http://www.costajill.com Just another writer's blog Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:16:20 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_462" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Hotel Las Mercedes"][/caption] Immediately upon arriving three hours late in the capital city of Managua, Bob and I get tremors of third world country glitches. The chip installed in my phone doesn’t work, but it’s a nice relief. The representative of our hotel tells us we have ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/03/09/nicaragua-with-water-for-people-and-el-porvenir/ Just a note before introducing my next volunteer experience in Nicaragua with the same group I went to Africa with - Water for People. [caption id="attachment_455" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Edge of our road"][/caption] While waiting at the airport for the flight to Managua I reminisce on these last few weeks of my busy, ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/03/03/slipping-and-sliding/ More Bird, Butterfly and Monkey Business We could spend hours on our balcony watching the life in the canopy, one that most people will never experience. Thank you Meg Lowman, the pioneer in studying forest canopies all over the world. She was the first to construct platforms and zip-lines to ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/02/05/life-in-the-treetops/ Finca Bellavista [caption id="attachment_411" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Erica"][/caption] Under a bruised black sky, excitement has turned to fear trying to stay on the trail to Base Camp for dinner. Finding a flashlit sign saying ‘River Trail’, I hesitate, “Oops. Better go back. Start again.” The flashlight illuminates the sign ‘Sky Trail’ next. “Damn it. ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/01/25/up-in-a-treehouse-part-3/ It’s my birthday and we’re on our way to the Treehouse with our Finca Bellavista pointer sheet in hand. Lots of instructions, directions and rules. Too many to remember. It begins: You won’t find billboards or roadside signs that lead you to Finca Bellavista. We are not a full-service spa or ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/01/16/finca-bellavista-getting-there/ It's 2010. Twenty-Ten - don't you like the sound of that? In honor of the new decade I'm putting out of my mind that it's been a month since posting a blog. Let's start anew without resolutions. They just cause stress. And thus begins my recollection of a first in ... http://www.costajill.com/2010/01/02/up-in-a-tree-house-finca-bellavista/ [caption id="attachment_355" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sean, Matt, Ruby Kim"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_353" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sunset from Jazzy's Riverhouse"][/caption] Jazzy’s River House 27870310, that’s the place in Dominical, Costa Rica where the locals go for great music, food, art instruction, surf lessons, yoga, massage, theater, and friendship. Ruby Kim and Steve have opened their arms ... http://www.costajill.com/2009/11/30/pizza-slices-of-life/ [caption id="attachment_331" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Ivey"][/caption] Liwonde National Park, which has the best game and bird viewing in Malawi lies on the southern end along the Shire River where it enters Lake Malawi, the second biggest lake in Africa. Back on the bus, this time Ivey from the main office of WFP ... http://www.costajill.com/2009/11/15/tales-of-malawi-end-of-the-road/ Blantyre is the largest city in this small country bordered by Lake Malawi on its east side. The people from the surrounding villages have swarmed into the city in the last few years because of an ongoing drought. With the rivers and meager waterholes drying up subsistence farming no longer ... http://www.costajill.com/2009/11/04/the-slums-of-blantyre-malawi/ Zachi and Ng’ombe Villages – Chikwawa District Nelson is a wonderful storyteller. We take turns sitting next to him in the front seat of the bus to listen to his lively Malawian tales. One of my favorites, though not based in fact, gives a real understanding of why the people of ... http://www.costajill.com/2009/10/26/malawian-villages-making-changes/