Holy Mary Mother of dog fees. I just got off the phone with Continental and these mutts are going to cost us a fortune. It seems like the cheapest way to fly them there is to book a flight from Honolulu to Managua as a single journey to avoid double dog fees on two separate flights. We were looking at flying first to either LA or Phoenix, getting a ride to Houston, then doing the second leg from there to Managua. We thought it would be easier on the dogs but it means paying the transport fees twice. Just from Houston to Managua costs $389 a dog, plus a 55cent per kilo gas tax on each mutt which comes out to about $20 per dog. (I know. Gas fee??? wtf ... ) It's another $200 per dog on Hawaiian if we do the first leg and take a couple of days on the west coast. THEN, if we fly the dogs all the way from Hawaii to Managua as a single journey, it's an extra $75 for Continental's Houston International Airport Doggy Rest Stop which is nice, because they clean up the dogs, give them water, and take them for a walk before they do the last leg to Managua. Has anyone done the math yet? Minimum $500 per dog. One way. Not including Hawaii's "import tax" of $189 on the return trip which the state taxes you as part of their "direct release quarantine fee." Too much information? Sorry. But geesh. The lady on the phone said, "What? You're flying dogs from Hawaii to Central America? And back?" She thought I was insane. Grand total : $1200 per dog to go back and forth. More than the price of a human.

Maybe we are insane.

Today we talked about driving again. Anyone want to donate a decent 4WD vehicle that can make it from the west coast to Nicaragua and back?

On a lighter note, we had a lovely day at the beach with the dogs. Lea's shock collar has changed her completely. Gone are the days of that crazy look in her eye. She is attentive and she listens. It's as simple as that. She comes every time she is called now. It only took a couple of zaps for her to figure it out. Now we just have to vibrate the collar if she starts to go astray. Congratulations Lea. We are so proud of you!

(For the record, Lea has never felt the full wrath of the collar. It's strength ranges from 0-127. Lea's highest zap was 69. Ian and I have both felt 127. He insisted, much to my dismay.)

Some pics

La Vista development is doing some pretty awesome stuff with the construction of the casitas and I thought it was about time I'd post some pics of the real deal. Ian took these when he was down there in September. These are photos of someone else's house being built, but it provides a nice visual for how ours is going to look. All the casitas are made from eucalyptus and they all have vaulted, thatched roofs. The windows at the top of the roof suck hot air out of the casita so it stays cool. We've drawn up a rough floor plan for ours and to keep it priced at 45K, we're able to get a 600 sq. ft. lower level with a 300 sq. ft. loft. We've included a guest room in our plans so friends and family can come visit and we're able to sleep four when it's suitable enough to be a vacation rental. For more information on La Vista and for more photos of the development, go to http://www.playacolorado.com/ click on "properties" then click on "eco-lots."

Dogs

One of our primary concerns in the move to Nicaragua is if, and how, we are going to get our two favorite mangy mutts from the most isolated islands in the world, to the middle of Central America. Let it be known that we LOVE these dogs and want with all of our hearts, for them to be with us. Maybe I should start with a couple of character sketches to let you understand the personality traits that we have working for us in this situation and the ones that are ultimately, working against us.

PUNA : Age 5 and 1/2 Birthday: June 7th 2004 Born: Puna, Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. Puna's greatest attributes: listens very well, is not easily distracted, can "spoon" on command, and has the experience of travel. Puna's greatest loves: tennis balls, tennis balls, tennis balls, going to the beach, and catching flies mid-flight. Puna's greatest dysfunctions: She leaks .... aka, she's incontinent. She has terrible audible gas. She is also very independent and has run away from home a bunch of times. As a result of this behavior, I've had a handful of meltdowns thus spawning a dedicated North Shore search and rescue team consisting mainly of myself, who has mastered the art of hanging cardboard missing dog signs to telephone poles in Haleiwa, my sister, who usually alerts all the lifeguards in the area to be on the lookout for a brown dog with pointy ears and no tail, and Chip and Ian, who comb the neighborhoods by car or bike, yelling her name for as long as it takes. Let me take this moment to thank the other volunteers on this committee : Anna at Keiki Beach, Toby at Fresh Aires, and Sarah H at Alligators. Puna and I love you.

