The house

     During the first phase of the False Bluff project we accomplished four things:  opened the creek so that travel to the property by way of the Caribbean would no longer be necessary;  cleared enough land to be able to move around;  dug a well to provide fresh water;  and built a place to live for those who would maintain and oversee the property in my absence.   

      The second phase would expand on or correct two of the previous things:  provide additional living space and dig a second well because of problems with the first.
     After living at False Bluff during part of the first phase, I changed what I had planned for the expanded housing that was to be built during this phase of the project.   My initial plan had been to add a long low addition to the original structure, with all the rooms facing the Caribbean to the east.   Instead only a breezeway and a windowless storage room attached to the original structure would face east.   The rest of the new construction would go west and up:  the result is L-shaped and has two stories. 
     The first part of this job was, of course, to put in a foundation and pour the slabs that would define the new spaces.  

Foundation for storage room and kitchen 

Slab for breezeway and stairs 

Roof framework

     With what I hope is the last heavy load, we left Bluefields at 6:00 a.m. to carry out "sticks" for the roof and the last two sheets of Plycem.   Because of the weight the boat trip seemed endless instead of the usual quick travel of the eight miles.   Once again the pontoon boat has proven its worth.

Report: Plycem and the crocodiles

     Fifty-four sheets of Plycem, delivered to a Bluefields' wharf from Managua.   Plycem is a cementitious product kind of like tile backer board; or imagine a 1/2" thick piece of Hardiplank the size of a sheet of Plywood.  It's used in lots of places, including here, as siding.   Once fixed to a house's framework it gets a smooth seamless coat of mortar and the house ends up looking like typical block construction.  At 1/2 " thick each sheet weighs about 100 pounds.   Because of the weight we knew that there would be more than one trip of the pontoon boat to False Bluff to deliver the stuff to the job site.
     The first load of Plycem, 20 sheets, left Bluefields late in the morning, heading up the creek toward the dock just about the time that much of the water in the creek was heading down toward Smokey Lane Lagoon: low tide.  The three men ferrying the load jumped into the creek to push the boat over a low spot and suddenly there were crocodiles all around their legs.
     I got this story second hand late in the day after the Plycem had been unloaded at False Bluff and everybody was home safe.   So I don't know how big the crocodiles were...just that they were bigger than the baby crocodile that recently shared a morning with me near the dock, and that they were big enough to get grown men moving really fast.  
     A year ago there was only swamp where the open creek now is, with just a trickle of water flowing through the vegetation.   I think the crocodiles are using the easy travel conditions provided by the open creek as much as the people are, so maybe they were heading down the waterway with the tide toward the lagoon; or up the waterway from the lagoon against the tide:  a chance encounter with other travelers.
     Anyhow, it turned out to be an adventure for the guys who were in the water and they escaped with a story that will spread and maybe grow.
     When they got the boat to the dock they recounted their 'near death' experience to a fourth man who was working on a project adjacent to the dock.  I understand this guy took off running...that they didn't see him again the whole time the Plycem was being unloaded or when they left False Bluff.   The best guess was that as fast as he was running he was probably in Kukra by night fall.

A few more things about Bluefields

     In the 'Bluefields' post, refer to the letters on the Google Earth image for locations....

     M

     Lawyer:   Silvia Fox.   If you need an attorney - for a land purchase, property dispute, residency issue, etc, she's unbeatable:  bi-lingual, smart, empathetic, and tenacious.

fox.silvia@gmail.com

K

     There are a lot of barbershops in the central part of town but I've only found one centrally located 'salon and spa.'

D

     In a cash-driven society, sometimes changing your currency for the Nicaraguan cordoba can be a challenge but you can get cordobas on this corner from a number of people who might wave a fat handful of cash in your direction as you walk by.   I prefer to deal with the women because even before they begin to pull off cordoba in exchange for your currency they whip out a calculator to show you exactly what's happening.

J

     There are veterinarians in Bluefields, at least one of whom speaks English.   So far I haven't had to meet one but I have shopped at the veterinary pharmacy where you can get stuff like tick and flea control, vitamins, and wormers.

Between B and C

     I used to stuff my suitcase with clothes.   Now I stuff it mostly with more important things and buy clothes when I come to False Bluff, shopping in Bluefields which is full of thrift stores...some of them even advertise.  This particular store is between B and C.

E

     If you arrive in or leave from Bluefields by water, most likely you pass through the municipal wharf.  And if you have stuff shipped to Bluefields like pieces of a pontoon boat or a golf cart, the municipal wharf is where it all first touches the city streets.

