Archive for the ‘San Juan del Sur’ Category
Green real estate in Nicaragua: Day 21 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
The west dome has received its final coat. This morning we were hit with about a twenty minute downpour and decided that pounding tires would need to wait due to all the fresh mud. And since the dome was already wet and needed to be done eventually, we decided it was a sign.
So with Camilo sifting out the sand, Eliseo on the mixer, Eduardo and Faustino making bucket runs; Marlo and Fernando led the charge. The local community of El Carizal here are very familiar with concrete since the majority of the structures in Nicaragua are done with little more than rebar, cement, water and sand.
Every day we get more excited about the potential for green real estate here in Nicaragua
On Monday we will see Phil and Seth (Earthship Biotecture) as they have decided to come back down for another week of working on the Earthship, training the local Nicaraguan crew and, ultimately, “putting housing back into the hands of the people.”
Green real estate in San Juan del Sur: Day 18 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Thursday, January 24th, 2008It always feels good to have work for someone. Today Frederico and Eduardo re-joined the work force. We are now six from the El Carizal community just south of San Juan del Sur and myself, a lucky seven for the rest of the week.
Today the greenhouse wall received a nice smooth (floated) coat. The exposed bottles were continuously cleaned to prevent the fresh concrete hardening on them. It really is a beautiful wall.
We have a nice rhythm going now. More supplies are set to arrive tomorrow. We’ll see what gets done…
Earthship construction: Day 13
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
The day was rainy but spirits were high. Luckily down here in Nicaragua the rain is soft and warm. Presently half of the house is harvesting water into the east cistern when it rains. This means that the oxcarts may not have to haul water for the construction of the project anymore.
Part of the goal for the remaining American team is to hand off to the Nicaraguan crew the techniques for building and Earthship. The intention is to train the local crew to be proficient in this unusual type of construction as they will be the ones building the remaining homes in the community.
Today the Nicaraguan crew plastered the bedroom dome and laid the bottle bricks. Justin worked on establishing the remaining interior arches which hold up the bond beam for the north side of the wood trusses while Demain and Ted built the forework for a portion of the bond beam on the exterior arched wall.
During lunch the sky let loose with a deluge of water making the building a slippery and muddy mess.
It certainly didn’t stop progress on the building though.
The remaining bottle formwork was completed for the systems room, more bottle work on the south wall was done and the whole site received a thorough internal cleanup as the rain has a tendency to send people inside looking for things to do in the dry.
Ladders are at a premium so the crew has become creative in building quick scaffolding to access the areas up high. The formwork on the south side is ready for concrete.
The structure is close to being built and it is now easy to imagine the proportion and location of the spaces. Two more days for the three amigos from Taos. Time has passed by too quickly and San Juan del Sur has been a beautiful and friendly temporary home.
Earthship construction: Day 12
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007
No fibers this morning. Lydia and Jo have volunteered to drive to Managua to buy fibers at the one store in the country that sells them. That drive is a minimum five hours return trip on a less than perfect road, so their efforts are appreciated even before they depart.
At the job-site, the morning is running notably smoother than the previous day despite the few hours of rain last night. It’s a muddy start to the day, but the Nicaraguans glide through the mud like hockey players on ice. It is clear that the mud will not slow us down.
Nevertheless, rain this time of year is strange and we hope that it doesn’t continue. Until the roads are prepped for rain, they are nothing more than flat canals that will simply channel the water in small rivers, cutting away at the soft, exposed topsoil.
There are probably too many hands considering the skill sets of the local crew, the materials, and the technical work that is needed today.
But, it’s a great group of people and the individual personalities are an addition to the site. The people here are eager to work, but the work is new, so it is expected that there will be some standing around.
By the end of the day, Demian has a small section of the front face up to Bond Beam height. Justin has the door-frame placed in the systems room. And Ted has bounced around every spot on site, making sure that everything is up to Earthship standards.
Good forward progress today.
Surfing in Nicaragua: Gaining International Recognition as the First National Circuit of Surfing Takes Place in Nicaragua
Sunday, February 18th, 2007Nicaragua has been hosting surf contests for several years. Begun by Tom Eberley of Eberley surfboards, continued by local surfer Javier Baldovines, and now organized by Ricardo Morales, of Sands Surf Shop, the surf contests in Nicaragua are being taken to a whole new level. In 2006, I had the pleasure of representing Nicaragua womens surfing in an international event held in Esterillos, Costa Rica. Following the event, Ricardo Morales began organizing the first National Circuit for surf contests in Nicaragua, with the goal to compete internationally after this year’s first circuit. This years International Central American event is schedule to be help in Guatemala and will follow the same format as last year’s tournament in Costa Rica.
