House Hunters International, Popoyo, Nicaragua

The house hunter crew was back in Nicaragua on August 25th, Gaspar our listing manager picked them up at the airport and drive them the Hilton Hotel. The next day in the morning the whole crew got ready to head down south to Popoyo.



We arrived safely in Rancho Santana were we spent the whole week. On the 27th Ross Talner,



our Popoyo office General Manager and main participant on the Show arrived for the interview, then we all headed out of Rancho Santana to a client’s business, a small hotel named Toro.



Diego and Paloma always smiley received us, perfect timing for their interview and to film the singing part of the show where they signed the contract to close the deal. On the 28th we left Rancho Santana and headed to the purchase house, everything went smoothly, no black out, everyone was on time, we shot the house with Diego and Paloma living in the house,



and then we shot Diego and Ross surfing at Guasacate beach.



Around 6 pm we all celebrated the wrap with a cold beer; the same night all the crew had a great dinner with lobster and Margaritas.



August 29th the river was high and we were a bit worried to get back on time for their flights. Everything went perfectly as we arrived on time to the airport. The last word from them was that they had an incredible experience in Nicaragua, especially in Popoyo. We also had an unforgettable experience and are looking forward to seeing the House Hunters crew again.

Saludos,

The Dining Duo: Welcome to Nicaragua

The following is a cool post from the "Dining Duo", Michael Hadley Epstein Scott E. Schwimer, about their recent experience in Nicaragua with a little help from Century 21's Barry Oliver and Johnny G.

http://thediningduo.blogspot.com/2008/08/welcome-to-nicaragua.html

Our First Trip to Aserradores in Northern Nicaragua

Note

This was originally written for the blog I do about my baby daughter to help out of town family and friends keep up on the goings on, but Barry suggested I add it here as well since it is about our trip to Northern Nicaragua. I hope you enjoy.

Nicaragua Trip Blog

A Brief History

In 2006 Yolanda and I along with out friend Terri went to Central America for 3 months. Originally we were planning to spend the majority of the trip in Costa Rica, but “circumstances” moved us to Nicaragua which to our surprise at the time we thought was much nicer than Costa Rica. This week we did our first trip back down and Maya is getting to use her passport for the first time. Our friend Katie came along which is a big help to us with the little one and we also met our friend Levi for a few nights. He is living in San Juan del Sur.

When Yolanda and I were in Nicaragua previously we spent the majority of our time in San Juan del Sur



San Juan del Sur

which is a pretty touristy town on the Southern Pacific coast near the Costa Rica border. This trip we are going down to look at some property in the north Pacific coast near Chinandega which is much more remote.





San Cristobal Volcano



Chinandega

Since some of you reading this probably have some misconceptions on Nicaragua,




I will give a little background on it. The country has a bit of a bad perception as it was the location of the Contra-Sandinista war in the 70’s and 80’s which was basically an extension of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. That is long over and the country has been a democracy since the late 80’s. With the exception of a few bad areas in Managua there is very little crime and statistics actually show Nicaragua to be the 2nd safest country in the hemisphere behind Canada (Yes, it is statistically safer than the US), but also the second poorest ahead of only Haiti.

The scenery in Nicaragua is beautiful as the country has long Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, numerous mountains and volcanoes, and one of the largest fresh water lakes in the world, not to mention incredible surf. It is really a beautiful place and only the perception has kept it as isolated as it is, which probably won’t last too much longer unfortunately.

Sunday July 27

Maya, Yolanda, Chris and Katie Leave for Nicaragua







Maya in the Airport

Today was a brutal travel day. We woke up at 1:30 in the morning to head to LAX for our 6 AM flight. We were actually a little late by the time we arrived but ended up making the flight with no real problems. After a long layover in Houston we arrived in Managua at just after 8 PM. This is where things got interesting.





We managed to get through customs and get our rental car before they closed, but got bad directions for the road to Leon. We ended up on the “Old Highway” to Leon instead of the “New Highway” to Leon. The new highway is a smooth beautiful road while the old highway is washed out in many points, much longer and full of potholes. We fell a few hours behind in our Journey and were too late to get into our rental house for the evening.

After struggling to find an open hotel that late a taxi driver eventually led us to a hotel in Chinandega that would open and he pounded on the gates for us until the attendant woke up. Needless to say, I was in the doghouse, but the hotel ended up being comfortable (and cheap) and we managed to get some sleep and get on the road again for our destination in the morning.



