Tag Archives: nicaragua

The Butterfly House – A One Bedroom Casita on a Budget

Posted on August 27, 2016 by

We became friends with Marilyn when she came down for a Surf with Amigas retreat a couple years ago and Kim agreed to design and build a small simple 1 bedroom casita on Marilyn’s sea view lot at Seascape Terrace.  … Continue reading →

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Day In The Life – Living in Nicaragua With a 5 Month Old Baby Girl

Posted on February 20, 2015 by

Set a goal, attract what you want, work hard, and live your dream. After loving life as a competitive pro surfer, then a pro free surfer, building a business and relocating full time to Nicaragua, I wanted to have a … Continue reading →

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Jacek and Ivona’s House by Hipehabitat

Posted on January 25, 2015 by

After the seeing the successful outcome and great feel of our L-shaped hacienda home Kim has agreed to build a slightly customized version for a Canadian couple planning to retire in Nicaragua in the next few years. Here, Holly and … Continue reading →

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Settling Into the New House

Posted on December 27, 2014 by

It’s been about 3 months and we’re loving our new home at Brisas Del Alma. We’re still very busy settling in, putting finishing touches on the house (building shelves to store all our stuff mostly), and embracing our new lifestyle. It … Continue reading →

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The New Dipping Pool

Posted on December 27, 2014 by

The house is now mostly finished, and we have an 11 week old baby girl named Luna. Little Luna has occupied most of our time lately, so I’m way behind on blog posts. Eventually I’ll get a chance to take … Continue reading →

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Cool Roof Design by Kim Obermeyer

Posted on May 5, 2014 by

Kim Obermeyer of hipEhabitat.com talks about his design for a cool roof – a double layer roof that will prevent heat from the sun from radiating into the living space. The roofing system features pre-painted structural zinc roof panels with … Continue reading →

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Homemade Yogurt from Beach Walking Cows

Posted on April 23, 2014 by

I love yogurt with my granola and fruit in the morning, particularly homemade yogurt made with milk from cows that I pass on the beach every morning and evening. Living in Nicaragua has it’s downsides (a shortage of farmer’s markets … Continue reading →

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Nesting in Nicaragua

Posted on March 1, 2014 by

We’d been designing the house for months, but as soon as we found out that we had a baby on the way, we quickly finalized the plan and soon broke ground on what will be our home (scroll to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Building in Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

30% off the next two sea view lots sold!

Posted on February 9, 2014 by

Starting Feb. 1, the owner of Seascape has decided to offer a promotion- 30% off the next two lots sold. These lots were already a great deal- 1/2 acres with sea view, power and water to the lots already in … Continue reading →

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Breaking in the Beach House

Posted on December 27, 2013 by

It was a long time coming (8 months to be exact), but the beach house is finally finished! Ok, so it’s not totally finished. There are still plenty of details to be addressed. We’ve got trim to put up, painting … Continue reading →

Posted in Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Beach House Progress – Plycem Walls and Bamboo Siding

Posted on December 13, 2013 by

We started building the beach house way back in March – or was it February 2013? The point is, it’s been so long that it’s hard to remember. The main delay has been caused by an irresponsible carpenter with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Building in Nicaragua, Green Building and Bamboo, Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Surf Lifestyle in Northern Nicaragua

Posted on September 30, 2013 by

The waves aren’t perfect every day. Sometimes it’s small and kinda closed out, lumpy, and plagued by riptides. That’s just a part of surfing. But the sunrise is beautiful, the beach is empty, the water is warm. Even if the … Continue reading →

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Gluten-Free Coconut Cacao Almond Flour Cake with Spicy Blackberry Compote

Posted on September 5, 2013 by

My husband Kim is an amazing cook. I used to do all the cooking but now that he’s around, I do a lot less and focus on “ooohing” and “aaahing” over the amazing things he makes, plus doing the prep … Continue reading →

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Finding Fallen Wood

Posted on August 26, 2013 by

Our wood dramas continue…. If you’ve been reading about the progress of our beach house construction you’ll see a repeated theme – we’ve been delayed by the local carpenter again and again. Now, the house is pretty much finished – … Continue reading →

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Beach House Roof Construction

Posted on July 22, 2013 by

The next step in the saga to build a beach house in Northern Nicaragua is complete. We’ve got a roof! When building anything in this country, you’ve gotta have patience. Lots of patience!

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Beach House Progress – Slow and Steady

Posted on June 15, 2013 by

The whole process has been really slow, but at least it’s been steady. We bought a beachfront concession lot back in April of 2012. It wasn’t easy and you can read the full story here. Since then we’ve been working … Continue reading →

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Drilling a Deep Well in Nicaragua

Posted on May 31, 2013 by

We’re in the process of installing infrastructure for a small 16 lot housing development in northern nicaragua called Tierra Del Sueno. In order to provide water for the development we decided to drill a community well at the top of … Continue reading →

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Holly and Kim Get Married in Nicaragua

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

Hipehabitat founders Holly and Kim Obermeyer hosted a raging group of friends and family members to a week of fun and adventure in Nicaragua that concluded in an intimate wedding ceremony at the La Bahia Beach Hotel.

