This past Sunday April 20, 2008, Aurora Beachfront Realty participated in the third annual cleanup of La Chocolata, the 22 kilometer dirt road from San Juan del Sur to Rivas. This road is the access from San Juan del Sur to all the beaches north including: the surf beach Maderas, Playa Marsella, Playa Majagual and Los Playones.

Morgan’s Rock organized the annual event, helping bring hundreds of volunteers out to clean up the Chocolata. Aurora is always happy to work with Morgan’s Rock in community endeavors and especially to help make Nicaragua cleaner and more beautiful.

The day was sunny and the road has never looked better. Volunteers woke up with the Nicaraguan dawn and started picking up trash at 6 AM. Volunteers were treated to lunch and music after donating their time to help the community. Aurora Beachfront wants to commend Morgan’s Rock for their time and energy.

Dear community members of San Juan del Sur,

Comunidad Connect is proud to announce the successful creation of the Municipal Recycling Program, with the active participation of the Mayor’s office, and funding from Pelican Eyes Piedras y Olas and DED, a German inter-governmental organization. Comunidad Connect will administer a year-long pilot project after which control will be passed over to the alcadía. The rest of this press release explains the pilot project and asks for your support in this important endeavor.

The pilot project, designed to “learn by doing”, is divided into three phases. The first one, which has already started, has five municipal workers sorting out plastics from other trash at the dump and separating them by type and color. The sorted materials are sold to a collecting depot and the income is reinvested into the project. Phase two, which starts in February, incorporates worm castings and organic composting. The resulting top-soil will be available for sale within three months of the start of this phase. The last phase is focused on an educational campaign throughout the San Juan del Sur community in order to promote separation of recyclable materials at home and at work. It also incorporates a plant nursery which will use the top-soil from composting. The plants, ranging from roses to citrus trees, will also be for sale.

Waste management is clearly an issue that affects all of us, and as such, we should all try to contribute as much as we can. Please sort out plastic coke and shampoo bottles, hard plastics, as well as glass and aluminum. Look on the underside of the container to see if it’s recyclable. If you can, please bring separated trash to the workers near the building on the north side of the dump on the Chocolata road. If you do not have the means to bring separated trash to the dump, please let Comunidad Connect know and we will look for transport. We are working with the mayor’s office on a schedule to pick up sorted materials. Once phase two is launched next month, Comunidad Connect will be asking local restaurants, as well as individuals, to separate their kitchen wastes.

If you would like to contribute to this project, we always welcome advice and new ideas. Please do not hesitate to email Roman Yavich, roman@ComunidadConnect.org with any questions or to request transport for separated trash. Together we can achieve more sustainable resource management in San Juan del Sur.

Sincerely,

Roman Yavich
Comunidad Connect

Three new hotels have opened recently in San Juan del Sur, Villas de Palermo, La Posada Azul and Hotel Victoriano. Each hotel has pegged its style to that of a colonial blend with high standards of construction. All
these hotels have been built in response to growing tourism in Nicaragua.

Villas de Palermo

Opened almost a year ago and is nestled on the Palermo farm granting its vistors a great ocean view of all of the Bay of San Juan del Sur. Villas also offers its guest a large pool and restaurant area.Offering two bedrooms with independent bathrooms, the hotel has been dubbed a kid friendly resort with the right mix of amenities like internet and cable tv making it a comfortable getaway spot. Rooms prices start at $129 a night.

Hotel La Posada Azul

It is also about a year old and is located in the town of San Juan del Sur 1⁄2 block from the ocean. This hotel is a 6 bedroom hotel crafted out of mostly wood in a classic colonial style. The rooms surround a large pool and small bar area where clients are encouraged to use the honor system on snacks and drinks. This hotel was an old home from the 1800’s renovated to serve as a small hotel. Elegant and cozy, the hotel offers wireless internet and a great location; everything in town including the beach is a short walk from here. Room prices are $99 a night.

Hotel Victoriana

Opened its doors to visitors just 2 months ago. This is a 20 room hotel that offers both single rooms and suites. Located on the north end of San Juan del Sur right on the beachfront, the hotel offers an elegant bar with a dinning room and large pool that overlooks the beach.With a combination of marble counter tops and victorian wood designs, this hotel is poised to become one of San Juan’s most coveted hotels. Rooms prices start at $139 a night.

Contact Us if you want to make reservations or want to know more about these beautiful hotels in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

A meeting was held last Wednesday, November 14th, with a diverse group of investors and local authorities in San Juan del Sur to go over several important issues regarding tourism between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The first topic discussed in the forum was Nicaragua’s border crossing with its neighboring country to the south, Costa Rica. Eduardo Holman, mayor of San Juan del Sur, presented his advancements on this front by stating that the first step on a local and national level was for Nica and CR to espouse a new border crossing. “Regardless of whether there is a paved road or not, our commitment to the region is to get the two countries to work together. This crossing will add significant value to tourism in the region”

“We have been in contact with the mayorship of La Cruz county in Costa Rica & and they are very interested in lobbying the CR government to push for a new ‘Pacific coast’ customs point at the border crossing between the two countries”. Mayor Holmann went on to say that La Cruz only had 5 km of damaged dirt road that would need to be crowned so that Nicaragua’s border crossing could be in harmony with its neighbor to the south.

“We have always been interested in promoting this new crossing but always assumed that CR would not have the same interest as us; it was to our surprise that the local community in North CR was actually more prepared than us to formalize their commitment to this new crossing.”

The other topic that was talked about was the joint improvement of the coastal road going southbound from San Juan del Sur. Mario Salinas, Minister of tourism and infrastructure for the Nicaraguan government, offered his expertise and insight on the matter. According to Salina’s the most viable and sustainable alternative would be for Costa Rica and Nicaragua to outsource a toll road and grant a 20 year private concession to its operator and buider. The road would be paved on the existent dirt road and the venture would bring close to 16% annual returns. Since the road would fall under the guise of a touristic project it would reap the benefits of beneficial tourism laws like 306. This would promote the sustainability of this road through a non tax base during the roads construction and operation.

Nicaragua’s ability to work in cohesion with Costa Rican authorities on a national level has traditionally been hampered by Nicaragua’s political instability. With democracy nearing its 20^th birthday in Nicaragua, it is expected that Costa Rica will begin to feel less threatened by its neighbor to the north. “Old rivalries between the two countries has caused for this crossing to be a low priority in past administrations, now that are past is behind us both these countries look to forge ties to improve the flow of tourism through Central America” says Salinas.

There was an overall consensus at the meeting that the first step towards considering the coastal road was a guaranteed touristic border crossing between CR and Nicaragua. Without it the toll road would only work to benefit tourists in one country or the other and this would make for less income on the operators of the toll road.

An independent border crossing between CR and Nicaragua would be a huge step forward for both countries. Coupled with the signing of the free trade agreement, this would be the first step towards the integration of these two countries even if it means crossing the border and getting a little dirty.