The spirit of adventure lives on!

After the spider incident I realised my glasses were missing and of course all sorts of thoughts went through my mind, monkeys perhaps!

Anyway after a bit of packing and repacking I discovered them under the bed, somewhere I had been cautious about looking after the spider incident. After a final walk and breakfast, I paid my small bill and chatted with the proprietors. He knew about La Mariposa and said what a good business venture it was, part of the Nicaraguan tourism promotion. So that's encouraging.

She then told me about her project promoting arts and culture of Solentiname with the children of The islands. This encourages tourism and therefore helps raise the families out of poverty, badly needed.

At 9 I left by panga travelling across the lake for an hour. We stopped off at another island en route to pick up a permit. It was a bit choppy and my unpadded bum has suffered from hard seats bouncing across waves! As we got to the far side to El Colon, there was a bit of discussion and it appeared that as a result of the hurricane, the river mouth had spread, so they had to negotiate carefully. I had heard that we were to reconnoitre at a 'station' and had in mind some kind of town. How wrong could I be! 

We pulled into a jetty by some fields, where two soldiers with guns appeared. They duly checked the papers and my passport, the first of about six checks. Apparently there is a lot of immigration across the border from Costa Rica in this area. Next we had to cross the field where the path had vanished under water in parts. Nestor carried my case on his shoulder and the hotel proprietor tried to find a way. Jimmy thought the whole thing rather fun, and I just told them not to worry, if we ran quickly through the water we wouldn't get too wet!

We duly arrived at the meeting point where there was a shed and a couple of lorries, no mobile phone signal either. I thought they might have to take me back, but the car arrived with Ramiro driving, about 10 minutes later. No banos, and in fact not until we reached San Jorge for the ferry, two and a half hours later. The road was unmade and boggy, with many fallen trees from the hurricane for most of the way. Just the last half hour on asphalt. Fortunately I had snaffled a few grapes from my breakfast and had some nuts and biscuits which had to suffice for lunch. 

When we arrived at the ferry port, Jose was there to meet me. He had come over from Ometepe, although did confuse me by saying he was Antonio, Jose Antonio I discovered! Anyway he remembers our walk to the waterfall last year and how I had been wearing the same clothes with a white top. He was correct!

There were lovely views from the ferry but it was full of youngsters who go for the beaches and partying!!

I did get chatting to a few young Americans and gave thema but if advice about making the most of their opportunities. One of them began talking about his mum who was in education, but I think I was more like their grandmother! I expect it will give them something to talk about- this oldie they met who goes off travelling.

 We were met by Wilbur, who, I also met last year. One little glitch was that, although the company had booked the guide for me, as I had not chosen their standard tours, there had been no transport booked. So I had to talk to their office to book that, so now I will need an ATM for a cash top up. At least they have them here, there was nothing in Solentiname. I have since her from Sarah, my English contact, that this isn't correct, but I will leave them to sort that out.

When I arrived at la Omaja, I was welcomed with open arms and a big hug from Horatio, the young man who works here.

My  first priority was a hot shower, my second was a glass of wine and supper. All duly fulfilled and a very pleasant evening and an interesting encounter. I chatted to an American woman who lives in Ometepe and runs classes for the community. She showed me her figures and how she was working with dance, art and cultural activities but through teaching English too. It sounded very interesting so we exchanged information. I might get a Christmas invitation too, we will wait and see. So in all 24 hours of rapid change, the contrast from Solentiname to Ometepe was surprising, given that last year I thought Ometepe pretty laid back! It feels like Piccadilly Circus after Solentiname! And all those amazing encounters with interesting people, perhaps some future opportunities.....

My first day I visited some ancient statues in Altagracia, one of the main towns in the area. It was very small, with a children's park in the middle. The football pitch is used for drying frijoles, the local beans, part of the time and football the other part. There were more nativity scenes, and we saw the town hall and maternity building.  That was interesting, as the mothers are encouraged to come here for two weeks before the birth. They may then go to a hospital, which depending on the level of need may be locally, at Rivas on the mainland or in Managua. There are also women trained as midwives for less accessible areas. Some of this infrastructure is provided to ensure there is an accurate record of births.

Next we visited Punta Jesus Maria which has a spit of volcanic sand. Jose found pieces of ancient pottery which is quite a regular occurrence. However, occasionally complete pots are found.

We stopped for a coffee at the beach cafe, where two coffees cost 1$!

There are interesting sights on the road, often cows returning from their morning saunter to the beach, or pigs and chickens.

Or sometimes monkeys; this one was part of a large family and is carrying a baby under her. ( unable to insert video here at present). We saw one, dangling by his tail as he ate the leaves. What a show off!

This trip finished with lunch at the beach hotel Chaco Verde, what a beautiful spot!.

