Peace, Love and the Economic Crisis: NiCaribbean Style

When most people think of "Nicaragua", visions of volcanos, wide open spaces, a tumultuous history and lots of farm animals probably come to mind. Perhaps travelers are also starting to become aware of historical sites such as Granada and León, and Pacific beach resort towns such as San Juan del Sur and Popoyo.

Despite Nicaragua's burst onto the scene as one of the top global travel destinations, the most well known locales are not always the most authentic. Although Nicaragua boasts a rich national history, there is one aspect of the country's geography that has been consistently separated from traditional Nicaragua and its Spanish influence. And with good reason. East of Managua, roads quickly become scarce and unmaintained. The over 500 kilometers of Caribbean Coastline which make up Nicaragua's Mosquito Indian Province are separated by the largest rainforest in the New World after the Amazon Basin. Sadly, the indigenous residents of these formerly Dutch and British colonies suffered the brunt of brutality during the country's civil war, but are a peaceful people who, while still struggling economically, have colorful customs and a unique culture compared to the rest of Nicaragua.

Regardless of the fact that we are in 2009, Caribbean Nicaragua is still largely unexplored and greatly inaccessible. The thick jungles and rivers of this area can only be accessed by foot or boat in many places. To reach the most populated provincial town of Bluefields in the southwest, the only way by land is through tedious hours on buses and boats... Luckily, today there are regional flights from Managua that convert this formerly 12 hour journey into a semi-luxurious 50 minutes of viewing Amazonian-like terrain below while sipping on Rojito soda, compliments of La Costeña operated by Taca Airlines.

Upon arrival to Bluefields, the next logical step is to connect through to Big Corn Island, just another puddle jump east into the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. Big and Little Corn Islands are the center of Caribbean Nicaragua tourism, although the footprint of the Gringo is still not so obvious. This is reflected in the low crime rate, low prices for food and hotels and low technology in getting from Big Corn to Little Corn (at least the boats have life jackets).



LOW VOLUME OF WESTERN TOURISTS + 2ND POOREST COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA = CHEAP TROPICAL VACATION



So let's say you make it from the US to Managua to a rogue Caribbean island all in one day, which is quite possible with the frequent flight table. What is there to do in the middle of nowhere, you might be wondering? Plenty, if world class fishing, diving, snorkeling, relaxing and feasting on fresh lobster appeals to you. Sound expensive? It's not, unless you're looking to actually BUY an island. In fact, Little Corn was recently ranked one of the best global travel destinations during the current economic crisis on MarkerMap.com.

I have traveled to Little Corn Island a few times now since living in Nicaragua, for work and play and I can never wait to go back. This past trip I stayed at a place called Farm, Peace & Love on the less traveled North side of the island. When I say "less traveled", I mean that most of the accommodations are located on the West side, although you can walk around the island in a matter of a couple hours. There are no cars on Little Corn. Although there are roads on Big Corn, I prefer to get from point A to point B in a golf cart. It's all a matter of personal preference. Anyway, if you like B&Bs, organic food, privacy and friendly hosts, FarmPeaceLove may be for you. (Disclaimer: Power is from a generator on Little Corn, so it is not reliable and cold water showers are the norm).

A few things I love about Little Corn Island:

~Crystal Clear and Calm Water

~Amazing Sunsets

~White Sand Beaches

~Huge Variety of Dive Spots
~Perfect for Snorkeling, or Fishing, or Reading, or doing Nothing...
~Hiking Around w/o Seeing Another Person

~Coconut Bread

~Cacao Bread
~Organic Coconut Oil

~Lobster for $12/plate
~No Cars (there is a sidewalk around the Town side)
~Nice People

~No Crime
~No Phone Reception (unless you really look hard for a signal)
~Perfect Place to Relax
~Ridiculously Perfect for a Honeymoon or Romantic Getaway
~Everyone Speaks English (for those of you still working on your Spanish)
~Huge Variety of Tropical Plants, Birds and Flowers


During my first trip to Little Corn I tried to do some sort of activity every day and dive multiple times, but on my last trip I felt content simply strolling around the coquina sand beaches, reading and swimming in the clear, blue water. The Corn Islands are not for surfers, but I think surfers can still appreciate the beauty of this place and it's great to recuperate from a long surf trip on the Pacific side. They are also not really a place for night life and partying, although Big Corn offers substantially more ambiance (Arenas Beach is a good pick for this with a more lively and all-inclusive feel, complete with shipwreck beach bar). Despite the Hostel subculture on Little Corn and Big Corn's annual Carnaval, life on the islands is quiet and relaxed. Hopefully visitors in the future will respect that as much as people do now.

REAL ESTATE IN THE CORN ISLANDS


Land is still quite undervalued in the Corn Islands, and free, clean and clear property is available through the right contacts. In contrast to the rest of the country, this market is still fairly under-explored and has untapped potential, but some sustainable development is currently in planning phases on Big Corn. It's actually quite amazing to be able to buy ocean view or beach front property here that is at a fraction of a fraction of the cost of The Bahamas, British Virgin Islands and even Roatan in Honduras, which has undergone triple digit price increases in the past few years.Please contact me with any specific questions on buying property in this province.

While the Corn Islands are only a very small speck in the Atlantic Province of Nicaragua, they are a must-visit for anyone who wants to see a different side of the country's culture.

For more info on travel and accommodations to the Corn Islands, please see this helpful website: http://www.bigcornisland.com/.

Philanthropy 101 in Nicaragua

Most of us come to countries like Nicaragua because we are looking to share in the simple way of life, fresh air, fresh food and outdoor eco-tourism activities or sports that Central America is famous for. We love and respect this country so much, that we want to buy a property of our own to enjoy it to the max, or better yet invest on a variety of levels.


After a couple times visiting or investing, however, human compassion kicks in and we tend to feel the need to "give back" and contribute to the economic or overall well being of these third world developing countries that have offered us so much to enhance our own quality of life. But HOW?? As foreigners, we are sometimes conditioned to think that one has to either have money or a specific philanthropic organization in order to "make a difference". This couldn't be farther from the truth. Whether it's selecting an independent organization or governmental agency that you believe in or identify with, or something as simple as bringing down old clothing or sporting equipment for locals, we can all do something to improve conditions in the countries we travel to.

At Century 21, Barry Oliver (owner of the franchise) and other partner owners sponsor local children to attend school. We also sponsor a local baseball team with uniforms and equipment, donate money for road improvements and church activities and emergency funding for projects.. I personally encourage all my clients to contribute an extra $10 or $20 when investing and making escrow transfers, that can be donated to Century 21's local sponsorship and volunteer efforts.

My first year living in Costa Rica in 2002, I became involved in an event called the Pura Vida No Pro for orphans in San José. I am still involved today. Click here for a current interview on the event in Drift Magazine, or if you are in the St. Augustine area, pick one up!





My first year living in Nicaragua, I joined the Day of Light Love Light and Melody event at La Chureca land fill in Managua. Click here for that story as well.





No matter how small your contribution, I encourage all of you thinking of living in, investing in or visiting Nicaragua to get involved in an annual charity event or contact an ex-pat organization or think about a way you can help make life better for the nice people of this country, like our friend and client Archie Newell.


Click HERE to help and get involved!

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So is the market down now in Nicaragua?...

...No, it's not. As the mass economic hysteria continues in the US of A (you would think this was our country's 1st period in history of slow market growth!?), life as usual continues in tranquilo countries like Nicaragua.

In what may seem like and ironical twist, we have seen business actually increase noticeably in recent weeks. Why-you might ask?

The answer is simple (here it is from an ethnocentric perspective): When the market is good, people have extra cash and confidence to "take risk" and invest overseas. When the market is bad, smart investors continue to invest overseas and people who are now scared to invest domestically look for more tangible investment opportunities in growing markets.

The bonus: Now you can do the same, even if you're cash strapped. Marketwatch.com today overviews a few new programs to encourage lending in Central American, developing countries.

I'm a very patriotic person, but I also can't help but find some amusement in the fact that it may be easier for one of us "gringos" to get a loan in Latin America than it is in the US right now.

Instead of expending negative energy complaining about your fund manager who just flew the coop making off with the last 10 years of your bond earnings, maybe look south of the border to make up some of that lost ROI?

You could be staring at a palm tree instead of a red balance sheet...

Nicaragua Top 5 Real Estate Markets in Latin America

Well, well, well. And where is Costa Rica on this list? ;)

"Nicaragua appears to be an investor's dream, offering an ideal retirement and vacation destination for millions of people, especially Americans and Europeans."

Click here for the low down!- http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/top-five-latin-american-real-estate-markets-51342.aspx

Is Nicaragua Dangerous???

GEEZ. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question....

How did a country oozing with friendly, peaceful people develop such an incredibly devastating reputation for violence?

State's NBC's TODAY Show Travel Analyst Peter Greenberg: "[Although the TODAY Show feature on NIca reached 12 Million viewers], there are an incredible percent of people who are still misinformed about Nicaragua."



I'm going to clear some things up right here, right now:

To be honest, foreigners and their families are more safe in Nicaragua than any other country in Latin America. Global authorities also agree. Below I am going to go into detail on the crime factor in Nica. Unfortunately, sometimes it is not represented correctly and Costa Rica takes the limelight of being the “safe haven” when that can’t be farther from the truth. For example, I only know one person who has been the victim of an assault/robbery in Nicaragua, while I could quickly make a list of over 100 close friends in Costa Rica who have been assaulted in the last year alone. Most murders in Costa Rica, on the other hand, never hit the press due to covering up and censorship by local authorities.

Click HERE and HERE for some recent press about crime in Costa Rica, a country flaunted by the US government for its safety in order to protect diplomatic relations.

The OIJ international police is actually instructed to cover up violent stories and prevent them from hitting the news!

Here are more stats regarding crime:

Costa Rica is #19 highest murder rate in the world, with .06 per 1,000 people.
The US, with its nearly 50 murders per day is ranked safer at #24. Another "safe" country, Australia< is #43.

Nicaragua doesn’t even break the top 75. They are somewhere down the line at .00034 murders per 1,000 people.



Q. How safe are you in Nicaragua?
A. According to INCAE, the Harvard Business school affiliate in Latin America, Nicaragua is the safest country, and Granada is one of the safest cities, in all of Central America.

A popular way to measure a country’s level of violent crime is using the murder rate.

"Nicaragua suffers only 3.4 per 100,000, making it the least violent country in Central America and one of the safest in all the hemisphere."

The world’s homicide rate is currently 8.86 per 100,000.
The U.S. murder rate is 7.1 per 100,000
14.8 per 100,000 for Los Angeles,
21.9 per 100,000 for Chicago, and
41.8 per 100,000 for Washington, D.C.

Costa Rican homicide rate is 7.2 per 100,000.
El Salvador at 117 per 100,000,
Guatemala at 45 per 100,000 and
Honduras at 41 per 100,000.
Latin America as a whole has a rate of 22.9 per 100,000.

Hopefully this has given my readers more insight into the safety of Nicaragua. The point I would like to make is that, in reality, Nicaragua is the safest country in Latin America and safer than the US, UK, Australia, Poland, Finland, Portugal, Hungary, France, Canada, Iceland, Chile, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Japan, Hong Kong and many other countries that the world may perceive as “safe”.

I recommend that all of you come to Nicaragua and see for yourself. It couldn't be farther from the unfortunate picture painted by the biased US media during the 1970's.

Finally, a Surfing Breakthrough

“Dunphee! – I’m so sorry I was in your way! Did I ruin that barrel for you or did you make it out?”

“Huh, what? Ahh, no, I didn’t even see you; all I could see was, like, barrel.”

