A Retreat to our neighbor to the north, Guatemala

I recently took a trip up to Guatemala to visit a friend who is living at Lago de Atitlan in Guatemala and found it to be an incredible and beautiful place. The lake itself reminded me very much of a larger version of Laguna de Apoyo between Masaya and Granada which we visit on a regular basis except that the three volcanoes that soar out of the lake are a bit more spectacular and there is a bit more activity. While Laguna de Apoyo is primarily a destination for lounging around and simply relaxing, Lago de Atitlan offered a wide array of opportunities ranging from yoga and meditation to volcano trekking and paragliding with just about everything in between. It also offers a wide range of villages with some small and tranquil and others busy and boisterous. We stayed in a small village on the north side of the lake named Santa Cruz la Laguna. This is a unique place in that most visitors and locals only enter by foot or boat and the only vehicle traffic in the village consisted of a few tuk-tuks that run people up to the village which is on the hill high above the lake, and a couple of trucks that deliver supplies up to the village. We had the pleasure of staying in the Villa Sumaya Yoga Retreat which is at a tranquil location east of the main dock and generally group offers yoga retreats, meditation retreats and other wellness related activities. The accommodations and facilities were first class and the staff was very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful and definitely contributed to making our stay on the lake a pleasure. Of all my journeys outside of Nicaragua the trip to Lago de Atitlan is easily one of my favorites and I very much look forward to visiting again in the future.

Century 21 Baseball Update

All of us at Century 21 would like to congratulate the Century 21 supported Manzanillo baseball team that won the recent Championship.
This year the team has Century 21's support again. This team is made up of men of the local Comunidad de Manzanillo, hardworking, responsible and above all who love the sport, a great team this season has started to fight for another victory.

The team includes numerous members of the Century 21 and Rocky Point teams including; Boris (our listing agent), Reynaldo (Rocky Point guard), Nelson (1.5 Mz guard), Roberto (HH guard) and Marvin (El Rosario guard).

Some recent photos and video of team are included below:

Central America Surf 2012, Nicaragua and Costa Rica

The surf has been great in 2012, if you have been missing it then get down here!!!

Sunny's Sack Shack

The following is an update on the Earthbag doghouse we have been constructing. A refresher for those of you who did not see the last post on this, we are building the world's most luxurious doghouse as a means of testing earthbag construction:

We are now working on the adobe flooring with Linseed Oil stain. The great news is that it made it through the 7.6 Earthquake on September 5, 2012 without any damage whatsoever. The Frank Lloyd Wright foundation performed perfect and not even a roof tile broke which happened at almost every other home in the area with clay roof tile. The thick walls keep it cool in the day and the nights stay warm. The dogs love it!!!"

Below are some photos and video showing the process from  beginning to today.