Back on the beaten path

This is Elise.  We scored with a fabulous villa in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.  The view is spectacular and the furnishing are first class. Central air conditioning!  We haven't had that since we left home.  I know I must sound very shallow to talk about how nice our place is.  Don't I want to experience the "real" Nicaragua?  Don't I want to know how the locals live and get off the beaten track?  I feel like I have done all those things and now want to sit in air conditioning and look at the view.  I want to eat without swatting flies out of my face and wiping sweat off my brow.  I want to cook my own food so I don't have to wonder how clean the kitchen is. ( a lot of restaurants here don't even have hot water in the kitchen)  I have decided that "off the beaten path" is a good thing in developed countries with a good tourist infrastructure.  In place like Guatemala and Nicaragua staying on the path is a good thing.  Here in San Juan del Sur there are a lot of Americans and other foreigners.  I would hardly call it touristy or overdeveloped though.  Any less developed and there wouldn't be anyplace good to stay or eat.  Omepete island is an an example of a place that is lovely, but rustic.  There isn't anywhere good to stay on the whole island, you can hardly find enough food in the markets to cook a meal and the restaurants are run by hippies.  We had a great time there seeing the sights and enjoying the quiet.  There is almost no traffic on the island and I loved waking to the sounds of birds instead of cars.  There are more cows, pigs, and horses in the street than cars.  It was sad to see how emaciated many of the animals are there right now.  It is the end of the dry season and Nicaragua is suffering from a drought so there isn't much grass to graze.  The only well fed animals were the geckos in our rental house.  They had plenty of bugs to eat and were the fattest geckos I have ever seen.

Ox drawn carts are still in use by many of the islanders

The monkeys were playing in the trees above

The monkeys were very fast in the trees. You need to watch your stuff around the monkeys as they like to take shiny things like keys, cell phones, etc. 

This was the best shot of Vulcan Concepcion we were able to take. This volcano is known for its perfect cone shape.

On Ometepe, going out to eat at a restaurant takes it back to the basics.

The girls were playing with a cat on the restaurants lawn.

The way back to the mainland on a smaller ferry boat but still sea worthy.