Greetings from Ometepe Island

Well I´ve been on Ometepe for a couple of days now and I have to say it is an incredibly beautiful place. It is sort of like Maui in that it is an island with a volcano on either end and strip of land in the middle. It is very lush and green with water falls and beautiful scenery and rainforests. The people are incredibly friendly, I am told that there is no crime here and to make it even more eden like real estate is very cheap here. I looked at a small farm here with a very tiny bulding on it ( I am loathe to call it a house) it is about 10 feetx20 feet basically 2 rooms with an attached bathroom. There is water to the house, a septic tank has been installed and there is electricity at the street. It is 1.75 acres (What they call a Manzana in Nicaragua) it has all been planted with corn, tomatoes coconut trees, grapefruit tree, banana trees and you can buy it for $10,500 U.S. Believe me I was tempted to buy my little piece of paradise but then figured that I would rarely if ever use it as I wouod never give up my places in Mazatlan. Of course no paradise is perfect. And this one is no different. The biggest challenge here is getting access to money. There is only one bank on the island, hence only one atm. The atm has been out of service since I´ve been here. The only way I´ve been able to get is that there is a store here that will run your credit or debit card and give you money and he gets 10%. Today is Sunday and he is closed so I am leaving the island because I am tired of the inconvenience. I stayed in a nice hotel here it is run by an American couple. The room is spacious, and it has HOT water. I have not had hot water since I left Mexico. It is named appropriately enough the American hotel and cafe. I haghly recommend it if you ever get to Moyogalpa on Ometepe Island. That is all for now, I head to Rivas on the 11:30 ferry and start heading south. The next time you hear from me I will be in Costa Rica.

Hasta la vista baby!
Charlie