There is much good news to report in this blog. However, I will begin with the Sad News to get it off my plate and move forward.
My dear friend and occasional traveling partner Carol Dorsett sold her casita and moved back to the US mid-November. Carol’s family encouraged her to spend more time with them in person than virtually via social media. Carol received a good price for her home and car and took with her multiple suitcases of her favorite toys. I have four boxes of her
“things” stored under my desk here. She reassures me that she will be back soon to get these items.
Another pair of my friends, the first ones I met in 2004, Dennis and Sylvia Green are moving back to NH close to family for health reasons. They are selling both their beautiful Beach House Cafe on the ocean and their ten acre Ranchette here in Rancho Santana. This is very sad for both Sylvia and me. Dennis is more relieved of the constant care that they put forth since 2003 than Syl who loved the beach. Dennis will not be coming back to NI and Sylvia will be traveling back and forth until the houses are sold. She has had an ongoing “garage sale” for the past month. Many of my Guzmán family members and I have benefited from the extremely low prices of the Green’s high quality items for sale.
The saddest of all news is that my friend Elmer Wisley died at his home in FL November 15th. Elmer and Barb lived here in Rancho full time for eight years. I have been living in their beautiful house since March taking care of it for them and as I said before I love every minute of being here on the hill in Bella Vista. Barb will eventually come back to NI I think.
Now Good News. I met several new friends, some short time visitors who came to find out what Rancho Santana was all about, and a few couples who moved here and intend to stay.
Some new friends are a great pair of physicians from Managua. Dr. Fidel Morales is a plastic surgeon interested in having a consulting clinic out in our beautiful beach area. His intention is to do pre and post-op here and perform surgeries at the Vivian Pellas Hospital in Managua. His wife is Dra. Lissette Castillo, a pediatrician and dermatologist. Together they have the Clínica Beauté in a nice area of Managua. I talked to them about being the “boots on the ground” caregiving supervisor and wound manager. We’ll see how this develops in the future. Anyone wanting plastic surgery let me know. It costs one tenth of the US price for any surgery here and the surgeons are as good if not better than some in the US. These two physicians take care of elite Nicas but also do a lot of free surgeries for the poor. Dr. Morales’ father is a renowned Nica plastic surgeon well known for his charitable work.
Another great piece of news is that my “commercial” property in Limón #2 is finally legally mine. It only took two years to get proper title to the three lots that I purchased in 2013. Now we’ll see what direction this property will take. At the moment it needs to have the weeds cleared. The little rain that we had for about two weeks made everything get more than three feet tall. Workers should be showing up this week to cut the brush using machetes and then trim with weed wacker around the edges.
The Guasacate house is underway with walls about up to the roof line. I think there may be a roof this coming year. Progress is slow for my “pay as you go” house project. It is a good thing that the builder is also my neighbor and good friend. We will have twin houses on the hill in Guasacate.
Since I listed my RS condo on Airbnb, I have had quite a few inquiries and have rentals scheduled through mid-January and in March. I am very grateful to Lorna Abunga, my friend from Kenya, for helping me get the condo listed. I also have it listed with Trip Advisor but so far no inquiries from that posting.
One of the unexpected Good News events was dinner at Mukul, the Pellas resort at Guacalito. Two gentlemen from FL who came to RS to check out property were introduced to me the day they arrived. I became their unofficial tour guide. I took them to several of the surrounding towns and developments and in to Rivas to show them where we shop. To thank me and Nan Zinn, my business partner, for showing them around they took us to Mukul. What a gorgeous place at night. Dinner cost a fortune I am sure and the men were happy to treat us.
On the way home from Rivas, the guys and I stopped by the new Costa de Esmeralda airport and picked up info on the flights to Costa Rica and Managua. Wow, I plan on using these airlines in the near future. The prices are reasonable when you compare them to paying a driver who uses my car to take me on the two hour trip to Managua airport, plus the cost of gas and a hotel stay if the flight leaves early in the morning. Sansa Air flies to Costa Rica and La Costeña flies to Managua. The airport is small, customs and immigration ready and nice. The employees all speak English. For the first time since moving to NI, I can hear planes other than copters flying somewhere in the area. Civilization is creeping up on us rapidly.
There are so many new homes and businesses being built both in the larger gated communities and in the local villages. I expect that this growth will continue to expand. The newest wave of people coming to the area are those seeking permanent residences and are entrepreneurs wanting to integrate into the Nica communities. I love this new phase of growth. Many more Nicas are also coming and building their vacation homes.
The paved (block) road from Tola to Rancho is progressing too. Of course, it reaches the airport now and the Guacalito turnoff. Soon it will be complete to Iguana–the development next to Rancho–and then out our way. In the meantime we still deal with herds of cattle and pigs on the road. You have to be more than a defensive driver here as motorcyclists and even cars will pull out from a dirt road without looking in either direction. I almost hit a moto last week that pulled directly straight into the road. The guy didn’t turn his head one way or the other. He was shocked to see me swerve, brake, and honk. Fortunately for both of us, there wasn’t anyone or animal on the other side of the narrow road. I thank God and my angels daily for keeping me safe on the roads.
This past month I have kept very busy coordinating property, people, and projects. At the moment I am helping Sylvia clean out cabinets, garages, and her two homes for sale and eventual move. On Dec. 14th I will leave for CA to be with my family for the holidays. I will return home here on Jan. 3rd. My friend, Nan, is staying at the Wisley House for me and will manage staff both here and the condo while I am gone.
Sorry, no photos this time. I can’t figure out how to restore photos from the new Apple OS software.
Happy Holidays to ALL who read this blog. Remember the Joy that is promised from the Christmas Birth and the hope and prospects of a New Year.
Margie Fincham in Nicaragua 