N

     This corner is good for three-in-one: lumber, metal fabrication, and woodworking.   The lumber store is on the corner.  Right behind it you can have things like a metal gate or chair or table frame constructed.   Next door to the lumber store is the woodworking shop...french doors, kitchen cabinets, beds, adirondack chairs, and more.  

Madera (lumber)

Mr. Ellis, metal fabrication

Carlos at his woodworking shop

Crocodile, cocodrilo

     A young visitor near the dock met me for breakfast tea recently.   Glad it wasn't his eight foot long relative seen basking in the sun in nearly the same place.

The third kind of food

     Since there's nowhere to buy food at False Bluff, going to Bluefields is the best bet for shopping.   The lettered Google Earth image in the "Bluefields" post locates the following:

 B

     Sidewalk markets are everywhere and the municipal market has quantities of produce and meat.   There is also a section of the municipal market where you can sit and have a meal.   Most food is inside, but just outside the far end of the building is a pier at which boats loaded with fresh food arrive frequently from early morning on:  shrimp, fish, oranges, bananas, pineapples, limes, lemons, etc.   The market also sells rice and beans and coconuts (and non-food items like pots and pans and bowls and buckets and charcoal).  

C

     On the corner just up from the market is the 'fruit lady.'   She offers one of the best deals around, usually made while you wait:  a bowl, with utensil provided, full of chunks of fruit, all wrapped in plastic if you're not going to dig in right away.  Her fruit bowls usually include watermelon, papaya, pineapple, cantaloupe, and banana; but also other fruits in season.  Can't get any fresher. 

G

     On the second corner up from the market is the 'pink' restaurant.   If it has a name I don't know what it is.  You can eat in or buy at the take-out window. 

H

     Just around the corner from the 'pink' restaurant is one of a multitude of places that sell pastries;  but this place seems to be the sole source of a delicious, fat, heart-shaped, ginger-flavored cookie that's about the size of my hand.   (That you can also buy miscellaneous pieces of hardware in this little shop is incidental.)

   I

     Across the street from the cookie shop is one of Bluefields' many grocery stores and the only one I've found that lets you do your own shopping.   At most stores you stand at a counter and ask a clerk to fetch each item on your list.   For those of us for whom it is still a challenge to ask in Spanish for 2 pounds of onions, 5 pounds of cheese, and pineapple, not kiwi, Tang, a store where you pluck your own goods off a shelf is a comfort.  (You can also buy Purina dog food there.)

L

     Though there are restaurants galore, one block stands out because there are so many, starting with the Tip-Top franchise on the corner.  Across the street and a bit up from Tip-Top are two Italian restaurants, one with pretty good pizza to go or eat in.

Bluefields

        Bluefields, named for the Dutch pirate Abraham Blauvelt, is Nicaragua's principal Caribbean port.   The city spent part of the 1700-1800's riddled with British and French colonists and today its inhabitants comprise a real melting pot:  asian, black, indian, latino, white, and mixes of all of these.   A sign near the airport claims a population of just about 46,000 people but Bluefields feels a lot bigger than that.   Right now Bluefields is easily accessible by air or water.   A road from the west was recently completed but I'm told it's not for the faint of heart.   
     I'm always surprised when I read things that downplay what Bluefields has to offer to residents and visitors alike:  two universities;  a growing young museum;  a wide array of restaurants ranging from Chinese to an Italian place with linen tablecloths to the ubiquitous fast food chicken place with a kid's playroom; jewelry shops;  street vendors and markets;  a multitude of furniture, appliance, paint, hardware, and building supply stores that claim if they don't have in stock what you want they'll bring it in for you; carpentry and metal working shops;  and more...   Most of the businesses bear the names of their Nicaraguan owners but there are a lot of familiar names, like the Yamaha dealership, and Sherwin Williams and Radio Shack.   In other words Bluefields is a typical city. 
     Below shows a few blocks in the center of the city.   Upcoming posts will outline what's available at the lettered locations...a purely subjective selection I assure you.

Citrus trees

     After clearing and cleaning a section of land at False Bluff there was room to plant citrus trees.   Late last year we took a boat trip north to a friend's family farm in Kukra Hill to see about ordering some.   One of the things Nicaragua's current administration has done has been to send agricultural technicians into remote areas to teach such things as grafting techniques to anyone who wants to learn.   My friend's sister wanted to learn, and did; and I placed an order with her that she will deliver to Bluefields this year:  several varieties of grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons, and limes.   
     The small grafted trees will be planted in an area we began preparing for them this spring.   There are several advantages for me to plant grafted trees:   the grafted tree will bear the same sort of fruit as the tree from which the graft was taken; and the grafted tree will bear fruit at an early age.   Neither of these things is a given with a seedling.   For instance, a citrus seedling might not bear until it is seven years old.
     I ordered several trees grafted from the tree shown here.   Although the fruit in the picture is green, it's ripe and very very sweet.     

