stringfellow’s thread

…It would be this… (probably)

I would like to have the power/money/ability/savvy to take Central America and forcefully introduce it to Renewable Energy.

If  every home could have a small solar panel on their roof, or in their ‘garden’, I think you could produce enough energy to keep the home going. I have done no maths to prove this, but would be interested to know if anyone has…

C.A. has a big problem with its fast development… it has been launched into ‘our world’ by Corporate America’s sponsership, and penetration, yet they haven’t really had time to adapt; the production of litter and power consumption are huge yet the means with which to deal with these issues are not in place -  they burn rubbish on the roadside (or simply LEAVE it by the roadside; which admittedly is only slightly worse than just burying it as we do) and there are frequent power cuts; when the oil-fed generators that keep the countries ticking cant take the strain.

So… what? Why is this happening? I dont really know but i can postulate this:

They either lack the education to deal with the problems, or the resources.

The former would mean a large scale project to help introduce ideas of power saving, recycling and so forth, which from an entirely cycnical/conspirational POV would be difficult because American Oil companies must be raking it in from the huge consumption of oil here,

The latter just cannot be true - the transport out here is fantastic - you can get from anywhere to anywhere with anything for little to nothing- why this doesnt include moving rubbish to a central location maybe through lack of care or just that it is an ‘unnescessary’ expense.

If I could buy one of the large areas of waste land in any of the Central American Countries, and install large solar panels, I would. Providing of course it is both feasible and actually contributes something. I guess, of course if it was it would have been done, no?

The rubbish problem is something completely different. I don’t know how you would cure this. Maybe instead of just burning it wastefully, it could be used to produce power.

A sign in my Hotel:

“Please turn off fans, lights etc when not in use - Nicaragua’s power is produced by burning oil and is very expensive. Welcome to the third world!”

A note scrawled underneath:

“Buy a solar panel!”

I think that says it all.

PS - if anyone out there knows of a project to do just that - install solar panels throughout CA, please let me know. Or if you are interested in starting such a project…

My first impressions of Nicaragua, after leaving Honduras on Saturday are pretty good. For a country that has faced large amounts of stress from various opposing political parties, of whom most have a large amount of corruption within (but I guess all political parties do..), it is certainly prospering. In some areas at least… The amount of kids begging on roadsides is quite alarming, signalling with their hands for ‘1 dollar’. The problem here is, kids in Internet cafe’s do the same… which doesn’t say a lot for either honesty or what they consider poverty.

It is true however that most of the country is poor. So far I have only been to Leon and Granada, both prospering towns (both involved in the wars of the past too).

Leon is a nice city, but incredibly hot. The surrounding volcanoes (Cerro Negro, Telica…) offer hikes and  extreme volcano boarding (which I unfortunately missed out on due to food poisoning). Speaking of food, there is an amazing little ‘Comedor’ near the big cathedral, barbecuing all sorts of food - chicken, burgers, beanyeggythings, plantain, rice and beans… lots of typical Nicaraguan food. Very very tasty, very very cheap. (I dont think this is where i got poisoned, incidentally). We stayed at a place called Big Foot Adventure which is a wicked little hostel, attached to a cafe that serves to your door, has a little pool, a free pool table, kitchen and is pretty relaxed about everything. YOu can’t book as yet but if you email Darryn (the Aussie owner) he will probably hold a bed for you (there were 8 of us, so he held a whole dorm.). The only problem we found was that its too hot… probably due to time of year - thunder storms every night. Darryn, if you read this - invest in some more fans (we would have stayed longer…).

Opposite is a hostel called Via Via, which seemed equally nice, but we only ate there, and did a quiz run by Quetzaltrekkers. (But lots of the questions are about themselves, which sucks. but its for charity so meh.)

Now in Granada, staying at Hotel Oasis (sistered with Lazy Bones in Leon)… WE shall see what Granada holds….

Well, I have an awful lot to report since Mexico.

Crikey… where to start.

Guatemala would be a good place I guess. To sumarise:

• Stayed in a paradise hideaway and got very drunk. Rode down a river on an innertube.
• Floated in a lake in Flores.
• Climbed a Mayan Ruin or 6. Watched the sun set and rise from the top.
• Partied ‘underground’ in Antigua. (not literally… as in… ’secretly’)
• Drank lots of coffee in San Pedro.
• Went Hot Tubbing the Natural way in Xela (no, not naked. I mean via volcanicity!)

Then to Honduras!…

• More ruins.
• Dived in Utila. Dived some more. Got another Diving Qualification. Drank a lot. Drank some more. Dived some more. Burnt my feet on a dodgy quad bike. Probably drank more.

thassit.

End.