Monday July 28

We Finally Arrive at our Destination

After our struggles the night before, our friend Kristin had her driver Omar from Century 21 come meet us in Chinandega and drive us to meet her. This made life much easier as we still had no idea where we were going. The road through Chinandega ended up being very confusing.

Finally we met Kristin on the dirt road to Aserradores





and we made it to the house which was very nice.







After settling in for a little while and relaxing we decided to take a trip over to the Marina Puesta del Sol resort and have some lunch.














After a very tiring Sunday we decided to spoil ourselves a little bit with a nice lobster meal and some beverages. We hung out for a while in the restaurant on the estuary







The Girls who worked at the Marina and at Chancletas loved Maya





and then headed over to the pool for a bit where Maya did a little skinny dipping (The rest of us wore our swimsuits).









After an enjoyable afternoon at the resort we headed back to the house enjoyed a nice sunset and took it easy. Everyone fell asleep early (Katie and Maya were each in bed at 7:30) and we looked forward to exploring a little more on Tuesday.







Tuesday July 29

Our First Trip to Chancletas

Since we still had no food in the house, we woke up early and headed to a really cool little local hotel called “Chancletas” that our friend Irish Drew recommended for some breakfast.









Drew had just traveled all through Mexico and Central America and ended up staying at Chancletas for a month. On the way in we noticed here that there were Century 21 signs up on some lots very close to the beach and the hotel which we were hoping may work for the deal we were doing with Century 21.











We sat down at the little Palapa restaurant in Chancletas and had some breakfast and then headed back to the house for awhile.








I headed up to the Century 21 office for a little bit to try to get caught up on work, but I had so many emails that I felt overwhelmed. I could not stay long as the girls were all back at the house with no food and no car. Then a typical Nicaragua event happened and we lost power and Internet.

No longer able to work I headed back to the house



and we all went out for a dip in the ocean. The beach is really beautiful and the water in front of the house is really good for swimming and so nice and warm.





Later that evening we headed back to to Chancletas for some dinner then came home and had a nice relaxing evening playing Rummi 500 and once again got to bed early. The following are some Maya pictures for anyone that is feeling withdrawals.










Wednesday July 30

Back to Chinandega

Being that is was now Wednesday and we still had no food for the house we decided to make a trip to Chinandega (the closest big city to where we are staying) to get some groceries. Chinandega was quite intimidating to us on the way in as we got pretty lost on our first venture there.

This time went a bit smoother. We made it through town with little trouble (two wrong turns) and found the La Colonial (a large American style grocery store) immediately. We proceeded to do some shopping and came out to find that our tire was going flat. A local in the parking lot gave us directions to a llantera



Maya hangs out with Katie and Mama while our tire is repaired

and we successfully made it there and got the tire changed without it going totally flat on us for 30 cordoba ($1.60).

After this I went into the office for a bit and got caught up on work and the girls all chilled at the house and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the beach. We stayed in and made dinner at home as we had a big day coming up on Thursday.

Thursday July 31

Today was a busy day. I had scheduled to meet with Kristin from Century 21 to go look at some properties in the morning. After arriving in the office around 7:30 so I could do a little work before we headed out property gazing I ended up getting a call from Kristin saying she had an emergency and had to leave town the night before.

Instead Boris took me around which was cool as he is a local and very knowledgeable about the area. We looked at the properties by Chancletas which we really like and also saw a large really beautiful property a little further off the beach, but with amazing views, and a few more beachfront lots that are out of our price range up to the north.

I tried to get through this quickly as we were all going down to Leon to do a little sightseeing and pick up a friend, Levi, who was coming up from San Juan del Sur for a few nights. As usual in Nicaragua we fell behind and got into Leon right before he was about to give up on us.







After doing a little tour of the local Cathedral and Mercado we stopped by a little hostel that Yolanda and I used to stay at when we would come to Leon and hung out for a little bit. All non-pregnant members of the group had their famous Mojitos and Maya went for a swim in the pool.





















On a funny side note, Katie and I were standing on the street waiting for Yolanda to come out from the Via Via hostel across the street when suddenly a panicked naked man was running down the street. We cannot really venture what exactly he was doing, but he did not look crazy and appeared to be trying to get somewhere to cover himself. We then headed out and caught a pretty brutal rainstorm on the drive back. We eventually got to the house and had another evening of cards, box wine, Cerveza Tona and Flor de Cana.



