The border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica was unique...it took several stops at various booths, a few line ups, and we had to leave out bus behind and walk across the border and catch a different bus on the other side. Shortly after we crossed, our new bus got a flat tire. It was quickly fixed, and I took advantage of the time to lie in the sun (on the dirt road mind you).
Poverty is most evident in the countryside in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, but is also evident all over in Nicaragua. When we hit the Honduras/Nicaragua border late the other night, the road changed from pavement to potholes. The border guards told us not to continue as there were armed robbers taking advantage of the poor road conditions and ambushing vehicles. They suggested if we were to continue our journey we had better hire someone with a gun to accompany us, or wait for a guard change at the border, and follow the off duty guards. It was 12:20am and too far to go back, so we ventured forward alone. We decided taking an armed guard with us would simply provide reason for robbers to shoot, and no one really wanted to get caught in crossfire, so after much discussion and a group vote we decided to move forward, one slow agonizing and terrifying kilometre at a time, to the nearest town where we rented 4 hotel rooms to share between the 15 of us (all they had). The room had beds, no sheets or blankets, sinks but no water...and an ample supply of bugs. We cared not, for what it had was a high security gate within which we could park our van.
The last few days we have explored the Spanish Colonial towns of Leon and Granada, and were impressed with the stature of the old buildings. In particular, Leon was interesting ecause of the many murals painted on the sides of the buildings: telling stories of the several wars they have had there. We stopped by one and met a man who was one of the student protesters in the 70's. He relayed his stories and showed us photos, and explained the murals on the walls. It was very enlightening to hear the story from his perspective. In Granada, we took it easy, both Joel and I were not feeling well, but we did save up enough energy to take a night walk up the local active volcano.
Masaya Volcan is the most dangerous of Central America’s volcanoes...regularly spewing noxious gas and ash. The pictures do not begin to capture what we saw unfortunately. We also went into a cave full of bats formed by the last eruption, and complete with gas masks, hung over the edge of the volcano to see glowing red lava 220 meters below. It was really quite a sight.
Next we traveled to a small island called Ometepe, on Lake Nicaragua. Here we are staying on a beautiful sandy beach, with thatched cabanas and plenty of hammocks. The ferry ride here was an adventure, as the usually calm lake was alive with whitecaps. The first day the wind blew hard and the sun was far behind a blanket of low gray clouds. So much for lying on the beach; the waves did not seem to bother Joel, who after an ample supply of local rum went swimming – fully clothed – with a pharmacist from Toronto (the girl seen in several of the photos here) he seems to be spending a lot of time with.
Today the sun came out and I layed on the beach all day. I will post more photos later.Tomorrow we head off by boat, bus and horseback for the border of Costa Rica on way to Monteverde where we will try our hand a zip-lining through a series of cables that run for kilometres through the rain forest.
Stay tuned and enjoy the photos (all mixed up and out of order).
Nicaraguan traffic (above)
In Roatan, prices have consistently gone up by 50% a year since development began, and only now that development is almost completed, have yearly price increases slowed to about 20% a year.
The same will happen in Utila. Beach front property is already being bought and sold like stocks, and prices are going up by the month. However...this is the very early stages. Prices will continue to rise exponentially for several years as development continues. The utility lines and water have been run down the length of the island to service all the beach front communities, and a new road is being cut across the island to connect the new big resort with the town. Large home are popping up along the beach monthly...There is a brand new airport, a new utility company, and reliable internet service now on the island. And, best of all, there is ocean view property for a little as $50,000, back lots in beach front communities (steps from the water) for $80,000-$100,000, and stunning ocean front lots for as little as $130,000-$200,000). A similar lot in Costa Rica, to the one I am buying in Utila, would sell for close to a million dollars. Building costs here are low too. You can build for about $80/sq foot – decent quality.
Needless to say, I am convinced Utila is an investors dream, and am in the process of buying property. I grabbed one of three beach front properties left in a well planned community on the South East Reef where some of the best diving and fishing in the world is, as well as the nicest sand and water on the entire island. My 90 x 200 foot serviced oceanfront lot was only $165,000. It has a variety of beautiful trees on it, and a flat, sandy beach. The water is a stunning turquoise (the nicest I have seen and I have snorkeled and swam in waters in Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Mexico, Roatan, and the Florida Keys) with 100 foot visibility straight down, no waves, breathtaking coral reef. The water i front of my lot is as gentle for swimming as a baby would want. There is a view of the sunrise and sunset from this point, it captures the much needed eastern trade winds, and has a quality deep water dock. The village across the water, about a half kilometre away, is on a small cay of native islanders who supply Red Lobster with all its fish. There are places to buy fresh fish daily, and veggies and fruit and various supplies are brought in daily from the mainland. There is even a brand new 3 story internet cafe a short sea kayak ride away.
After the larger island of Roatan was built, direct flights from Toronto, Miami, Houston, and New York began servicing the Bay Islands. From Roatan, Utila is a short hopper plane ride or ferry ride (15-30 minutes respectively). There are only about 10 days a year the island is inaccessible, due to bad weather, and the hurricane risk here is very low.
The atmosphere is very village like. Everyone knows your name. The islanders are black and white...not black and white as in zebra, black (as in very Caribbean looking), and white (as in very Caribbean looking – only white skin...rather strange). Both colours of people speak Jamaican-like English. There are some Spanish speaking people from the mainland, and a whole lot of expatriates from Canada and the US and Europe. I met many people, who like me, came for a vacation, and either never left, or bought land. Opportunity for business abounds on this island in light of the coming mass-development, and I am extremely tempted to move here and take advantage. This place needs a fishing resort, a golf course, a plant nursery, more vacation rental homes, more rental properties for locals and mainlanders who will have to move here to service the big resorts, a dry cleaners, a deli...my head spins with business opportunity. I only wish I had more money to invest.
On my lot I will be building a beach cabana with outdoor kitchen, a large air-conditioned tree house with master bedroom and bathroom, a guest hut, and an outdoor bathroom. These structures (except the cabana) will all b easily removed if/when I want to build a permanent home on the lot, but will allow me to immediately use the property as a vacation rental (both for myself and others). Rental properties are in high demand here, as divers come here to get there master diver tickets and stay 3-6months. Anyway, enjoy the photos, and let me know if you want to pick up the lot next to mine...they are also $165,000 and I guarantee you will double your money in the next 5 years, probably less.
I also have my eye on a property in town that is selling for $300,000. It has monthly income right now of around $2100/month (I can improve this)...in the centre of town, with ocean views from the upper two balconies. It houses a vacation rental apartment with stunning view and large balcony on the top floor, a real estate office and small property management office with large balcony and stunning ocean view on the middle floor, and an internet cafe, and 1 vacant space (ripe for a deli or gift shop) with a large sun deck on the main floor. The property was built 7 years ago. It is a really nice building and the decks are built around an amazing and huge mango tree. I want it. The property generates income AND will go up in value (though not as much as the beach front property in my humble opinion). I am a little short on cash to pick this one up too, and the vendor will finance me, however, I would rather pay interest to people back home...so, if anyone wants to invest a little money in Utila, I will offer you a great percentage rateJ
Oh but I do go on and on when I am excited about something....
Also, I met a lovely couple from Boston who just bought 2 lots next to mine. He is a fashion photographer and has taken hundreds of fabulous photos of Utila. On his website (see http://giulia.com/2007/compleanno.htm) there is a slide show of Utila photos...check them out. They show the colour of the water better than mine and give a nice overview of the Island...even some nice arial photos.
