Starting the Seawall in Town

 

We started the seawall in town a few months ago.  This will extend the lot and give us a place to build so everyone can get access False Bluff easier.

North Farm at False Bluff

 

Nice walk around the north farm to pick some pineapples and see how the crops are growing.

Repairing the Off Grid Farm House

 

The termites and humidity are hard on wood structures!

Starting the Leveling and Backfill

 Beginning the process of bringing backfill onto the lot to level it up and then begin to extend it.

Leveling After the Demolition

 After the house was demolished the rubble was leveled to provide a solid base to put backfill onto.

Demoltion Day

 The house purchased in town was built on a rubble foundation and would not be suitable for building onto.  The house was demolished and the lot is being extended to provide a large area for a new house / port which will allow for better access back and forth to False Bluff.

Demolition Preparation

 

Bit of Nature from the October Trip '24

 

False Bluff Project List and Southern Farms Tour

 

Trip Out to False Bluff on My Last Work Day

 

Finding Contractors, Finalizing Decisions, Finally Rain

 

Measuring out and planning for the new house build.

 

 

Seems like the harder the work, the hotter the day.

Clearing and Cleaning the Pointeen Lot

Beginning work on the Pointeen property.

 

 

Short video about shopping for supplies to get ready to clear the Pointeen lot.

Day Two from MGA to BLU

 Finally in town and starting to get everything ready to get some work done.

Pointeen Work

Work will begin soon to fix up the Pointeen property in Bluefields.  This will give a good place to come and go to the beach from.

Getting things done...

In the United States the bad economy has been painful world-wide in the last few years:  the cost of food is way up, owning a car has become more expensive from repair to insurance to fuel, heating or cooling a home is more costly.  Even cooking your food is more expensive.  

And the cost of housing is way up...  

There's a shortage of 'affordable housing,' the cost of purchasing either a new or old home has risen in both purchase price and financing, and there are very high prices for materials to build or repair existing stock.

But someone in the small Caribbean town - where I spend time when I'm not actually at False Bluff - has tackled the housing problem in a unique way. 

On a large verdant lot with Bluefields Bay not far in the distance, someone has built half of their house now:

 

Nicaragua...beautiful on both sides

Information and 'news' from Nicaragua is more often bad than good.  Part of that may be deserved like media coverage of any country; but much of it seems to be from a combination of a lack of knowledge and a lack of context.

However, a recent newsletter posted at the French site 'EnVols' touts 'The 5 most beautiful towns in Central America you need to visit'

Of the eight countries in Central America, only four are listed:  Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, and Costa Rica.  

The five listed towns are Antigua, Granada, Panama City, Leon, and San Jose.

Doesn't quite add up, does it.  Four countries listed in the story but '5 beautiful towns.'

Turns out two of those towns are in Nicaragua...on the western side, but beautiful nonetheless:

https://www.en-vols.com/en/getaways/travel/beautiful-cities-central-america/

When the world shut down...

 ...so did tourism and Nicaragua's domestic airline, La Costena.  Not really.  La Costena kept a small number of flights to carry its small number of customers.  But the airline cut one flight that is critical to many of us who routinely head directly from Managua to the Caribbean coast, specifically Bluefields.

La Costena has increased their number of flights including that critical flight, the second flight of the day - what is fondly known as the 'late flight' - which goes to Bluefields.  That flight now seems to be available most days.

Tourism is an important part of Nicaragua's economy. Of course Nicaragua isn't the only place where tourist dollars are important. Many cities in the United States count on tourist dollars and 'the pandemic' had a devastating impact on travel and thus tourism...NYC, Charleston, San Francisco, Seattle.  For some of the cities in the US that were tourism hot spots, the end of 'the pandemic' isn't seeing the increase of tourism.  It's just that the reasons tourists aren't visiting have changed.

But Nicaragua has not been as directly impacted by either safety or the lack thereof - and tourists are returning in droves.  And why not.  Nicaragua has it all...beautiful architecture, natural features that are pretty close to perfect...the Pacific coast on the west and the Caribbean on the east, wonderful people and it is nearly the safest country in Central America - of course no country in Central America beats El Salvador which went from about the most dangerous country in the world to the safest in the western hemisphere.  But Nicaragua is probably just behind that.

This link provides a good look at tourism in Nicaragua: https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/travel-tourism/nicaragua#sales-channels

And this is a link to La Costena, with Corn Island at the top of the destination list and Bluefields at number 2:  https://www.lacostena.com.ni/Content/Page/Destinations