San Juan del Sur Nicaragua

We are anchored in this lovely "windy" anchorage for a while. We blew out our Jib or headsail. We had do get one built in Miami and now have to wait for shipping et all. The kids love it here. They are taking SCUBA diving lessons and really enjoy it. This is a great place to get stuck in - minus the wind.
There are internet cafes and surf shops that cater to budget minded backpackers.
Lots of xpats here.

sailing

These shots are from our first overnight passage. Genevieve and Chantal made precooked snacks to carry us through the night. The girls took turns on the wheel which made it easier for us to catch some rest. We had no autohelm or radar for this passage which made it kind of interesting. Josee slept for most of the trip- this is her crashed in the cockpit. We all slept in the cockpit to fend off motion sicknesss, which I am happy to report that no one got sick. We saw dolphins and sea turtles.

shopping in Chinandega

Puesta del Sol

The surf is small at this time of year so the surf resorts are closed.
The nearest town is Chinandega. Fresh Produce is abundant, the streets are clean and rather subdued in contrast to our Saladorian shopping experiences.

Nicaraugua

We left El Salvador early 6 am in the morning and had a beautiful sail into Nicaragua. About 3 hours out the water color changed to a deeper blue and the clairity improved. As we approached Nicaraugua we could see clouds or red dust blowing from off the high hills. It is sugar cane harvesting season and the smoke filled land deposited little shards of black carbon all over us.
The sail was perfect we had a lot of wind that changed throughout the day. The marina is first class. The beaches and Estuary are noticeably cleaner than those of El Salvador. Here we are first boat in the background enjoying the marina.

friendships

While "outfitting" in El Salvador at Bahia del Sol we were fortunate to aquire the friendship of Edmond. He is from Quebec and has a law practice here in El Salvador helping Central Americans immigrate into Canada. We shared a lot of laughs and a lot of wine together.
( his translations services were certainly a godsend)

Leaving El Salvador

The Girls are both excited and sad to leave El Salvador which has been our home for over 3 months. We have really enjoyed El Salvador. The Salvadorians share the same "Joie de vivre" as our Canadian French culture. Met some amazing people who extended their hospitality beyond belief.

chantal loves oysters.

It was Chantal's request to have raw oysters. She loves to eat them raw with lime, lea Perrings and a dash of hot sauce. We ordered 2 dozen and she ate 14 - I could not believe it.

fresh seafood delivery

For our last meal in El Salvador we took advantage of the opportunity for fresh seafood by asking our friend Gervin ( about one hour before dinner) where we could buy some oysters and prawns.
He found these guys to dive for the oysters and brought along a large bage of prawns.
Now that's service...and check out that smile.

Oyster shucking

These oysters are a lot harder than the ones back home, this fellow worked at these for quite a while - it was really quite a show.

La Libertad Coast

Michel enjoys a swim at this abandoned resort

Resorts

It's hard not to notice how many "tourist" opportunities are lost in El Salvador.
There are so many places to go and explore. There are resorts and hotels throughout the country that are really nice places but they are empty. The strange part is there is more tourism development going on and the tourists are not here to fill them. I suppose it is a "build it and they will come" mantra, or something like that
This is an abandoned project on the rugged surfing coast of La Libertad.
The rock pools were amazing. Swimming in these with waves crashing in was exhilarating. The fact that the waves were so powerful on a "no swell" day made it even more interesting. I don't think such a facility could exist in our litigious North American society. The labour in the rock work is something to be considered

plantation workers

This the home of a family that "works" the Dardano plantation which is a new plantation in full production this year.
Next to sugar cane work this has to be the most grueling type of work I've seen. Salvadorans are hard workers. The coffee grows on steep mountain sides, it is cold in the dry season and extremely muddy in the wet season. Everyone picks coffee even the smallest of children. I imagine they are the ones climbing down the steep mountain side.
The family who lives here has been promised a small plot of land if they work the farm for a number of years. Land ownership and stewardship agreements are a plantation workers dream.

coffee plantation workers

The coffee plantations are high up in the mountains and it is really quite cold. Kind of like a September day at home. Along the drive you can see small children going to collect water or wood for cooking fires. These kids we getting water.

coffee

The Dardano family took us to thier plantation, a small farm producing about 30,000 pounds of coffee on 40 manzana's which is around 60 acres.
They the 'Owners ' get about a buck a pound and the pickers get a buck for every 25 pounds they pick