We had a great time Sunday when we celebrated on the beach with the Cartier family and many others for Lily's birthday. Beach fun and a bonfire, so awesome!! There is such a great group of families here from all over the world and it was so nice to meet them all. Some social time with adults has been much needed and we are so thankful for all of the warmth we have received by them all!
Tuesday and Wednesday were days at home powering through school work, the kids are pretty impressive in what they can get done in a short time!! Tuesday night I had the unfortunate experience of getting stung by a scorpion and it hurt terribly!! I lifted up a hammock that had been lying on our living room floor and when I did some of the material touched my arm. Hiding in the material was a scorpion, which I did not see, he got me on my arm right by my elbow. The sting was super painful and the after effects were not so fun either. My lips, tongue, and arm all went numb and my teeth were aching. All these symptoms were very common, so we read and we were told by a local we called. I did everything I was told to do, I drank lots of water, coffee, took Advil, allergy medicine, iced it and then I put Lavender oil on it on and off all night. I didn't actually feel better or completely normal for about 24 hrs, thankful that is behind me!! Not happy this happened to me but very happy it didn't happen to one of the kids!!
Later Wednesday we walked into town for Doug's chiro appointment and while we were there we met the receptionist who said she would take our chicks from us. She was beyond excited and that made our day!! After the appointment we were to be at the O'Shop in town because we had booked a turtle tour for that night. We were told to be there for 3:00 and then we would head out. We felt this was too early because the turtle tours are usually at night but we were told this was a better time for pictures and memories. Apparently there had been 1000 turtles come in the day before so we were told it was a good time to go. Not so sure about that??? La Flor Wildlife Reserve is a beach south of SJDS about 22km and it is one of the seven nesting sites in the world for the endangered Olive Ridley large sea turtle. It is protected by the military and you have to pay a park entrance fee to get in, $8 per person. We couldn't wait to do this, it has been on our "to do" list for this trip for awhile now!!
Our driver, Marvin (yes, another Marvin) took us out around 4:00 which we realized after was too early, we felt it was from the get go but we went on the advise from the tour owner. We were hoping to see the actual turtles on shore laying their eggs but to see that we needed to be there around 10:00 or 11:00 at night. We did get there before anyone else though, so that meant that the batch of turtles that were hatched that day needed to be released!! When we arrived at the reserve we went up to the main office and on the deck were bags and bags of sand, so we thought, but inside of the sand bags were about 80 eggs. As the turtles come in to the beach and lay their eggs the workers then go out after they have left to remove the eggs from the holes they were laid into. They are then kept in these sand bags until the turtles are hatched and then they release them. There is no way they dig up all of the eggs, way to many to do so, but they do their best to get what they can. As we walked along the beach looking for any turtles ashore we saw lots of the mounds where they have dug up the sand to make their holes. We also saw the drag marks in the sand from the water up to the tree line where the massive turtles made their way up to lay their eggs. The whole process is absolutely incredible!! A turtles journey is one of no other! As the sun set we anxiously waited to see if any turtles made their way up onto the shore, we didn't get to see any come up but we could see them out in the water lingering there. They will do that I guess until it is dark enough and safe enough to make their way, so cool!
The kids were getting anxious to release the babies and the mosquitos were feasting on us so we made our way to the office to get the little ones to release. Our camera flashes were covered in red plastic so we could still see and take pictures without harming or confusing the turtles. As we set them down on the sand to make their way to the ocean I was completely overwhelmed with a range of emotions. To know we were helping these little ones out into their big world and do what we had been dreaming to do for so long was so amazing, an opportunity like this doesn't come around very often!! I stood in the water shining my flashlight at them and in doing that it made them crawl towards me and out towards the water, you don't want them confused. As they are set down in the sand they are basically imprinting themselves to that location so they know to come back to that spot when the time come. Kids were crazy excited and we all felt such a sense of happiness and fulfilment that we did some good in the world, a very memorable night!!
