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Published: January 20th 2007
The fast pace of 2006 quickly slowed when we arrived at the Oasis Hostel in Granada. The emphasis - in this small colonial city - being the hammock, and one achieves success each day based on the length of time spent horizontal. As you can imagine we were very very successful during our stay.
The buildings in Granada - hmmm, how to describe... maybe some Sandanistas made friendly with Castro-friendly Cuban painters, had a few rum punches and decided to paint the town. Beautiful, bright vivid colors, all perfectly faded and worn better than canal-front property in similar-looking Venice. Bustling, busy street markets and quiet, lazy plazas.
The people - amazingly friendly, without yet the scourges of tourism. Its nice to see very few gringos wandering the streets. Nicas are very polite with an emphasis on clean appearance - the grubby backpackers could stand to imitate. Nicaraguans are quite proud of their country and what it has to offer, which they should be. We feel extremely safe and well looked after by the locals.
When we weren't reading in the hammock or wandering the streets of Granada we were:
- swimming in Laguna De Apoyo - Nicaragua’s
cleanest, bluest, and deepest swimming hole is this 48-square-kilometer body of water trapped inside the crater of the Apoyo Volcano. The water delightfully warm.
- climbing Volcan Mombacho. An early rise gets us to the bottom of the Volcano with our guide Leo for an expected departure of 8 am, we depart at 9 am (Nicaraguan time) in an army-like van where we hold on for dear life as we climb the almost-vertical tracks of road to the top (ok so technically we didn't hike to the top but we hiked around the rim!). Leo, our guide, teaches us (mainly Jacqui) Spanish and shares his life stories as we trek into the clouds amidst the lush flora and fauna. Lucas, still recovering from corporatism, works with Leo on his tourism business's marketing strategy (in Spanish). We view Las Isleta's (the little islands) from the top of Volcan Mombacho - tiny beautiful paradises on lake nicaragua - in high demand for purchase from Westerners snubbing Florida and Costa Rica. Get here before its ruined by the next gringo retirement wave. Leo's family owns a couple islands and his family uses tourism to help them keep their idyllic abode, and we
encourage and he agrees never to sell.
- taste-testing Nicaragua's cold cerveza's. Lucas discovers his new love - Tona - the beer.
- developing sleeping disease (Jacqui only) - seems i can't stay awake for a full day and need at least 12-13 hours of sleep a night. Blaming the heat for now.
-Walking down a dark alley with no streetlights (Lucas lost as he tries to get off the beaten path), with American thug rap booming from somewhere, and it is halloween night, and a bloodthirsty huge-headed long-haired fanged 4 foot mongrel monster comes out of nowhere and growls in a deep, i'm gonna rip your limbs off voice. Turns out it was a kid in halloween mask. Thank goodness for our youthful, storng arterial walls as our hearts almost beat out of our chests.
Next stop San Juan del Sur
Recommendations in Granada-
Hostel Oasis - quieter and more laid back than The Monkey Hut
El Zaquan Restaurant behinf the cathedral - best steak in the world (filete jalepeno)
Hotel San Francisco on the plaza
Stay anywhere in Laguna de Apoyo for a few days
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