It’s May and the end of the dry season. The dust flies with every step and the hills are brown. Plants cry out for relief and skinny horses whinny their agreement. Everyone is waiting for the changing of the seasons. The thunder clouds gather to the South, giving us hope but still no relief. I did a little rain dance one evening and looked to the sky for an answer that still hasn’t come.

In the meantime, we have settled in to our routine. Coffee made with water heated by a wood fire.

I made a big bowl of guacamole from enormous avocados and got excited about planting cilantro seeds so that soon we will have some of that necessary ingredient. For some reason it doesn’t seem to exist down here.

Brian, using my TRX for a post-surf stretch.

Our friend Brian Hopper showed up to say “hello”. We met Brian a few years ago. He’s from San Diego and owns 80 acres a few miles North of here. The day we met him we had just planted our first 18 trees on our lot and were at the restaurant telling stories of our exhaustion. He showed up and announced that he had just planted 2,000 teak trees. “You win!” Now there are eucalyptus and palms as well growing on his lot.

Brian had great information to share about solar panels and water towers. As soon as we realized it was Sunday, he invited us over for a BBQ to check out his land and solar setup.
We gathered a few of the friends staying at the hotel and headed out to pick up some beers and ice. The corner store was bustling with Sunday afternoon delinquency and debauchery.

Brian’s solar controller.

We grabbed a few beers each and set off to walk some of Brian’s 80 acres. I got really excited about this bridge. This time of year the river is dry, but by August it will be raging!

The crew was awesome! Joe, Brian, Dave, Shay, and Ryan.

After the long hot walk, we were stoked to get back to the house and smell garlic and shrimp cooking in the kitchen.

Shay has been living in Nicaragua for a handful of years and while you might think that would make him totally accustomed to the heat, he was surprisingly the most excited about getting back to the shade!

After another quick walk, the rain finally started falling! We rejoiced! We then rejoiced even more when we made it back to the hotel and participated in the weekly taco night. Hurray for Sundays!
Waking up to a rain-filled wheel barrow was thrilling.

Ryan, trying to get the fire started with wet wood in the dark.

Bring on the rainy season!!!!