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Published: March 31st 2011
To get from León to Granada, I had to change buses in Managua, but as long as I took a minibus, it was a straightforward affair: the standard buses use different stations in Managua but the minibus arrives where the Granada bus leaves from. So even if the bus fare was a little more expensive at 40C, I didn't have to struggle or get a taxi and that was what I decided to do. When we got to Managua, I had to jump off and run as the Granada bus was about to leave. That was pretty much the perfect connection, although I was standing for half the trip and sitting between the door and the driver (on top of a big sign saying not to sit there) for the other half.
I had a city map of Granada with me, which I had picked up from León, so it was not too bad to get my bearings when we got to the city, but it turned out the bus was going to the central square anyway. As we arrived in Granada, I must have had a big grin on my face. It was sooooo pretty! The memories from the colonial
cities of Mexico were flooding back. I was a happy lady. I walked from the centre in the direction of the hostel I had picked from the book, all along looking at the beautiful architecture and colours. Just before I got to my selected accommodation, I saw a sign outside another hostel advertising their dorm beds for $5. That was a cheaper option so I decided to have a look. It was ok but not the best ever, with foam mattress and a grumpy old man in the same dorm. Then I went to make my lunch and saw what they called the kitchen and that kind of put me off a little more. So I decided to go and have a look at the other place, just to see what they had to offer. When I got there, I saw the board outside stating $5 for dorms (cheaper than what the LP said, there's a first for everything!). A quick look around helped me make my mind up and I quickly went to get my things out of the first hostel and moved there instead, with the promise that if I stayed 3 nights, they'd only charge me $4
for the 3rd one!
It was early to mid-afternoon by then and I was itching to go and have a look around... I looked at the map and headed the long way to the market and supermarket to buy some food. The main square and the cathedral were particularly impressive, but the whole historic centre (and beyond as I discovered the following days) was full of character, with renovated colonial buildings one after the other and lots of bright colours everywhere. Tons of pictures and some food shopping later, I returned to the hostel where I met some of my fellow travellers and did not a lot other than chat all evening.
The next morning, I started by arranging a boat trip for the afternoon: this was to take me for a tour around some of the 350 islands on the local lake (Lake Nicaragua, the 2nd biggest in Latin America I believe). This proved rather more difficult than I expected, as none of the tour operators had any bookings for that day and they wouldn't organise the excursion without more customers involved. In the end, I just got lucky and ended up walking into one of the shops at
the same time as another girl who wanted to do the same thing, so we booked on for the afternoon.
That left me free until 3pm and I opted to use the time to go to a few nearby villages called Los Pueblos Blancos. First stop was Catarina, about an hour away and 10C on the chicken bus. It was supposed to be a traditional village with a great view point above a local crater lake. When I got there, although I liked the village, it was obvious that it was all about catching the tourist trade, with crafts and souvenir shops all the way along the main road to the mirador and people trying to get you to have a look at their stalls or tuk-tuk drivers telling you they would take you up the hill on the cheap. The view from the top was very nice indeed and after spending some time taking it all in, I walked down to the next village of San Juan. There, I wasn't sure whether I missed what I was supposed to enjoy, but I really didn't find anything other than pottery shops (which had very nice but expensive creations). From there
I moved on to Daria, but it was a couple of km away so I caught the bus there (5C). I walked up to the main square and enjoyed the cathedral and the deserted village. The guide-book stated that not many tourists make it that far and that definitely seemed true. The guide-book also mentioned another view point, but I forgot about it until I was back on the main road waiting for the bus back to Granada and chatting to some locals who asked me if I'd been to the mirador... Never mind! It was about 1.00pm by the time the bus arrived and I was in a bit of a hurry by then as I had to be back in Granada and ready for the boat trip at 3pm.
I got just enough time to grab some lunch at the hostel before going to meet the tour. In the end, it turned out there were 6 of us as 4 Americans had decided to do the trip too. This meant we got to pay $12 each instead of the $18 we would have paid for 2 people. Our guide was a Nicaraguan who had grown up in the
states and he was very good and helped the group gel. The boat ride took us past some islands owned by very wealthy individuals who had built amazing houses on their own private islands. We got to have a quick look (from the boat, we didn't get off) at one that was up for sale, the island with a luxury 5 bedroom house and basketball court for $450.000. Anyone interested? The guide actually explained to us that there is a real problem in Granada as a lot of rich foreigners are buying the colonial houses in the historic centre and locals have as a result been pushed out to the suburbs as they cannot afford to live in town anymore. On the lake, we got to see both sides of the coin: the really nice luxurious properties (one even had its own heli-pad) and the fishermen village with really basic housing and tinned roofs.
Our first stop off the boat was to see the “castle”: a building constructed to stop the pirates from invading Granada. It was a nice little building and had great views. I'm not sure whether the pirates ever came. In fact I'm not even sure the
ships could have sailed up from the sea to that point (today the water isn't deep enough, but maybe back then it was different).
After that quick stop, we got back on the boat and were on our way to “Monkey Island”, a tiny one where (you've guessed it) some monkeys live (spider monkeys and another type which I can't remember). We stayed on the water but got some great views and the boat driver even handed a mango to one of the inhabitants. We were all really pleased that we got to get so close to them.
After that, our next destination was to the shipwreck yard, which seemed to be partly working on servicing and fixing some boats temporarily out of action, but also had a few wrecks just resting there.
