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Is there any - habitable - jungle left in Nicaragua?

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Uhmm, ehhm, I've got a bit of really disturbing news to start this new year: in addition to being a diabetic I have now been diagnosed also as alergic to gluten and cow dairy and sensitive to all environmental polutants. And although up to now I fancied my quiet early retirement living on a barrier island (since it is still fairly undeveloped), USA is not too good a place to try to adhere to the new health requirements: too many antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides etc etc in everything. So I have been raking my brain where I could live pleasantly and healthy, too. I remebered a stint of working and living in the cloud forest of Costa Rica, where - after establishing some initial contacts with the locals - I was delivered raw organic goat milk, from which I experimented in making organic goat kefir, yoghurt and cheese in some of my spare time (I had no TV there, and you can only hike the nature preserves and read books from the vast local English library so much), with such great results that not only my colleagues from the institute, but soon many others were clamoring for my hobby production. There I was also delivered plenty of organic vegetables and organic meat (fish, though, was scarce, and I love fish) - enough to sustain me and for a pittance comparing what it costs in Europe or even in the USA. The disadvantage of CR, though is, heavy duty on imported cars and steep car prices. Both a rip off, which I would not condone and I don't want to live without my car, so CR is not a comfortable living option. But I would love to emulate the good part of CR living in Nica, if possible. There I was living in a simply wooden cabin high up in the cloud forest (no polutants), yet with a phone and internet access ( abd I could have had a satelite TV had I wanted that), cultural diversions being a four to sic hours car (or bus) ride away, in San Jose. There I had my own mini banana plantation and wild avocado trees aplenty, which attracted howler and capucin monkeys (bananas) to act as an (awfully early, though) alarm clock and mot-mots and sometimes even quetzal (avocados) for my breakfast viewing pleasure. Are there places like there in Nicaragua? At the reasonable distance to Managua, so I could visit the organic farmer's market I found out about on this page, and may be even sell some of my cheeses - if I happen to find too much time on my hands and overproduced for my own use. Besides, I am an early retired international ngo management and development consultant and would love to use my professional expertise and contacts with foundations, etc. to help deserving local ngos. Any ideas about a place I might love? Any disadvantages of Nicaragua for my needs? Help, please.

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Nica nay not be your best choice

About 8 years ago, i was mis-diagnosed with celiasis that is a severe allergy to wheat and all it's derivatives or products including glutten.

For about a year, I a strictly followed the celiac's diet and that was extremely difficult to do.

While i was in Valencia, Spain i discovered that supermarkets and other food stores were well equipped to handle the needs of people with this ailment. Celiac's desease is prevalent there.

I don't think that Nica. has the support needed for people with this problem, also Drs. wouldn't know how to handle it.

I would check into Spain or other countries along the mediterranean sea.

If the celiac's ailment is not the problem, please disregard this comment.

Al.

No paradise ? :-(

Thanks, Alra. I actually lived in Spain in the fall of 2004: as a EU country citizen with a US greencard I have plenty of choices. Did not notice any gluten free foods there, but I did not know I might have needed them. On the other hand I had plenty of troubles to get anything without sugar (sigh!) - diabetes is probably not prevalent there. I guess there might not be a one perfect place, but after forking over $12 for a gallon of raw goat milk ( and having to drive almost 200 miles to get it, since it can't be sold in stores here, only on certified organic farms), $10 per pound for organic hamburger meat, $24 for organic steak etc in Texas I started missing Costa Rica or a place with similar prices for organic foodstuffs. And I love the jungle - the original green variety - while southern Spain is turning more and more into a cement jungle: Costa del Sol is hideous and so are - at one time so lovely - Italian popular coastal resorts, like Rimini, Riccione etc.

Heaps o places

There are lots of places and I'm certain you'll hear of most them, now that you've asked... ;~)

The cheese-making capital of Nicaragua is the department of Boaco -- lots of cabras (goats) and pelibuey (a sheep but tastes [meat and milk] like goat -- see this for more info).

Boaco is about 1.5 hours (88 km) north-northeast of Managua on a beautiful new road. Up in the hills, it has a more temperate climate (my wife claims it has been really cold meaning less than 70F), and is a fairly bustling town as cowtowns go. Population is around 8,000 but being the capital of the department, it draws in about 80,000 from the surrounding communities.

If you'd like more info (like on the availability of housing), let me know...

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Too strange to live, too weird to die. HST

Pelibuey

Those sheep sound interesting and yes, I would like more info - like on the availibility of housing... in the jungle, though... no expat colonies, no towns, no villages... roads are good :-) Please email. Thanks.

House for Sale

&#9828 Miskito Alan:

Boaco: My best friend happens to have a new cement house that is one year old for sale in Boaco. No real estate aents are involved with the sale of this house.

Boaco is located in a very cool and high area of Nicaragua. The people of Boaco are very nice and welcoming people.

If any more information is needed; please, contact me.

______________________________________________________________

Thanks, Alan, but I would

Thanks, Alan, but I would not be buying anything until I lived somewhere for at least 6 month - preferably longer, maybe much longer, and felt it was a right place to park. I am a gypsy at heart (that's one of the reasons I worked in more than 40 countries - I love to try new things, new places, new people, new languages) and ownership of anything immovable makes me feel imprisoned. Besides I really want to live in the jungle - a few miles from a nearest village, much less a cow town (but with internet, phone, etc. lol). I might consider a cement house (although preferably a modern light cement), though I would prefer a cabin of untreated wood, and sustainable (with ecologically correct heating, cooling, rain water retrieval, grey and black water treatment, a greenhouse etc), which most likely means that I would have to build it myself, since there are few (and far between) of these type of houses in the world. Yet it has to be accessible for a car (4x4 ok) - there are some things, like freedom of movement, which I WONT give up no matter what ;-)

the world is a jungle and the power of positive thinking rules

I like what my neighbor Steve said to me one day!He had been complaining about his Belly for quite some time.

"John, I have finaly decided that I am not going to let my Stomach rule my life, It is just going to have to learn to accept the things I like, like having pigs knuckles and some FDC at Gastons meat market" BTW he has not had a problem since even tho he and his Wife from Sandybay have been living in RAAN for 14 years.

Farmer John Wayne

Cute, John, but it does not

Cute, John, but it does not answer my question. My kind of positive thinking is: I want to live pleasantly and healthy and LIVE. ;-)

P.S. Just curious: what's FDC and RAAN?

"FDC" - "RAAN"

&#9828 Miskito Alan:

"FDC" is "Flor De Cana" which is the Nicaraguan rum.

"RAAN" is the "Northern Region Autonomous Authority" which is somewhat of an independent governing body for the region of mostly "Miskito Indians".

Hope you like corn tortillas

No wheat! Nicaragua has the lowest population density in Central America with plenty of wild areas. Come and look around, you may like what you see, as long as you stay away from the big cities and the commercial agricultural areas which are loaded with pesticides. Another concern may be dust in the dry season. Trying to find something that is close in but far out will be a challenge and you'll have to find it for yourself.

Yes, I like corn tortillas,

although they (starch of any kind) are not recommended for diabetics - well, not too many ot them, anyway. Oh, well, I can eat beans with my steak... I agree that finding something close in and far out at the same time will be a challenge. I decided to take a two month intensive immersion Spanish course at Laguna de Apoyo - the closest to a "close in and far out" Spanish school I found (I consider myself merely intermediate in Spanish, which is my seventh language - English, chronologically, is my fourth) - and see how I like it. Dust in the CR cloud forest did not bother me - it might have been dusty on village roads but not deep in the woods. Hope the same will be true in Nicaragua.