LEA: Age 2 and 1/2 Birthday: exact date unknown but around May 2007 Born: Kaneohe, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. Lea's greatest attributes: best guard dog ever. So good that she wouldn't let our friend past the front door while we were gone one day. Lea also loves to be in the car. This is particularly nice when we surf and don't have to worry about someone breaking into it. Lea's greatest loves: Hunting anything that moves, particularly cats, but not limited to cockroaches, mice, chickens, geckos, mongoose, pigeons and dogs that are smaller than cats. Lea's other great loves include sticks, drinking ocean water, playing with her cousin Ruby and eating watermelon rinds. Lea's greatest dysfunctions : going bat shit crazy. Literally. Hunting might be her greatest love, but it's also her greatest dysfunction. There is no stopping this dog once she has a cat in her vision.

That is, until two days ago. We've finally invested in an e-collar. More on the Dogtra 280NCP Platinum series later.

So, as I've said, we are weighing out our options for transporting people and pets to Central America. Getting the dogs down there will not only be expensive, we worry about their well-being once they have arrived. Obviously. Between holler monkeys for Lea to chase and an extensive coastline for Puna to lose herself on, we have our trepidations. But both of us can't imagine life there without them though.

Ian had a good conversation with Rich today. Rich is the owner of La Vista and the man who is selling Ian the casita. There were some worries alleviated about money and logistics and it sounds like construction on our little house will start sooner than later. Ian signed his power of attorney away on his last visit so things could get started without him being there. Details of the contract are being drawn up over the weekend describing what's included in the investment. The ultimate goal is to have a livable structure by the time we get down there in March. Today we talked again about driving versus flying and the best way to get all of our things down there. It's difficult finding accurate information on the subject of importing a foreign vehicle into Nicaragua. We've been using a forum site called nicaliving.com that is helpful but often conflicting. All of the government websites are in Spanish and even though Ian speaks it well, there is always the question of accurate translation. Today things seemed much more real and I was really wishing that money grew on trees.

Details

How to transport two people, two dogs and a small quiver of surfboards from Hawaii to Central America requires some fine attention to detail. A single surfboard on a single leg journey from HI to CA on United is $175 per board. It's an additional $175 per dog and that only has us to Cali. (This of course, doesn't include the cost of our own tickets.) For a while we thought we'd fly everything and everyone down there (the dogs are part of everyone) and buy a car when we get there. This is turning out to be a very expensive concept as a decent 4WD vehicle in Nicaragua will cost a minimum of seven to ten grand. The other option of course, is to drive. Besides the inherent danger that seems to accompany this idea, it has become the logical choice. To import a car into the country requires the vehicle to be less than ten years old and a ten percent import tax on its assessed value. After gas and Nicaragua's "assessed value" of the car, it should be cheaper and certainly more adventurous than flying. The dogs will have a better time of it too. So we plan on leaving Hawaii in March, buying a used car in LA and heading down soon thereafter. As of now, this is our plan. I'm sure it will change tomorrow.

At the Start

My boyfriend Ian, is a man of great ambition who sees potential for growth and development in an eco-friendly development named La Vista, just north of Gigante, Nicaragua on the Pacific side of the country. On a recent visit, he became acquainted with two men from Australia who had recently bought up a grip of land in the afore mentioned area and were selling plots in the La Vista development that boast an "off-the-grid" lifestyle complete with thatched roof casitas and the ability to run off of solar and wind power. The purpose of Ian's visit was to stake out a spot for a meager investment. He wants something that's his, something that has the potential to generate revenue while we're are away and something that we can potentially flip in the future if in the end, it's not the life for us anymore.

Being the man that he is, I trust his judgement with all of my heart and am excited at the prospects of living abroad, learning Spanish, and running as far away from the race of American life as possible. I have no problem with the notion of surfing my thirties away accompanied by the most simple form of lifestyle that two human beings can reasonably create. Life in a thatched roof casita with the man I love sounds pretty righteous.

So begins our journey...