisaged Chinese venture to built another "Panama" canal in Nicaragua, will go through at least 1500 expected archeslogical sites of significance. All work on this project seems to have stopped for the time being. Whether the sites are the reason or lack of funds we can't find out.

The cemetary of Granda was extraordinary. Great emphasis is placed on the monuments and crypts that you leave for the dead. Plots here are more valuable that large blocks in the centre of town with a full house on it!

A funeral went passed us on the way to the cemetary as we left. Both rich and poor pay for an elaborate funeral procession with lavish flowers and horse drawn hearse.

After walking the streets of Granada, sometimes in tropical downpours of rain, the weather as is typical if this area, cleared up for a sunny afternoon. We drove down to Lake Nicaragua for a trip on a boat around the hundreds of small islands. Local Nicaraguan families are now selling these islands to foreign investors who built small boutique hotels or holiday homes on them. One island we passed - very small was for sale for USD$50,000.

After a short cool down in our air conditioned room, we ventured out again to a private museum containing a history of archeology in Nicaragua and a gallery of ceramics. This was really interesting and contained an extraordinarily wide range of pre-Columbian ceramics.

Then we went to the chocolate museum. A group of twenty or so women were there who came from Missouri, USA. They were having a wonderful "girls" only holiday in Central America.

Not far from the central plaza is a street that can only be used by pedestrians. It is here where most of the restauants are. We chose to have dinner in a bar/restaurant down near the end of this street. Here we met a young boy of 10 who had aspergers. His family were really wonderful with him. When we greeted him, they insisted that he respond and come to introduce himself. His mum apologised for him, but there was no need, he was a great young man! Dinner was a steak with jalepeno salsa - delicious!

View from Vista de Angeles

Looking at out hotel, Hotel Colon from the central plaza, Granada.

Totems from the Pre-Columbian period in the Central Museum, Granada.

This is one of the small crypts in the cemetary, Granada.

The boat we caught to cruise around the hundreds of islands in Lake Nicaragua,

The island for sale for USD$50,000.

Pre-Columbian pottery in the private collection.