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Bodega Progress

Posted on March 20, 2013 by

We are nearly finished with building our teak and concrete block bodega up on the ridge at Tierra Del Suenos. We’ll use it as a garage, storage unit, and workshop. Right now we’re finishing up the details – painting and … Continue reading →

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Digging a Well in the Sand

Posted on February 27, 2013 by

If you happened to notice our post from a couple of months ago, we bought a beachfront concession lot in North Nicaragua. To catch up on that dramatic story, click here. After finalizing the purchase, the next step was to … Continue reading →

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Beautiful Girls on Longboards at the Bay

Posted on February 8, 2013 by

Afternoon light, a friendly paddle, one 9’2″ longboard with GoPro mounted on the nose, trading off, smiling, laughing, toes on the nose, crouching for speed, cross-stepping into the later afternoon. All part of the life, living the dream.

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Building a Bodega on the Ridge at Suenos – Part 2

Posted on January 6, 2013 by

In part 2 of the bodega construction process the floor is poured and the roof is on. If you want to refresh your memory with the purpose of this building and our strategy for building it, click here to read the … Continue reading →

Posted in Nicaragua, Tierra Del Sueno | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Struggle to Buy a Beachfront Concession Lot in Nicaragua

Posted on December 28, 2012 by

It was not easy, but after 10 months of trying we finally did it! We bought and registered a beachfront concession lot in the city of El Viejo in Northern Nicaragua!!! There are two types of land available in Nicaragua … Continue reading →

Posted in Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Belgian IPA homebrew “Belguraguan”

Posted on December 26, 2012 by

OK, here’s the brew I’ve been waiting for, wanting to try for months, yearning for – a home-brewed Belgian IPA made right here in Nicaragua.  I’m thinking of throwing a packet of dried Belgian yeast into our palm-thatch roof so … Continue reading →

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Almond Flour Banana Granola Pancakes

Posted on December 25, 2012 by

We’ve been going gluten-free these days. After a week’s experimentation I realized that I had more energy and just generally felt better. I’m not perfect though. It’s easy to switch out rice for pasta, but much harder to turn down … Continue reading →

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Offshore Tubes in Nicaragua

Posted on November 12, 2012 by

Nicaragua is one of those places where you can get barreled every day. That’s only one of the reason why I live here, but it was the primary force that attracted me to the country! With lots of great beach … Continue reading →

Posted in Nicaragua, Surfing and Surfboards | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Teak Post and Concrete Block Bodega

Posted on October 7, 2012 by

We have begun building up on the ridge! First project – a place to store our tools, saddles, surfboards, wheelbarrow, and the building supplies that we’ll need to collect when we’re ready to start building the actual house. The name … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building and Bamboo, Tierra Del Sueno | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The New Living Fence on our Lot in Tierra Del Sueno

Posted on September 15, 2012 by

We bought an awesome lot in the new eco-friendly community in Northern Nicaragua called Tierra Del Sueno and are starting to make some improvements. The first step was installing a fence around the perimeter so we can more clearly see … Continue reading →

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Phase 1 Roads at Tierra Del Sueno

Posted on September 8, 2012 by

It’s been a year or more in the planning stages but we have finally broken ground on the new roads that will service lots in Tierra Del Sueno. We had been waiting to finalize the lot lines before figuring out … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Summer Vacation

Posted on July 31, 2012 by

An open jar of truffle-flavored honey scents the room in sweet musky earth tones amongst a baker’s dozen young hip lawyers, doctors, and a dancer. They’d come to this party in Cambridge, Massachusetts to admire and celebrate the first home … Continue reading →

Posted in Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Living the Dream – Surfing, Dogs, and Ridgetop BBQs at Tierra Del Sueno

Posted on July 22, 2012 by

This is why we live in Nicaragua – warm water, fun waves, dogs off-leash on the beach, estuary swimming, hiking barefoot, and sausage BBQs on a sea-view ridge with cold home brewed Belgian Ales to wash it all down. Life … Continue reading →

Posted in Eat drink and be merry, Nicaragua, Surfing and Surfboards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steve and Danika Choose Their Lot

Posted on July 12, 2012 by

Steven and Danika Thomas lived in Nicaragua for several years and invested in a large piece of property over-looking the bay they liked to surf. They formed the dream of one day building a home on the hilltop and being … Continue reading →

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“Volcan” Cacao-Cafe homebrew Stout

Posted on July 7, 2012 by

             The third, and possibly the best batch, in tropical home brewing adventures, almost met its end in the moldy rainy season condition of June. The rainy season brings clouds of mold that drift invisibly through the air landing on … Continue reading →

