We just finished a week in complete and total paradise, in the form of the ecological resort-in-progress Parque Maderas. Last Sunday we left Leon at 9 am for the four hour drive to San Juan Del Sur, arriving at Parque Maderas in the heat of the early afternoon. However, we pretty much forgot about being hot once we discovered where we were. Parque Maderas is run by Tyler, who grew up with Ethan and is right now, quite simply, building his dream: a center for art and ecology. His project is expected to take about seven years, and right now is at year three and a half. We all stared at him in disbelief when he asked us not to fight over the double beds in the spacious dorm room that he has set up for groups. The beach was a short but excrutiatingly steep walk away, and was the hangout for a pretty big surfing community. We walked a bit farther down past all the surfers and swam and sunbathed at this gorgeous empty beach, finally going back up after watching the first of many incredible sunsets. That night we discovered that we were also in for a huge treat food-wise, starting with our first dinner of grilled ginger chicken, corn and bean salad, lettuce salad and rice. We all went to sleep completely blissed out. The first full day we were there Tyler was busy fixing some broken generators, so we had another day of relaxation. Some of us braved the big waves and took surfing lessons from Tyler’s friend, and others swam. After lunch it was so hot it pretty much called for a siesta, and then there was more beach time. The food continued to be some of the most delicous food of the trip. Tyler was trying to figure out how he wanted to run the hostel, and we were guinea pigs for some of his ideas, including trying to create the perfect brownies, which we were the lucky recipients of. Over the next few days we spent time having class with Tyler, where he taught us about sustainable developement, what goes into a project like his, and learned in more detail about his vision and the problems and successes he has had so far. He took us around his property and showed us the plants that he’s been cultivating, many of which have medicinal properties. We spent one afternoon taking cuttings of lemongrass and replanting it along the paths. He also had us take a stab at designing the entrance to the resort, which was really fun. He was very chill about everything, explaining to us that he had had this vision, so he came down to Nicaragua and “built this resort or whatever.” We were able to experience Nicaraguan emergency health care when Rachel was stung by a sting ray at the beach that Tyler had sent us to that was about an hour away from San Juan Del Sur, which was where the clinic was. We were blown away when the visit took all of about five minutes. The other patients in the waiting room ushered her through, where she gave her first name and age to the nurse, got a shot of local anesthesia and left without even needing to pay anything. On our last day Tyler packed us a picnic (cajun chicken pasta salad, peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches, banana bread, watermelon, and cookies) and we took a boat ride a little ways down the coast to yet another incredible beach, completely empty of any other people. By the end of the week none of us wanted to leave, but we all packed up our backpacks with promises to come back and visit some time in the next few years, when I’m sure it will be even more amazing than it is now, and headed off to cross the border into Costa Rica.
Hasta Luego,
Julia