Our final port of call was the pub island. We stopped and some of us grabbed a beer. I wanted a Macuá, the national cocktail, made with rum and fruit juices, which the guide had been telling us about, but unfortunately, they didn't serve it at The Pirate pub, so I saved myself some money instead...
On the way back to “tierra firme” (solid ground), we got
Masaya
crafts marketone final look at some of the wildlife and we were back to shore shortly after 5pm, in time for sunset, one of the best times of day for city pictures (with the sun shining on the yellowy-orange walls of the cathedral). It had been a good day and it was a good evening, chatting away to other travellers at the hostel.
For my final day around Granada, I had decided to go and visit the nearby town of Masaya, famed for its crafts market, followed by the nearby Laguna de Apoyo, a crater lake supposed to offer the best swimming opportunity in the country. I got the 7.30am bus, not because I expected a long day, but because I was awake at the crack of dawn, as usual... The journey was no more than an hour and the bus dropped us off next to the busy local market. I had a walk around and got lost a few times. It was huge and terribly busy with all the locals doing their shopping. After a while, I decided to head for the crafts market, where I had been told I would only find tourists, but without a city map, I
didn't know which way to go. A couple of people pointed me in the right direction and after a short walk, I finally found it. Unfortunately, it was a little too early for them and half the stalls were still shut or just setting up. I had heard so much about this that I was expecting something substantial and was disappointed at both the scale and the products on offer (nothing I hadn't seen before and some things, such as multicoloured Guatemalan fabric, clearly not local crafts). The prices were also very high, but then that was to be expected in a tourist hub. The only thing I enjoyed about this market was the fact it was housed behind old walls (of which I don't know the story).
After this not really time consuming affair, I made my way towards the central square. It was very quiet, apart from a triathlon race taking place (and in the heat, I was feeling sorry for the runners), I wondered where everybody was, but I guess the answer was that they were all at the local market doing their shopping (it was Sunday morning). After walking around the central area for as long
as I could manage (not very, there didn't seem to be that much to keep me entertained), I decided to leave Masaya for the Laguna de Apoyo. I have to admit I was disappointed by the lack of sights in the city (and not what I had been led to believe by the guide-book), but then again, maybe I missed something! I was even going to stop at a recommended museum but it was closed.
After the less than perfect morning, I was just in time to catch the 11.30 bus, one of the few going all the way doing to the shore of the lake I was advised by the LP. I hopped on and waited and waited and waited. Eventually, we left at around midday, but I wasn't terribly shocked (getting used to the Latin timekeeping after all!) About 30-45 minutes later, the bus stopped and we were all ordered to get off. We were definitely not by the lake shore and some Nicaraguans asked the driver why he wasn't going al the way down, but they didn't get much of an answer, other than the fact he just wasn't. From the information I'd gathered, there was a
2km downhill walk to the shore, but the area was unsafe and it was recommended to hitch a ride down rather than walk... So hitch-hiking versus walking, what was the safest? In the end, about 10 young locals started walking down, so I decided to follow them, thinking that I wasn't going to get robbed with such a big group (unless they were the robbers!). A short while later and without encountering any scary baddies with machetes, I made it to the lake.
I walked along the shore for a while, trying to find a quiet spot, but it was Sunday afternoon, so I had no hope! I settled for a more beachy looking little corner (rather than a rocky corner) which I shared with 4 other people. Soon, they were chatting away to me. They were locals who had come from Masaya for the afternoon (and confirmed there wasn't much to see in Masaya, but it was a good place to go out) and it soon became apparent that the rum had been flowing for some time and they were having a jolly day. It meant it didn't matter that I couldn't understand half of what they were saying
(drunken Spanish is still a bit beyond my level), I don't think they even noticed. We had a good laugh for a couple of hours. I didn't swim in the lake, even though the water was hot enough, I just didn't feel like it.
By about 3pm, I decided I'd had enough and walked to the bus stop and was told there was a bus coming at 3.30pm, which turned out to be the last one of the day (otherwise I would have had to walk back the 2km up the hill). When I got on the bus, the guy on the seat in front of me asked if I was from around here (he was just double checking before switching to English) and then asked me about the lake as he'd just come down on the bus and wasn't sure about how he was going to get back if he hopped off. In the end he went and had a quick glance and took a few pictures before getting back on. We started chatting away and he turned out to be a Roman Swiss (the ones who speak French). He was heading back to Granada so we did the
trip together (which was lucky because he knew when to change bus whereas I didn't) and it also turned out that he was going off to the island of Ometepe the next day with the same ferry as I was.
When we got back to the city, it was getting towards late afternoon and we stopped to take a few pics of a side of town neither of us had been to, before saying goodbye until the next day. I then went to one of the churches near my hostel where you can walk up the tower bell for a dollar. There, I took in the views over the city and waited for the sunset to take some nice pictures before returning to the hostel for a chilled evening.
The next day, my ferry wasn't until 2pm, so after buying my ticket (90C), I used the morning to have one final walk around beautiful Granada, going to the market to stock up on a few bits for the couple of days on the island (I figured food would be more expensive there), packing and saying goodbye to some of the people I'd met over the course of the last few
days. After a spot of lunch, it was time to sail away...
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delphine
non-member comment
c'est vraiment joli, ca donne envie de prendre le bateau avec toi