Friday August 1

Back to Chancletas

I can’t believe it is August already. Time flies and in 3 ½ months Maya will have a little sister. Today we woke up a little later (7:30) and went up to breakfast at Chancletas. We were planning a short trip as we had told the Caretaker of our house that we would drive him to Chinandega in the afternoon, but somehow our breakfast ended up being an all day event.

After chatting with Shay, the owner of Chancletas, I asked him if he would show me some of the lots and he, I and Maya went for a little ride in his truck. He seems like a very nice guy and seeing Maya really seemed to make him miss his wife and daughters who are back in the states for a couple weeks. They just had a new baby girl last month and they also have two other young daughters.

After looking at the property we went into the little local town (Aserradores) where he needed to go buy some fish for his restaurant. His overall property is quite large and he has a bunch of horses including a couple of brand new babies that roam the property. It seems like a really cool vibe around this area and I am hoping everything works out with us on one of these lots with Century 21.

Levi and the girls were hanging out on the beach and then we had a little lunch and just chilled out in the hammocks and had some beers and water and stuff.

A little later we headed back to the house and just chilled out, did a little swimming in the ocean and relaxed.





















Yolanda and I also took a long walk on the beach



while Katie kept an eye on a napping Maya for us. The beach we were on is called Playa Santa Maria and it is does not have any hotels or hostels, but some of the houses are gorgeous. One house we saw way down the beach was a beautiful, massive Cape Cod style house.

Most people who have not been here consider Nicaragua a pretty remote destination, and this part of the country is much less developed than some of the areas down south near Costa Rica, but the land is really beautiful, the people are very friendly and the beaches are gorgeous.



Saturday August 2

Today is our last day up in this region before we head back down to Managua to prepare for our early flight Monday morning.

After spending the morning lounging around in front of the house and on the beach we decided to head over to the Marina resort since Levi has not been there yet. The food at the Marina is delicious, but you pay U.S. prices.





After a bit we headed back to Chancletas one last time.











Since they have wireless internet, we are able to keep up with work and relax at the same time which is nice combo. Shay, the Chancletas owner had asked me to help him out with something on his Internet system yesterday, but he was not around, so we headed back to the house.

Here is a little video of Chancletas that I copied from the century 21 website



Among the entertaining events this evening was an iguana fight on the roof of the little front beach house and a giant frog chilling out on the window.



Later in the evening a very heavy rain storm came in that was literally rain in sheets. The night consisted of some Flor de Cana 12 year reserve and Katie’s delicious box wine and eventually bedtime.

Sunday August 3

Today was mostly about preparing to head back to Managua. We had a little trouble on the way up as you may recall, so we decided to leave fairly early to make sure we were driving in the light. Around 12:30 we left the house and said our Good Byes to Senor Donald. He was very happy that we left behind part of a bottle of Flor de Cana 12 year rum.







We hit the road and drove past the Century 21 baseball team’s game on the way out. It turns out that Sunday is the best day to drive in Nicaragua. The roads were practically empty and it made for a smooth drive.

This time we had no problems driving through Chinandega and managed to get on the New High as opposed to the Old Highway. The total trip back to Managua only took us a little over three hours. We originally planned to stay in the Crown Plaza for the night, but since we did not know exactly where it was and happened to drive past a Holiday Inn Select we just decided to stay there. Levi went ahead and caught a bus back to San Juan del Sur and I drove the rental car back to the airport to turn it in since we would not be using it anymore and did not want to deal with it in the morning with a 6:50 AM flight.



The hotel turned out to be very nice. We all went out for a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant



which was very good and headed to bed since we had to be up to leave for the airport and 4 in the morning.

Monday August 4

This morning we rose early and caught the hotel shuttle to the airport. After initially worrying that we would never make it through the endless line it turned out our flight was delayed 2 hours. This was perfect since we had a 7 hour layover in Houston. As usual Maya was very good on both flights minus a quick tantrum on the second flight. We eventually made it back to the house in San Diego and it was very nice to be home. Vacation is always great, but so it home. You miss it when you are away for a bit. Maya really enjoys being back to all her toys and her crib and Yolanda and I also appreciate being in a place that is more “baby” proofed.