Casa No Name Salinas Grandes Nicaragua

This is our beach!  Isn't it beautiful?  The sand is very dark, even black in some areas and the seashells are a stark white lying against the sand. We have yet to show a proper post of the land we have bought and the house we are beginning to build in Salinas Grandes, Nicaragua, so here you are.  

Standing on the beach in front of our build looking north.

Standing on the beach in front of our build looking south - note the rancho.

I can't wait to wake up with the sun and walk this expansive stretch of beach. Under the bright full moon we will be able to go out on the beach to keep baby turtles safe as they hatch and make their way to the water. This beach holds many great adventures for us. 

Standing in the scrub between the beach and our build.

Casa No Name ... which knocks the socks off Casa Albatross (our last house owned and dumped after the housing crisis in the USA) has yet to be appropriately titled.  I keep calling it Casa Pequeno (small in Spanish) but we are open to suggestions.... that is your cue to leave us a comment with your suggestion!  So far we have 'Sur' endipity, Sur'fin, Surf Dog and are you ready for Big Daddy P's suggestion; Palicimo Seximo.  Oh dear gawd. 

Front veranda and main entrance to the house.

Side lot. Big Daddy P, Fin and our friend Paul.

Standing inside the house looking at the bedrooms.

These guys are using a water level.

Big Daddy P holding clay roof tiles to be laid over a zinc roof.

The lots are grouped into 10 lots each with a communal area with a rancho shared between the houses. This photo is taken from the rancho adjacent to our lot.  You can see in the photo below our friend Paul's white circular house named Apres Surf.  It's going to be a three story three bedroom three bath house with spectacular views from the top deck.  The fishermen already use Paul's house as a landmark since it is the first house on that stretch of beach.

In the rancho looking at Paul's white house Casa Apres Surf.
That is our build in that clump of trees just over wall line of the community building.

Our friends Sasha, Shamus and Big Daddy P chowing down.

Lobster and fish dinner.

Thank you to Rafael & Donovan our developer / builders for hosting such a delicious dinner in the rancho.  We feasted on fresh local caught fish and lobster.  The fishing co-op is in the town of Salinas Grandes which is a short drive from our house. You can bet Big Daddy P and I will become regular faces at that co-op. Steve is very excited to get spear fishing and has replaced all the spear gun's components already.

Finster entertaining us after dinner in the rancho.

A spectacular end to our day. Squeeeeee! This is our front yard! 

Playa Hermosa Nicaragua

This is Playa Hermosa, one of the most beautiful beaches we visited on this trip.  It has a gentle beach break good for beginners, occasional surfers and as my hubs Big Daddy P calls it, fat guy long board waves. We headed here so the guys could surf some small waves and get ready for the bigger break out front our house...   The weather was cool...I say that and it was about 77 degrees and overcast, which was good for us coming out of NC, we didn't get baked day one out on the beach.  

There are hammocks and chairs amongst all the trees. 

There is a small surf hotel here and a restaurant serving local fare; fish, rice and salad, cold beer  and cocktails.  Coconuts were chopped open for us to drink from with a straw which Fin thought was pretty neat. It looks quiet in the photos but there were more than a handful of people around lounging in hammocks slung from trees.

That is Costa Rica in the back ground.

Playa Hermosa is located about 8 miles outside of San Juan Del Sur down a private road.  There is a gate house and a cover charge of approximately three dollars a person to use the road.   We were told by local gringos the cover charge is to pay for the security of being on a policed road with secure parking upon arrival at the beach.  It was rumoured that cars would get robbed on route to this beach before the gate, cover charge and security were implemented. That information only wigged me out half the drive and then all was forgotten when I saw the beach!  Really dudes, the truck was full of our bags and boards and was completely safe in the lot.  You can't do that in other parts of Central America any more. 

The road itself was pretty good largely due to the the production of Survivor Nicaragua being filmed on this very beach in 2010. Obviously they build up the road to get their crew and equipment in.  Free passable roads leading to awesome surf breaks are one of the perks of TV in the after math of big budget production.   Wait - you didn't really think the survivor contestants were on a beach alone did you? 

Little hermit crabs were all over the beach!

While the guys waited for the swell to fill in, Fin and I explored the beach finding hermit crabs. Sasha showed us how you can hold the shell and softly blow on the crabs under side to get the crab to pop out of the shell.  Pretty cool!

Sasha, Shamus and Steve

Fin writes her name for the FIRST time EVER!

Fin waxing the board with Big Daddy P

Steve was happy for a small swell to fill in.

Steve on left and Shamus on right

Rock snow man found on the beach & brought home with us to NC.

Settling into our first days in Nicaragua experiencing this beach made me feel like I could fully exhale, which is a really neat feeling when you can be so far from the familiar and feel like you are finally home. 

Back Yard Bok Bok

For years my husband Steve has been talking about getting a few chickens to raise for eggs and meat.  I'm totally on board the whole pets/eggs scenario, but, I don't eat meat and I really don't think I can get past our named backyard brood to eat our birds.  I digress, Steve raised chickens when he was a kid and so he has a grasp on the whole operation - this is entirely new to me, but, this Ship is on board 100 percent. Let the adventure begin!

April 10th - Fin's 3rd Birthday, Big Daddy P came home 

with eight day old chicks.   A gift for Finley.

Fin and honey Cat sat with the chicks for most of the day.

We have four pullets - We think they are Rhode Island Reds.
 And we have four black chicks that are NOT SEXED.
Time will tell if we have a rooster in the brood.

The chicks lived in this crate for about two weeks while we got the coop ready.
It was still pretty cool at night and so they needed the heat lamp.

Big Daddy P working on the coop.  It's built into the tree house.

Making the door for the coop.

Tadaaa the coop.

Once the chicks were about a month old we began to name them.  Some of the chicks are named after kids in Fin's pre-school class;  like Caroline and Sally.  Other friends of ours got to name the birds too.  We have Big George, Mario, Lyndsey, Poopie, Darla and ... I can't recall the last one's name  ahhhh - hit the comments and send us suggestions for new name?

Juvenile Birds - about three to four weeks old here.
 They're always sitting on one another.

Fin loves to handle the chicks.  They're getting used to us.

Bok! Bok! Bok!

Setting up the feed and water.

Fin is helping the chicken into her nesting house.

We let the chickens out to free range the back yard while we are at home.  At first I was afraid they'd take off  - you know like a dog would at the first chance to flee the fenced yard - but the chickens really are birds of a feather ... they flock together!  They graze and then head back to roost in the coop.  Usually all together.  They have established a pecking order and we've seen very few fights.   They sure are fun to watch!

Raised chickens?  Have any tips for us?