This is Not the Photo …

Chris Beytes

… that we had planned to run on these pages. We had planned to publish a gorgeous aerial photograph of Las Limas, Ball FloraPlant’s new production facility in Nicaragua, shot with our new ultra-high definition quadcopter, “Snoopy II.” We’d hoped to show you the exterior details of the 32-acre greenhouse, such as the fully covered walkways, which aid in maintaining strict sanitation.

But Snoopy was locked up by Nicaragua’s Customs officials. Apparently drones, especially those with cameras and the ability to fly quite high and far, have been outlawed by the Instituto Nicaragüense de Aeronáutica Civil (INAC).

Who would have guessed that a quiet, unassuming Central American country like Nicaragua would have so quickly and thoroughly weighed in on the issue of drones? In America, we have to register drones with the FAA, but other than that, we can use and enjoy them provided we follow some basic safety rules. So when packing Snoopy for the trip to Nicaragua, I never even thought to check for regulations. I’ve been to Nicaragua. I’ve seen a person riding down the highway in a hammock suspended in the back of of a pickup truck. I wasn’t sure they even knew what a drone was. I certainly didn’t think they’d care if I flew it over private property miles from anywhere.

Long story short, Snoopy was taken into custody after I arrived Monday night and all my bags went through a routine x-ray. The polite Customs woman told me that I could submit a letter requesting permission to use him. Until then, he was held at the airport.

Early the next morning, Alex Meneses, general manager of Las Limas, wrote a very polite and detailed letter to Capitán Carlos Salazar, director general of INAC. However, we were told it takes 48 hours to process the request. Could they acelerar the process? Lo siento, no. Plus, the the capitán is out of the country.

Drat. No aerial photos.

It’s a poor substitute, but the shot above came by driving up into the hills surrounding the Estelí valley where my driver, Manuel, knew of an abandoned observation tower. We scrambled over a stone wall, hiked up a cow path, traversed some steep boulders, found the open gate of the vine-covered fence surrounding the tower, climbed 30 ft. or so straight up, and were greeted by the best view possible of the nursery … if not a bit farther away than my 320 mm lens could capture crisply through the heat waves.

Meanwhile, Snoopy languishes in a storeroom at the airport, as my colleagues at Las Limas work to free him and ship him back to America where he can once again fly free … hopefully, over Ball Seed’s Field Day & Landscape Day, July 29.

By the way, is the four-year-old facility functioning as designed? Absolutely, reports president Al Davidson. He says they’re shipping more than 100 million cuttings per year, and this year hit an order fill rate of 99.9%. Can’t get much better consistency than that. GT