In each event there have been numerous advertisers/sponsors who help out with the event to make each contest possible. News of this last event in La Boquita was on the front page of La Prensa, El Nuevo Diaro sports page, and on the local and national radio stations as well. The event brochures and posters are distributed throughout Managua, San Juan del Sur, Rivas and all along the Coast. Surfing is quickly becoming one of the most popular sports in the country… Click here to view the article
The first event of the National Circuit was held at Playa Maderas, quite possibly Nicaragua’s most popular surfing beach. The second event was held in La Boquita. The next event is scheduled for March 10 and 11th and is located in Las Penitas, just outside of Leon. After that we take the games to Playa Santana, and the final event is scheduled to occur in Popoyo. We are very excited to see this sport gain national recognition in Nicaragua. For property opportunites near a surf break, follow this link for surf real estate available in Nicaragua and, if you want to come on a surf vacation, check out our Surf Nicaragua vacation packages. We’ll tailore the activities just for you.
Surfing in the New York Times: Surf’s Up, and Upscale, as Sport Reverses Its Beach Bum Image
Sunday, February 18th, 2007Matt Higgins, reporter with the New York Times, recently wrote on the new image of surfing: how it’s changing from its previous beach bumb image to being seen as high-end upscale sport. As more professionals take up the sport, surfing provides more than just physical and mental benefit: now you can surf and discover networking opportunities at the same time.
For $10,000 a day, you can have the ultimate surfing sojourn in Indonesia aboard the 110-foot Indies Trader IV, a sort of floating hotel with 15 cabins, a helipad and three-course meals with wine. A motorized tender takes you to the waves. Or for a daily rate, in addition to the cost of his airfare, Brad Gerlach will give private instruction to select clients anywhere in the world. Mr. Gerlach, who was ranked No. 1 on surfing’s world professional tour during the 1986 and 1991 seasons, termed the cost not cheap at all.
Surfing, once the sport of Hawaiian kings, has come full circle. After becoming a counterculture activity for beach bums and bohemians, it has emerged as a status sport, like skiing and golf.
“It’s sort of lost that dirtbag appeal” said Isabelle Tihanyi, who with her twin, Caroline, started Surf Diva, a school based in La Jolla, Calif., that caters mostly to women, a growing segment of surfers. “Now you see more yuppies in the water with a brand-new board and a brand-new S.U.V. and all the latest technical gear. click here to read full article.
Come and experience the surf in Nicaragua with us. We’ll customize a Surf Nicaragua vacation package just for you.
Nicaragua rising: War-torn image gets a tourist makeover
Thursday, February 15th, 2007Laura Bly, reporter with USA TODAY, recently visited key real estate and tourism areas in Nicaragua including Granada and San Juan del Sur. Her article was published today.
“Long branded the black sheep of Central America, Nicaragua is working hard to erase its 1980s reputation as a war-torn outpost where gringos were more likely to encounter Kalashnikov-toting campesinos than a comfortable hotel. And campaign central is this scruffy fishing village turned surfing haven and intrepid travelers’ Next Great Place.”
A midwinter sun slinks toward the Pacific horizon, casting a flattering glow over the crescent bay where thousands of fortune seekers set sail for California during the Gold Rush. Today, it’s lined with palm-thatched restaurants where Jimmy Buffetts-in-training kick back with $1 beers and concoctions fueled by smooth, Nicaraguan-made Flor de Cana rum.
Two blocks away at La Posada Azul, a just-opened bed-and-breakfast inn owned by expatriates from Santa Fe, guests loll by the pool and contemplate dinner at a new fusion restaurant in the surrounding hills that an earlier American visitor, Mark Twain, praised as “welcome, enchanting, (and) altogether lovely.”
San Juan del Sur
Saturday, January 27th, 2007San Juan del Sur is a small, charming fishing town on a spectacular half-moon sandy bay on the southern Pacific coast of Nicaragua. The town has good connections to the capital city Managua and the colonial town of Granada and has emerged as the premier tourism destination on the Pacific.
Famous for its views, sunsets and surfing
The dramatic hills surrounding the bay offer beautiful ocean views and the western orientation of the town provides perfect vantage points for taking in the sunset. Small, private yachts, fishing boats and the occasional cruise liner dot the lovely bay. Fishing is still a mainstay of the economy here, although more and more San Juanenos are finding ways to get involved in the growing tourism activity in the region. Read the full article on San Juan del Sur.
