We head out in the heat in an old cab with a broken ceiling and window knob and two dogs. Dwayne sits up front, much to the amusement of the friends of the cabdriver, who are teasing him about his new “companion”.
We are on the road to Masaya, which is known for two things: One is the market place (not our destination today) and the other is the fact that Masaya is the capital of hammock making.
Where do they make these hammocks? A few streets of small homes, with hammocks displayed out in front, one next to the other. We find what we are looking for, which is a single person style hammock seat that hangs from a ceiling beam.
When we say we “find” its not quite accurate. It’s more like we went from house to house and finally asked somebody to make exactly what we want color wise. Fatima the hammock maker’s wife took us into her living room where there were piles of hammocks floor to ceiling on one side and showed us our color options. We get to go back on Wednesday to pick up the finished product..
Now we are off to Catarina which is another village nearby that specializes in one product. In this case its a village of nurseries of plants, one next to the other. Its a beautiful sight of flowers and plants lining the streets and you can stop at one after the other and make a selection from the lush pickings, for your garden. 
Most of the plants are between 50 cents and for the expensive ones, two dollars. We buy a variety of herbs which they put into terracotta pots right away (mint, oregano, rosemary, an unusual variety of cilantro) and a combination of flowering plants in yellows and orange, as Ben had said just last week that our garden was mostly blue and white and we could do with some bursts of color. We also buy two very tall sunflowers which are going to be the first to be planted at the studio (amidst the rubble, corrugated piece of roof and dangling electric cord… for now). With plants coming out the window of the taxi, Mango and Dwayne panting drips of drool and shedding fur all over, we head home.
Most of the plants are between 50 cents and for the expensive ones, two dollars. We buy a variety of herbs which they put into terracotta pots right away (mint, oregano, rosemary, an unusual variety of cilantro) and a combination of flowering plants in yellows and orange, as Ben had said just last week that our garden was mostly blue and white and we could do with some bursts of color. We also buy two very tall sunflowers which are going to be the first to be planted at the studio (amidst the rubble, corrugated piece of roof and dangling electric cord… for now). With plants coming out the window of the taxi, Mango and Dwayne panting drips of drool and shedding fur all over, we head home.