Sea turtle rescue

     My mornings at False Bluff begin with a cup of hot tea.  I sit on the end of the dock and enjoy the small movements of life along the creek and the way morning breezes ripple the water.   It's a good way to start a day.   So my employees knew just where to find me with the news that breakfast had washed up on the beach.
     A sea turtle, not wrapped in a purposeful net but instead trapped in a melange of the garbage that churns around in the sea, had given up its fight for freedom and washed ashore near the outdoor kitchen.   Two of the men had hauled it, wrapped in odd pieces of rope and fishing line, upside down onto a pile of coconuts set aside for sprouting; and then came to get me.   
     I had done other odd things, like using a pontoon boat and caulking cracks in the siding of the small house, so everyone took with grace the news that neither this turtle nor any other that was born on or found its way to my place would be killed for food.   In fact I think they had expected this would be my reaction which is why they came to get me before killing the turtle instead of after.
     We flipped the turtle right-side-up and cut it loose from all the crap in which it was enmeshed.   Really tired, it took awhile to get to the water, but once there swam away with no hesitation.  
     Although sea turtles 'cry' to flush salt from their eyes, the tears this turtle shed may have been the turning point in a lifelong habit of at least one of the men present:  he says he won't eat turtle meat again.   The only live turtles he'd seen before that morning were trussed up at market and ready for slaughter; and I reckon by the time he saw those turtles they were all cried out.   He was also fascinated by the way the turtle moved...he'd never thought about it and certainly had never seen it.  
     The last picture below - of the turtle's tracks on its way into the water - is my desktop background. 

Tea at the dock

Part of the debris that was wrapped around the turtle

Heading for safety

Volleyball anyone?

     The crew putting up the fence worked hard two days running, and it was hot hot hot.   So to relax at the end of each day they enjoyed a vigorous game of volleyball.   Didn't bother anybody that the volleyball net consisted of three pieces of rope that had washed up on the beach, tied together and strung between two coconut trees.   
     The smallest player switched sides at will and spent most of his time chasing the ball.   His mom brought out a chair and did some needlework and the wife of one of the players joined her for a crochet lesson.   Kind of made me feel like I was at a Little League game (except for the guy wearing a machete).

Phasmatodea

     I'd never seen a stick bug except in pictures and I almost missed this one.   Someone had to point him out to me.   The top of the fence post he's on is about six inches across.   He showed up the day we finished the fence and didn't appear upset by our presence at all, even when he was picked up and moved safely away from the water.   

A fence

     Before bringing in a lot of building materials and tools, we put a fence around the area where the next phase of construction will be.   Fence posts were cut on the property at the creek's edge and off-loaded from the boat.   The posts were then carried to where holes had been dug, starting near the dock.   Because the fence will only be temporary, hopefully no more than a couple of years, we are using barbed wire for its deterrent qualities rather than its long lasting qualities.   
     I've strung my share of fence before but always with the sort of tools and equipment readily available in rural Virginia.   The way this wire was stretched was interesting and reinforced my admiration for the problem-solving capabilities of the people who work with me.   When it came time to attach the wire, two of the wire staples (horse shoe nails) were nailed quite close together to a scrap of wood.   A section of wire between barbs is placed between these two staples and a third staple holds the wire in place against the barb itself.   One person put pressure on the lever/piece of wood with wire attached and a second person nails the wire to a post:  simple and very effective.
     Hell, even a girl can do it!

A house and a well and some random thoughts on construction

     After some clearing and cleaning there's room for a small house, so up it goes:  a concrete slab, a course of block and then wood construction, caulked and primed and painted inside and out.   The north end of this first structure on False Bluff is open except for a knee-wall on the beach side to break the wind.   Now this space is a small kitchen but it will later serve as a laundry 'room.'   The well is just to the south of the house.
     I get a constant stream of advice to build with block...cement and mortar and rebar and bags upon bags of small rocks.   My brain locks up when I think about hauling large quantities of that stuff to False Bluff so I've decided that except where necessary for slabs and piers, construction will be of wood, most of which will be cut from the property.   
     An interesting bit of local history is that of the buildings in Bluefields that survived Hurricane Joan, many were very old wood houses, most of which are still standing.   Buildings constructed of wood have a certain give and take in heavy winds.   Perhaps I think about these things just to make my decision to build with wood more palatable, but wood is also the only logical choice for houses built on stilts.