ENGLISH
east coast of Nicaragua
small boat used by fishermen without the sail
We were supposed to go to a popular tourist destination named "Corn Island" to spend Christmas but we decided instead to go to a less popular place. A lagoon located on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua is populated with a population of Caribbean English speaking blacks who demarcate themselves by their boundless friendliness. Most of them live by the sea and the product of their fishing trips although some of them have diversified their income into public places. One of them places is a bar nicknamed "stiff cock" by the local "rudeboys" (Littles gangsters). All around the lagoon are small communities of fishermen and farmers transporting themselves with small canoes powered by a self made sail made of pieces of tarp sowed together. An old man told us it was not the way it used to be back in his younger days: he used to go fishing early in the morning and at 9am sharp the wind would shift back towards the village. Nowadays, the wind shifts at all time with variable intensity. All the same for the rain season, they used to know exactly when to plant seed and to harvest but everything has become unbalanced now.

Leon & his trees
In a place named "Laguna Perlas", I�ve met with an american named Leon working on a ecological project aiming to restore some of the natives trees. I helped out planting a few seeds inside plastic bags and it helped me relax a lot. Who said that being a tree huger wasn't cool?
http://laecorestoration.blogspot.com

Atlantic coast of Nicaragua
The plan was to reach Tasbapauni, the northern village of the lagoon, and catch rides northbound to Puerto Cabezas along the coast. Technically the coast would be walkable since it is a beach all along but locals patiently explained that it was not so safe. Drug traffic from the south is making it's way up the Miami and other northern destinations. Who say drugs say police! Drug traffickers push their precious goods overboard moments before authorities search them. The "gifts" are washed off to shore for people to find them but witness are not as desired. The only option left to us was the boat but we couldn't find any other one than the one we missed. We simply got pissed off and decided to go by land.

sea turtles
sea turtle1
sea turtle2
While we were in Tasbapauni,  nothing else than turtle meat was presented to us. It tastes like salted beef. We were feeling uneasy to eat an endanger animal and it is partly why we didn't want to stay any longer. It seems to be an usual part of the diet of the locals.


next adventure: Pico Mogot�n
the highest mountain of Nicaragua is named Pico Mogot�n with 2106 meters (6909 feet). It is a volcano located at the boarder of Nicaragua and Honduras. The mountain has been filled with landmines back in the 80s by the Sandinistas. the army were demining the area back when the last climber has done it a couple of years ago. this suggest that the area is getting safer. despite the remoteness of the mountain, there seems to be a trail going up there. The mountain has not been climbed very often, so it would be an adventure with a lot of tales.


FRAN�AIS
nouvel an
Apr�s avoir savour� la mer, les habitants anglophones de la cote Atlantique et la viande de tortue, ma blonde et moi nous sommes dirigés vers Matagalpa. C'est une ville propre situ�e dans les montagnes o� un vent frait s'y infiltre. C'est l� que nous avons passe le nouvel an. En fait, nous �tions tellement fatigués de nos nombreuses aventures pendant la journ�e que le lit a �t� notre seul d�sir bien avant minuit. Par contre, les gens du Nicaragua f�tent grandement a coups de p�tard, feux d'artifices et coups de klaxon. Les d�tonations des "obus" qui explosaient, r�sonnaient dans notre cubitule de b�ton arm� (notre chambre dans un bordel). Le tout ressemblait plus à un d�but de guerre civile qu'à toutes autres f�tes.

la moto
Pour 15$us / jour, nous avons trouver une moto asser particuli�re. Cette vieille moto de 185cc n'avait pas de klaxon, pas de lumi�res de signalisation, pas de miroirs, pas de lumi�re de frein arri�re, pas de cadrans fonctionnels de vitesse ou de RPM et le pneu arri�re en avait vu d'autres. Mais pour le prix, c'�tait quand m�me un bon deal. Nous sommes parti au nord vers la jungle et je me suis senti revivre. Depuis mes d�buts en moto, j'en ai r�v� et j'en veux encore.

prochaines aventures: Pico Mogot�n
La plus haute montagne du Nicaragua se nomme Pico Mogot�n du haut de ces 2106 m�tres (6909 pieds). C'est en fait un volcan situ� � la fronti�re du Nicaragua et du Honduras. Les faces du volcan ont �t� remplies de mines anti-personnelles dans les ann�es 80 par les Sandinistas. Lors de la derni�re assention r�pertori�e il y a 2 ans, l'arm�e �tait en train de d�miner la r�gion. Malgr� l'�loignement du volcan, il semble y avoir une trail pour monter. Le volcan n'a pas �t� gravit souvent, ce sera donc remplis d'aventures et d'histoires � raconter.