Thursday was a pretty long and stressful day for us Saskatewanians!! We had been following the news and the building of Hurricane Otto that was projected to hit the northern Caribbean side of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We knew about it and we had been secretly preparing for it for the few days prior, we didn't want to worry the kids too soon. We had been freezing water jugs, keeping everything charged up and we stocked up on food and water. If we were to be hit in our area it was a Tropical Storm that would come through, for us we would be physically safe seeing we are in an American made strongly built home and on a hill. The biggest concern was for the community and the damage around us. Flooding and high winds could easily destroy the poorly made homes around here and it could also knock out the power and wash away the roads. Things are not built here like they are back home and if things are damaged or the power goes out we heard it could be weeks before it is fixed or restored. Shortly after lunch we heard sirens going off and then were notified that there was an earthquake just off the coast of El Salvador and with that came a tsunami warning for us. UGH!!!! The sirens continued and that was our tsunami warning which they take quite seriously here since one did hit SJDS in 1992. We were totally freaked out and I was starting to think the harsh Saskatchewan winters weren't so bad!! We received a message from our friends in town that they had been evacuated to a mountain side home from their hostel downtown and were being kept in this safe house until it was safe to leave. So crazy to us and we still hadn't said a word to the kids so keeping a cool calm face was tricky! Word arrived around 3:00 that the tsunami warning had been lifted and so we left for town quickly to pass our chicks along to their new home before the storm came which was to start around 6:00. Easy to send them off to this sweet lady who was beyond excited to take them!!
Made it home that night about an hour after the rain started, our road home, the famous Chocolata Road was now super slick and hard to drive on. Our taxi was all over the road but we made it and had time to settle in before the storm hit us. The rain continued all night, it pounded down on our roof, the winds were super strong and the thunder was so loud. We never did lose power which was very surprising since it goes out almost every night here but then doesn't during a big storm??? lol We woke Friday morning relieved that the Tropical Storm had passed and from what we have seen and heard there was minimal damage around the community. So thankful for the outcome we had and I can't say I want to go through all of that again. When you are faced with such a crazy series of events and ones that are out of your control, it is frightening! You do what you can with what you have and hope for the best. We were flooded with messages and emails from family and friends back home sending their love, best wishes and concern for us. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives, we heard you, felt you and are so THANKFUL for you!!!! :)
We had an incredible Saturday night with the Cartier and Francis families here, they all came over for a pool party and a good bye party. We enjoyed amazing food, drinks and had a great night full of good laughs before we left. Our time here in Nicaragua was so great because of these two amazing families, our kids all connected and played so well, we will never forget them! Farewell my friends, until we meet again!!
Today was our last day here so we walked into town for the last time, what a difference from a month ago when we walked in for the first time. Our way in was eventful as ever as we had to pass a heard of about 10 huge cows on the road, locals came by on motorbikes having a good giggle at us as we passed by the cows cautiously with sticks and full of laughs. Then the tide was high, super high actually because of the extra rain we have had lately so they had two boats helping people across the river. Oh the things we do now that we would have never done back home, so many experiences under our belt!!
Once in town we grabbed a few last items we wanted to take home with us and stopped at our favorite orange juice stand on the street corner one last time. A trip into town wouldn't be complete without a Marvin sighting and guess what we saw him!! Haha I swear that guy is everywhere and is always up to something!! He had a bike this time and wasn't working so he grabbed Nate for a quick ride before we said our final good bye to the one and only Mysterious Marvin!!So funny, what a guy!!
Tomorrow morning is departure day again for us and the excitement is in the air!! Our suitcases are packed and we are ready to leave when our 6:00 shuttle arrives in the morning. We are heading back into Costa Rica, so we have to walk through the border crossing again. This time we feel very confident in what we are to do and where to go, we are definitely more calm than what we were the first time. Our plan for the day is to cross the border and make our way down to La Fortuna, Costa Rica which is by the Arenal Volcano. We have a hostel there booked for two night and then we will make our way to San Jose where we then fly to Mexico City on Dec 1st. We will be spending three nights in Mexico City and then we catch another flight Dec 4th to Huatulco, Mexico. That will be our home until January 10th!!! YAH!! Super excited to be there, it feels like home to us after we fell in love with the people and area a few years ago. December is also Family Month, we will have some visitors that month (26 of 36 days) and we are beyond excited to see them all!!
Saying goodbye to Nicaragua is a sad time, we really fell in love with it! I wasn't feeling it when we first arrived and I'm so thankful I gave it a chance!! With some good old self reflection and perspective changing I was able to see this country for what it had to offer. Nicaragua is full of culture, natural beauty and beautiful hardworking people. We live such easy lives and my hat goes off to these people who never give up and are so happy with what they have. A lesson I believe we all need and should live by. This week has been hard on us, but we are and will be fine! We can now say we are hurricane, earthquake and tsunami survivors!! haha (I can laugh about it now)
Good bye Nicaruaga!! We are all safe, happy and our hearts are full!!