Up-and-coming pro Michael Dunphee used hand motions to show me just how much tunnel vision he had focused on that barrel. The kind of tunnel vision where whilst getting so shacked, one doesn’t realize he trimmed casually over the head of a blonde wahine, whose life was spared by a mere millimeter of God’s good grace. I’m a realist, and my take is that this can usually only be attributed to being… a guy, a male an XY’er. When it comes to “pulling in”, we chicks tend to over-analyze the situation in a split second and almost decide how we’re bailing before the peak even swings our way. Straighten out, pull through the back, pray… there are a handful of survival strategies for barrel dodging and fleeing from a ravaging lip. Surfing Booms doesn’t make it any easier. Ana from New Zealand put it best after popping up from a failed duck dive yesterday morning (alas, board-ditching is common here), exclaiming, “This wave is brutal!!!” I don’t think anyone who has surfed here would disagree.

After 7 months, 3 weeks and 2 days of living within a 5-minute drive from this wave, one would think I would have it wired by now. I’m pretty competent in the water, have about 10 years of competitive and travel experience under my belt. I even spent a 3-month stint living right in front of it at Hotel Chancletas! But this is no ordinary wave. Unless you are a high-ranking WCT surfer, the wave at Chancletas will humble you. I say this after nearly a year of having witnessed pros on photo trips and Average Joes fly or drive in from around the world to a perfect looking, seemingly innocent line-up at The Boom, only to come in from their first session with head hanging, a broken board, or worse. The most agile athletes start to “hold their own” after a few sessions or sometimes a week, but let’s face it, we females are either much smarter or much safer about our surfing, given that most guys break more boards in a week than I have broken all year.



The elusive barrel~ I would pull in here and there; a calculated tread amongst dodging the obstacle course of closeout walls. On every wave I would have one eye on potential surfers (accidents waiting to happen) floundering in my bottom turn vicinity and one eye on the lip, making for some frustratingly interrupted and mediocre surfing. Focus! Obviously, living here I’ve had my fare share of perfect waves and tubes, but had never really shaken the anxious flutter in my chest of navigating a 12-inch thick pitching lip while trying to avoid a poor soul in the impact zone. Until yesterday, that is.



Yesterday, everything just clicked. Energy seemed to surge out of my arms as I paddled. Each wave I mentally knew I was going to make it no matter what. Despite the very large, very perfect bombs pulsing through consecutively, I was unfazed. Wave after wave: push over the ledge, bottom turn, set, locked in, spit out. Or the other strategy: drop and stall, hand lightly trailing across the face of the wave as if it hadn’t crossed your mind that you skirted absolute disaster by a split second; the aftermath of the wave would have provided you a quick lesson on the physics of what I like to call the Black Hole (aka face slammed into volcanic sand).

Sure, after about 15 perfect waves I took about just as many on the head. And yes, I’ll admit the absolutely flawless surf helped make this breakthrough possible. But nothing could ruin the feeling of realizing that today I too had tunnel vision. Sitting sola in the still pumping line-up after while everyone, exhausted, was on their second breakfast, I couldn’t have been any more content. Today, it was more of the same.

Fruit glorious Fruit

Tropical fruit is bountiful to say the least, here in Northern Nicaragua where the soil is some of the most fertile in the world. Papayas can be 3 feet long, watermelon redder than thought possible (and as sweet as it looks), avocados the size of your head (I'm only slightly exaggerating). http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

Most people might not know that although we're in the midst of a global food crisis, Nicaragua still has the cheapest food in all of Central America. Especially produce.

Some of the fruit you can find here in abundance is:
-Watermelon
-Grapefruit
-Grapes
-Pineapple (gold and white varieties)
-Avocado
-Star Fruit
-Cantaloupe
-Papaya
-The best tomatoes in the world
-Huge variety of Bananas
-Huge variety of Mangoes
-Passion Fruit
-Much more!

The most expensive fruit on this list is a watermelon for $2. I can't get enough!