My second day here will stand out as one of the highlights of my travels, just like the Mayan ceremony last year. After a walk at Chaco Verde I visited a local indigenous community, called Los Ramos. They have two villages as they were rehoused after a landslide from the volcanos, but many villagers return to the old part in the summer. I must say the old part has much more character with little dwellings that look as if they have gradually grown up around a family, whereas the new is neat and tidy tows of concrete houses! On arrival we were welcomed and saw the garden complete with dogs, cats, chickens and pigs. Jose had already explained how the families keep these so that have meat for special occasions, when a person licensed to do so kills the animals . In some villages there is common ground for grazing. Meat is eaten on Saturday and special occasions, chicken is more common and fish is readily available. Jose described how the poor here are in a better position than the city, as the plantain is really freely available to them, they have fish, vegetables they grow and can keep animals. People here don't spend money feeding animals. Jose said his dog loves plantain with sugar! Our animals are obviously as pampered as we are..

Then I met Esperanza with whom I was to cook a traditional meal of Nacatamal. I think everyone thought I was just going to ask a few questions and leave but I helped with the whole process then we all sat down to eat. The kitchen was an outbuilding with a stone oven, lit by a wood fire, where all the cooking is done. There is no running water and water is brought by tanker. So everything is carefully conserved. I was brought soap and water in a small bowl to wash, then a small amount of water was poured over my hands to rinse them. The towel was a discarded garment. But hygiene was not compromised.

Esperanza had cooked the meat and rice earlier because of the time it took, but we prepared the maize paste and vegetables and assembled the parcels. All of this was done outside in an area between the house and the kitchen with the animals around our feet, no doubt eating anything that fell! At various times members of the extended family walked through as they all lived in the adjoining properties. Everyone just walked from one home to the next.

Assembled parcels, Maize paste, rice, meat, potatoes, onion and tomatoes, topped with mint and then tied into a plantain leaf.

Completed parcels ready for cooking.

As the cooking took an hour, dad came to serenade me with his guitar. He gave me a hibiscus flower then sang some traditional songs. As he put it, this is what we did for romance before the mobile phone! Sadly he is the only one left of a misucal group and at 86 he is a small and wrinkled old man, as a result of a hard life no doubt. But he seemed very happy and had a wicked sense of humour. Later he had a lift with us back to the other village.

The proof of the pudding....I sat with Jose and the driver to eat what I had prepared and it was delicious. Jose is to send me the recipe. We sat with the animals running in and out. I wondered if the piglet realised that some people were eating one of its brothers! The room had a large water tank in one corner, a little table with two wooden chairs, more plastic ones were brought in from outside. A clean white tablecloth had been out on the table and two China cups, which seemed like the only ones around.  The only other furniture was a small cupboard, and the windows had just chicken wire. But in this simple home they clearly ate well and I felt quite comfortable and honoured to be allowed to share this with them. I am sure I have had a much better time than the youngsters partying!

Part way through the process, I had broken a off to meet the man with the bull. He was a big strong man and so was the bull! He helped me onto the bull and later lifted me off! I sat on a wooden frame with a cloth over it. Apparently a leather saddle would slide because the bull lumbers and it was quite difficult to stay upright. But he was very docile and his hair went from back to front, I was surprised to find. The bulls are used because of the huge weight they can carry, the family and all their belongings. They are brought up with the family and the children are accustomed to being with them from when they are very young. They are castrated so more controllable. But this was an experience I had not anticipated and even the driver was surprised as he had not seem anyone do this before. The previous day's driver had also chuckled when I took up the opportunity. I just said life was for filling with new experiences and I should never pass an opportunity!

Whilst we were waiting for lunch the youngest family member decided to ride her horse, and asked me to watch. She was so confident and ride with such poise. But the horse looked a bit skinny!

Then Jose took me to the local beach that the villagers use to fish from and do their washing. This is where he and his brother in law are going to open their kayak business. They have borrowed the land from a relation as have no hope of ever owning it. ($80,000 price tag is a phenomenal  amount here).

The kayaks are 3,000$ dollars each and it is that that they have been saving for and he has discovered he can get them cheaper in Costa Rica. So his plans and dreams from last year have progressed. He is such a professional young man and has worked really hard with his language skills. He has been great helping me and has given me lots of tips, and ideas of apps to help practice. This was a truly magical day! When I got back the sun was shining so I sat by the pool and soaked up the atmosphere. My evening invititation had gone a bit pear shaped and I didn't fancy wandering around dark gravel roads looking for an unknown restaurant so finally declined and ate at the hotel.

I awoke this morning to find a very very large beetle on the bathroom floor, so picked it up with a towel to put outside, but it wouldn't let go of the towel so that also is now outside the door! It sounded as though it was squeaking at me!