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Windmills In Nicaragua

Posted on June 9, 2012 by

One of Nicaragua’s most valuable resources turns out to be wind.   Super strong (often hurricane force) and consistent winds blow across lake Nicaragua.   These amazing winds are basically Trade Winds that are funneled and amplified as the high pressure on … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building and Bamboo, Make your own, Nicaragua, Surfing and Surfboards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tiny House with Bamboo Construction on the Osa Peninsula

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

On a trip to the Osa Peninsula last year we looked up someone called “Super Steve” who we were told was building some beautiful things with bamboo. Despite the fact that we showed up out of nowhere, Super Steve aka … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building and Bamboo | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Earthship in China

Posted on May 16, 2012 by

Our friend Ben is really excited about earthships. He wants to build one here in Northern Nicaragua. I didn’t know much about them, but undertook a program of self-study reading through all three volumes of Michael Reynolds’ Earthship books. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building and Bamboo, Make your own | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Growing Guadua bamboo

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

We had been searching for it for nearly a year, since we learned about it in Ecuador.  Guadua bamboo (Guadua angustifolia and other species) is the giant bamboo species native to Central and South America.  It is one of the strongest … Continue reading →

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Our garden grows

Posted on March 31, 2012 by

We started planting the garden in late October, 2011- lots of  chillies (habanero, jalapeno, arbol, New Mex, serrano and others), various greens, tomatoes, Thai basil, lemongrass, dill, tea tree, sunflowers and a bunch of randoms like purslane and indigo.  Some … Continue reading →

Posted in Eat drink and be merry, Make your own, Nicaragua, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hippy Hop Attack IPA

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

I’ll admit that I was a doubter. After participating in numerous homebrewing efforts over the years I learned that it isn’t easy, there’s a lot that can go wrong, and especially considering our lack of refined equipment I thought our … Continue reading →

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High School Kids Help to Build a New Classroom in Nicaragua

Posted on February 7, 2012 by

A group of 17 high school kids from High Tech High in San Diego came down to Nicaragua with Surf With Amigas (formerly Suave Dulce) for the trip of a lifetime. They learned to surf, did yoga, went horseback riding … Continue reading →

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Homebrewing in Nicaragua

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

Living in Nicaragua is awesome. Warm weather, warm waves, affordable homesteading, and a simple life lived barefoot. There are however a few things we miss about the US – mexican food, fast internet, and good beer! Luckily, Kim is an … Continue reading →

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Holly Beck Surfing In Nicaragua

Posted on January 23, 2012 by

Check out a few clips of Holly Beck surfing in Nicaragua in Nov/Dec 2011. Good times, great waves, so much fun!

Posted in Nicaragua, Surfing and Surfboards, Videos | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

DIY Guanacaste Stairs

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

We moved into our new cabana about a month prior and had yet to take full advantage of the loft because we didn’t have any stairs.  We had considered several funky stair designs with notched logs and spiral things, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Make your own | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Building An Elementary School Classroom with Waves Of Hope

Posted on December 15, 2011 by

Imagine you’re a 12 year old kid growing up in a remote fishing village in Northern Nicaragua. You’ve spent most of your life barefoot, chasing chickens and skinny dogs through barbed-wire fences. You learned to ride a horse at age … Continue reading →

Posted in Giving Back | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The German Mound Garden

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

As a 31st birthday present to myself I decided to build a garden. I’ve been reading through The Permaculture Garden by Graham Bell and thought the design for a German Mound looked interesting.

Posted in Make your own, Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Eco-Friendly Bee Hive Removal

Posted on November 2, 2011 by

While trying to install our signal booster antennae on our new house, we heard a buzzing and came across a buzzing mess lurking under the palm fronds. Kim grabbed a plastic bag and I got in place with the camera. … Continue reading →

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Framing the Octagon Window

Posted on September 22, 2011 by

Designing the window placement was a fun experience that involved measuring, re-measuring, and measuring again, then erasing, measuring, and changing the dimensions multiple times. Our friendly red-headed framer was smilingly patient as we changed our minds back and forth. Right … Continue reading →

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Building in Nicaragua – Concrete Floor, Tile, and Wood Dilemmas

Posted on September 20, 2011 by

Building in Nicaragua is both much easier and much more difficult than it would be in the States. This project in particular is easier than most since we’re building on Coco Loco property with full access to power (except when … Continue reading →

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Designing an Eco-friendly Cabana in Northern Nicaragua

Posted on September 14, 2011 by

Using the Barefoot Architect by Johan van Lengen to get a few ideas during the design process.

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Building in Nicaragua – Palm Fronds for the Thatch Roof

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

Accessing the palm fronds for the thatch roof turned out to be one of the easiest things we’ve had to do so far. There’s a property nearby owned by a friend full of the right kinds of palms, so we … Continue reading →

Posted in Green Building and Bamboo, Nicaragua | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments