Sabana Grande

Sorry that it has been a while since my last update.

We spent one night in Granada last weekend since the Sabana Grande people were going there. While there, we went around to some of the various old churches, and were able to go up to the bell towers of some of them for a great view of the city.

However the most interesting part was the zipline tour through mombacho volcano. Mombacho is a dormant volcano that has been overgrown with rainforest, and the tour was amazing. Eveything was very safe, and we got some great views of the forest. There were a total of 8 lines with the longest being 100 meters in length.

More currently, Tim and I are spending time in Sabana Grande this week as there was little work for us at Suni, and the volunteers at Sabana were having trouble getting everything done. So far we´ve worked on repairing a wind turbine, (Almost done, we got it to produce charge, but we still need to remount it) and developed a way to recycle paper to make labels for the solar cooked coffee that the women sell. Assuming we have time, we are going to attempt to build a vertical axis wind turbine since we have all of the parts that we need.

Volcano!

We have had a rather interesting past few days. Last week we started to clean up, paint, and set up a stall at a fair for Suni. This fair is held for 10 days every year, and any business can sell products there without tax (this is important as the tax in Nicaragua is 15%). It is a very large event drawing people from all of Central America, and includes all manner of prize animals, solar voltaic systems, even mattess companies. It is set to start on Friday, and there is supposed to be a rather exquisite opening ceremony which we will attend if time permits.

One odd experience we had was disposing of a bunch of scrap wood left in the stall. We first piled the larger pieces into a pickup, and then drove through a nearby poor neighborhood, and dumped it in the street when we found locals that wanted it for firewood. It would be the equivalent of dumping a trash bag in the middle of Akron.

The second load was wood scraps not worth burning, so we took it to the nearby Managua solid waste district. The dump was a rather sad place, as there were hundreds of people sorting through the trash, looking for scraps of metal to salvage and sell. It was very sad to see.

On a brighter note, we went to Masaya Volcano National Park this past Saturday. There are 4 main craters clustered together, 2 active and 2 dormant, along with other smaller volcanic features.

You can see some pictures from one of the active craters which is constantly smoking.

The second active crater is directly behind the other, but does not smoke.

We were able to completely hike around the dormant crater, which now has a forest inside of it. There were park rangers along the edge to guide people, and it provided a great view. At one point you are literally on a 4 ft wide trail between the 2 dormant craters, with an excellent view into both. The whole park was very interesting and well maintained, with an informative visitor's center at the base of the mountain.

All of the craters in this part of Nicaragua are shield type volcanoes, meaning that they are not overly tall, and tend to have large lava flows rather than violent explosions with more gas than lava (though these types exist here too off of the northwestern coast)

That's all for now and 21 days left!

Leon

This past weekend, Tim and I met up with the other UD volunteers at the city of Leon (pronounced lay-own) for 2 days and one night. The city had many interesting things to offer; including volcano boarding (we did not do this). We did however have a great time at the beach at las peñitas, about an hour bus ride out of the city. Once again, this was a tourist location so we had some good old American food (cheeseburger never tasted so good) and met other English speaking people. The beach itself was beautiful and you can see in the pictures.



The black sand and rocks are due to the area's volcanic origins. Pumice and other volcanic signs are common place through Nicaragua which still has many geologically active sites.



We stayed at the beach for a few hours before heading back, taking the time to enjoy ourselves and relax. That night we all went out for dinner before turning in for the night.

The next day was more or less uneventful as we had to leave early, but we first looked around some of the local markets for anything interesting, though most of it was the same type of trinkets we encountered in Granada.

I'm not sure what this next week will entail. I know at some point before we leave we want to see the volcano at Masaya which is still an active volcano with many interesting sights to offer.

Weekend in Granada

Well, we just got back from Granada yesterday; it was a fun trip for most of us (the healthy ones).
We left on Saturday after meeting Dan and Nathan at Papa John's for lunch at Galerias Santo Domingo, the really nice mall in the city. Also it should be noted that Papa John's is a nice sit down restaurant here, not just a carry out place like in the U.S.
(Pictures are of the Mall and of us in Papa John's).





After lunch, we took a cab to the mini-buses that run to Granada and Masaya. It's always funny to walk past these as the drivers shout continuously and point at passersby on the platforms as if they just might convince you to take an impromptu trip... Anyways, we arrived about an hour later in Granada and made our way to the hotel we were staying at. This place was actually rather nice by American standards and even had a small pool. We relaxed there for a bit, and then explored the central park area of the city. There were a few interesting shops and street vendors, but most of the stuff was junk, large gaudy jewelry, or other random trinkets. We went to a local restaurant to eat that evening, and even though it was a very nice restaurant in a tourist city, the meals were about 7 a person including a drink.

The next morning, Tim and I had to make a quick stop at an island in the nearby lake to assess a house that the owner wants to power with renewable energy. The lady (a resident of California who inherited the island from her father) has many different ideas of what she wants to do with the place, but regardless she wanted to have a solar/wind system. The island itself was very nice; covered in mango trees and baby parrots that willingly will let you hold them.



Following the appraisal, we rejoined the others in the city and relaxed for the day as we were fairly tired. (Pool, reading, internet at the hotel).

On Monday morning, we decided to rent bikes ($1.00/hr) and to go around the city. We saw many interesting landmarks, churches, and an old cemetery where several Nicaraguan presidents are buried. After about two hours, the sun had started to get to us and we returned and hung out at the pool.

Tim had been feeling slightly ill for the majority of the trip, but got somewhat worse that night, so we took him to a local clinic where the Doctor diagnosed him with a bronchial infection. The clinic itself was... interesting. It wasn't dirty, but it was not up to American standards at all. Either way, the medicine seems to be helping as Tim is getting better.

The following morning we returned to Managua, and I went to Suni to get a few things done while Tim relaxed and tried to get better.

I am uploading several more pictures to the slideshow above, take a look!

Pictures From Sabana Grande

I already wrote the story, but here are some pictures we took there.

A mountain that was in our backyard


A giant tree that also is a land mark for taxi drop offs (me standing next to it)


The Solar center with various ovens and dryers in the front


Wind Turbine at the Solar Center


Me with Erin and Nathan; 2 of the Sabana Grande Volunteers

Quite an eventful weekend

As I mentioned before, we went to Sabana Grande this past weekend. It was a very interesting (and well needed) break from Managua. The only way to get up there is by a 4 hour charter bus, which while not the most fun method of travel, is better than the typical inter-city transports which are refurbished U.S. school buses. We had about an hour wait at the bus station. At one point Tim announces he has to use the restroom (he's had the runs for a few days) but upon discovering the 2 Cordoba (10 cent) charge for the restroom, he gets belligerent and say "Well, I'm not paying for that! I'll hold it." That worked for about an hour till Tim had to stop the bus and run screaming off of it to a hole in the ground. Finally, after that interlude we arrived at Sabana Grande. We stayed with Dan - another UD volunteer - at the house of Donia Carmen, who also lives with her 13 year old granddaughter, Scarlet. The first night (we arrived around 5:00) all of the volunteers at Sabana Grande came over and we played cards, exchanged stories, and caught up in general.

We woke up the next day and everyone met up at the bus stop to go to Somoto Canyon. This is a local tourist area where you can hire a guide and go swimming in the beautiful canyon while admiring the wildlife and natural colors it presents (My camera is at the house so I'll post photos later but here is one from Google ). We arrived and had about a two mile walk down a path that crossed the river several times (proving interesting for certain persons who decided to wear hiking boots instead of sandals as recommended... hint not me). At the end of the trail, we hired a boat to take us a bit further up the river and to serve as a guide of where is and isn't safe to swim. The current was stronger in certain places due to recent rain fall, but these were easily avoided, and if you did get caught they were not so strong they couldn't be swum against. The whole experience was very fun and refreshing. We stayed at the canyon for about 3.5 hours before heading home.

Once back at Sabana Grande, we cleaned up and relaxed before heading to Ocotal, a nearby big city. It should be noted that Tim ran out of money here as he had an idiot moment and brought only 300 Cordoba ($15) to cover taxi, bus, food.... I.E. I had to pay for him until we got to Managua and he paid me back. Ocotal is one of the nicer cities in Nicaragua, it is much cooler and developed than Managua, and has a much safer feel to it as well. The plan was to go to a restaurant and to then go dancing after we met up with David, the Director of volunteers from Grupo Fenix (He is Canadian but lives in Nicaragua). I had the luck to get a bad stomach ache and fever at the restaurant and had to get a hotel and return to Sabana via cab the next day, while the others got to have a fun night. Not a good day to be me.

The next day I was feeling somewhat better but still not great. Most people were still tired from the day before so we just spent the day relaxing. In the evening, Dan, Tim, Scarlet, and I played Uno for a while which was very fun. Scarlet was funny; she spoke clear Spanish and readily engaged in conversation which was very helpful.

On our final day in Sabana Grande we quickly visited to Solar Center where the Sabana Grande volunteers work. They showed us around, and we got to see the various solar ovens and dryers they had along the autoclave being developed. They have made the best that they can with the local resources, choosing to heavily insulate the ovens as aluminum foil is the best reflector they can get. We only spent about an hour there before taking an uneventful bus ride home. Upon returning, we waited at the Suni building for an hour before taking a quick trip to a nearby building site where we are planning to incorporate a form of passive solar air conditioning. Our current project is to determine how many kW of refrigeration will be necessary for the building so an appropriate system can be installed. We have only just started this but we are heading to the site again tomorrow to take various temperature measurements and analyze the materials being used.

Finally, yesterday evening we moved out of the old house and into the new one. We had had too many issues with thievery and though all I had taken were some batteries, Tim had many more expensive things stolen and both of our suitcases had been knifed in a similar manner. After we first discovered the thievery, we originally were going to move out the 26th as the old family had been paid for then but when we discovered the knife cuts we decided to move immediately. The new house feels much safer and just looks much less shady in general. Even better, the people there actually talk to us, whereas the old family treated us as tenants and never said anything (technically worse as you don't usually steal stuff from tenants). I'll post a picture comparing the two rooms next time I write. I hope everyone back home is doing well!

- Jim

Heading out to Sabana Grande

This Friday, Tim and I will be leaving to spend the weekend at Sabana Grande where the other UD students are working. While we are just going to visit and hang out, I'll explain what they are doing there for those interested:

At Sabana Grande there is the solar center where the "Mujeres Solares" work building various types of solar ovens and apparatus for cooking, drying fruit to sell, and various other purposes. The UD group is working to combine the solar heat in an oven with a pressure cell to create a solar autoclave that can be sold to rural clinics for equipment sterilization.

Speaking with some of the UD people there, we will be mostly doing sightseeing and other various fun activities while there (swimming, a housewarming party, fun gringo stuff, etc.) I really don't know much more than that but I'll be sure to write all about it and add some pictures once I'm back.

In other news, we might be moving to a different host family due to the few things that have "disappeared" from our room, some of the unsavory conditions (yesterday the shower was infested with 300 ants and a large cockroach, and a few other small things. The family seems nice, but we've had some trouble with him wanting us to pay more than we should be also.
For instance, we wanted to use a fan at night as it is ridiculously hot here. He said fine as long as we paid for the electricity. This seemed odd as we pay Suni who in turn pays him. Then, after 10 days here he said we owed him 150 cordoba ($7) for electricity which seemed high. Douglas at Suni did the math and we found that the most the fan could use in a month is $5 worth of power, and that he isn't allowed to ask us for money, he needs to go though Grupo Fenix (Suni is a part of this) if he has monetary issues.
We'll see what becomes of this.

One other thing of note, I do have a phone here that can call the states if anyone wants to talk; it is free for you to receive the call so just leave me a comment with your number.

As I said I'll write more when we get back.

- Jim