The opening of Hotel La Perla has raised the bar again. A beautiful 16 room boutique hotel with exceptional finishing, it has spared no expense. It is across the street from a new French restaurant, making the tourist experience ever more pleasant in this colonial diamond in the rough. The distance from Hotel La Perla to Tamarindo Beach is 22 minutes.

Just one year ago, there was no real estate agency in Nicaragua's second largest city of Leon. Today, a third agency is opening its doors, Coldwell Bankers, to service the growing number of investors & tourists combing the area for real estate bargains and to be the first in this certain rising market.

The fishing at Los Suenos Beach is fantastic. The river and beach offer a wide variety of fish with an amazing quantity fostered by the mangroves lining the river.

A local sport fishing outfitter has done his research and is setting up sport fishing tours from the clubhouse at Los Suenos and his new lot purchase at an adjoining development on the island. 

See his early reports and pictures at  http://www.nicaprojects.com/content/blogcategory/72/258/

This new restaurant in Leon has certainly raised the dining experience to a new level in this colonial town.

Situated across the street from the newly renovated boutique Hotel La Perla, the Casa Golosa is run by a Parisian woman, whom is well versed in French cuisine. In a quaint renovated colonial home, diners sit around a small open air courtyard and dine on well prepared French prepared seafood from local waters.

The wine list is unexpectedly fine and the array of fine wall art is a most pleasant experience rivaling an excellent experience in America.

The Hotel La Perla across the street is a 16 room hotel that has been renovated for 9 months to raise it to its original splendor of earlier days.  

Together, these establishments are raising the standards for tourists in this 400 year old colonial city.

The Alcaldia (Mayors Office) of Leon State released to the national Nicaraguan news service an announcement that the crushed rock road to Salinas Grandes will be paved with interlocking paving bricks from the asphalt Managua/Leon highway to the Pacific coast town of Salinas Grandes by the end of 2008. This distance is 11 kilometers (6.6 miles) and the state portion will cost $460,000. The federal government will pay the remaining amount. This is the first public announcement of this highway project and is a large step forward in the economic transformation of the area around Isla Real Las Penas, home of Los Suenos, Tamarindo Beach and 4 other beach front developments.

This new paved road will cover 7 kilometers of the approximately 16 kilometers to the gate of Los Suenos. This work is scheduled to begin early 2008. Los Suenos will use this road as a secondary route. The primary access route is to be a ferry service from Puerto Sandino. This route is fully paved at this time and quicker by 20 minutes.

Bike racing has come to Nicaragua. Last week the streets of Leon were closed for an hour to accommodate the annual bike race. Hundreds of cyclist sped past the colonial buildings of Leon heading up to Chinandega.  Here we see them riding past the Hotel la Perla formerly the Hotel Colonial, which is the two storey building on the left side of the street with the red roof.  Casa Golosa french restaurant is across the street. It was wonderful to see the community behind this exciting event!

Last weekend, we had an excellent fish trip with Captain Joe and his crew. One of the best areas was four kilometers off shore directly in front of the beach at Los Suenos. We also went out 24 km's off shore looking for Sailfish and Dorado (mahi mahi). The weather was perfect as usual and the fish were biting. 

We experienced areas of "boiling" water around our boat and we filled the cooler. The catches of the day were Mackeral, Yellow Fin Tuna, and Snapper. We saw the sailfish but the big ones got away.  In all, the trip was fantastic and alot of fun.  Thanks again Captain Joe, we had a great time!   

Upon leaving Managua to Los Suenos, you travel on one of the best highways in Nicaragua for 55 minutes. This section of the Pan American highway is a two lane, smooth asphalt highway. The primary access route to Los Suenos is a small ferry across the 1/4 mile opening of the Tamarindo river. Los Suenos is on the other side.

The secondary route is by a high quality, compacted gravel road -- until now! The Leon Municipality is beginning the paving process on this road in 2007. The paving crew will apply the top after the rainy season in 2008. At completion, this will leave this road to Isla Real Las Penas in complete inter locking paver condition with the exception of the last 3 miles consisting of an excellent four season crushed rock road. At present we have the second paved road to a coastal resort area in the country. By mid 2008, we expect to be able to claim a second paved route and thus one of the best access routes to the Pacific beaches in Nicaragua.

In addition, the island development association will be working diligently on the remainder of the island road construction.

This is the view of the shrimp farms along the road to Los Suenos.  The shrimp are cultivated for consumption or make great bait for fishing in the estuary.

On one side of the road to Los Suenos is the large shrimp farming pools, while the other side supports sea salt harvesting.

As the dry season comes to a close, so too does the shrimp farming and salt harvesting seasons. During the months November to March, the shrimp and salt farming flats are drained and become an excellent place to view the flamingos, herons and other estuary birds. The shrimp also make excellent bait for the red snapper fishing in the estuary system.

This ocean front rancho is an example of early construction on the island. Several houses are complete and there is a brisk sales pace of ocean front lots.

One can gather in shelters like this to enjoy fresh caught red snapper from the river 500 feet away. Fresh caught snapper grilled on an open skillet with gourmet seasoning. Simple gourmet cuisine never tasted so good.

You can enjoy the dazzling tropical sunsets at 6 pm every day along the 7 miles of beach. This area will be landscaped with palm trees, grass, colorful tropical plants and diligently maintained by the community association. Sea turtles of several varieties nest on this very beach virtually every month of the year, and have a strong preference for this beach area. A turtle awareness and protection program is in process. Imagine, sea turtles laying eggs in the dark of night just off your deck and hundreds of baby turtles hatching 35 days later at your feet. Only in Nicaragua.