Yes I am still on the topic of Nicaragua, more particularly now, Nicaraguan waterfront development. I started to talk about Aqua-the amazing environmentally friendly development we visited near Rivas/Gigante but then I got side tracked on food and people so here I am-back at just Aqua.
During our stay in the Gigante area, we stayed at a development right next to where Aqua is being built-Buchanneer. The house we stayed at was beautiful-amazing construction, lovely view and deck space from which to enjoy it, a nice pool-and if it weren't for the howling monkeys at night, it would have been even easier to hear the surf (oh and of course if I hadn't been terrified to sleep with the master balcony door open-after a huge 4 inch long or so bug flew in-it would have also been a lot easier to hear the surf!). Across the street from the house (sorry another diversion for real estate pricing-even though the Nicaraguan prices are very high now, this amazing home would apparently sell for around $350,000) is the Aqua site. We toured the site with the company's representatives (the nice American couple I mentioned in an earlier blog) and I was REALLY surprised by how impressive it was on all fronts. The houses are all above the beach and actually built in the trees (so that they wouldn't have to take out many trees). The construction is mid way through so we could see the level of quality and it does look amazing! There are various options for floorplans of course and the homes do have lock offs. The homes are staggered so that all have great views and easy beach access. There is also a planned pool and spa (and I think a gym-which would be key to me since the running terrain would be a bit hilly). And of course there will be a lovely restaurant (although I think I would make the short jaunt to Gigante for another great meal there). To me this development is very unique and one of the few in the world that I have seen (I have traveled all over Asia, South America, parts of Europe and 6 countries in Africa) where I could sleep at night without thinking about the environmental nightmare caused by the development. It really bothers me when I see all of the pesticide sprayed, drinking water drenched grass at resorts in places where grass really doesn't want to grow (for example a place that we call Stepfordville in Kona, Hawaii). This resort will obviously have some enviro implications-all development does-but they really seem to be minimized. The only thing I don't like is that, while the tree houses are very private, they are a bit too close together for me...having said that, the benefits of being on that beautiful bay in a great location and a lovely house, all for under $375,000 mean that I will probably be buying one.
