http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Nicaragua , Laguna de Apoyo en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:53:03 UTC Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:53:03 UTC woke up way too early and way too tired.had bfast at nice euro cafe. took bus to masaya market and bought a bag shirt and lil wallet. went to craters edge and spent the afternoon in the sun on a tube. had great dinner and saw a big tarantula that night. went nite swimming too in the warm water. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-350997.html Well Nicaragua really surprised us in being such an amazing country with so much to do with the best beer in central america the most delicious rum Flor de caa and an icecream brand called Eskimo that Terry got REALLY fond of. If we couldn't find one of their icecream shops we could always follow the familiar sound of the Eskimo jingle bells from the guys with their little freezers on wheel http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-347309.html Lago de Apoyo is about an hour from Granada on the bus there are a couple of places to stay. I stayed at the Monkey Hut. This is an incredible crater lake that allows for fantasic swimming and kayaking and lots of chill time. However if you attempt the hike to the lookout be prepared. Information is scarce but it is a fairly easy climb depending on the weather. Mud was a huge problem and some o http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-324412.html We made our way back to Granada and met up with Achim and Veronica my friends that traveled together with me in Guatemala El Salvador and now Nicaragua. It was so great to see them again as we were trying to meet up for several days now but kept missing each other by like a day they even stayed in the knat infested playa Santo Domingo and slept at Hospedaje Gloriana the night after we left tr http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-280587.html I wrote this poem on a cramped chicken bus ride towards cosiguina a volcano in the North of Nica. There were pot holes in the road the size of small towns so I figured Id try and get it down in a more legible format.give us your gunsnot bags of rice and cornlet us defend ourselvesfrom the ever changing enemythe well trained magician who never ceasesto disappearonly to turn upcloaked in the fla http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-254425.html Into the big city we went and getting off the bus were not impressed with our filthy surroundings and touchy beggers. But further travel led us to a nice hotel with cheap rooms on a clean street out of the way from the chaos. We stayed a night before heading up to the volcanic crater lake Laguna de Apoyo. We stayed 2 nights at the Craters Edge Hostel were we swam and drank away the days. We also http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-249738.html Got a ride to the Monkey Hut the Bearded Monkeys Hostel on the Laguna. Return trip was 3 and entrance was 6 although for another 4 you could spend the night. They keep the entrance fee at 6 simply to keep the chill atmosphere at the Hut. The lake is nice. Much like any lake in Manitoba or Ontario it's got fresh water with bad viz and surrounded by trees. The Hut has 3 kayaks one mis http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-244610.html After the long week with the kids it was time for a needed break some group bonding time and for reflection. Yet before we go we are offered a few surprises back on the range. Some former volunteers actually from MN Matt and his wife Rachel come to visit for a week. The kids still remember them Having met early in school they went to college together during which they took a break to ser http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-240539.html Hi. this is mark. I hope this message finds you all in good spirits.Today during spanish class our teacher told us that in the north of nicaragua there are around 7 people that change into monkeys at night in order to steal things and rape women. She was totally serious. Yesterday we saw some monkeys in the forest near the school when we were walking with her and she told us she was scared of t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-168936.html Laguna de Apoyo is a great place to lie around and take it easy for a few days. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-167884.html We started our Nicaraguan adventure in San Juan del Sur in the south west. From the Costa Rican border we jumped on an over crowded chicken bus. These are actually old yellow American school buses just like in the Simpsons and they provide a rattly dusty cramped bonecrunching cheap and interesting way of getting around. Nicaragua is an incredibly poor country the second poorest in the http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-150708.html I met my dad at the airport on Thursday March 29th. He was hungry after a day of travel but since we were staying in the middle of a forested area with no comedors his welcome to Nicaragua meal was fried chicken at a fast food place along the highway with our cab driver sharing the booth with us. Dad pointed out that Narcys the fried chicken place was exactly like fast food restaurants in t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-146533.html Arrived in Granada Nicaragua for the wedding after a long but surprisingly comfortable bus trip over 2 days. I met a nice traveler from New York at the Guatemala City TICA bus station and adopted him as my travel buddy and Valentines Day dinner date for our overnight stay in San Salvador. Granada is as hot as I expected with the low temp here being the same as the high temp in Guatemala 96F h http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-133157.html One of the local attractions close to Granada was Laguna de Apoyo which is an extinct volcano crater which has filled with water over the years. This place was beautiful and we stayed at craters edge Hostel www.cratersedge.com check the website out. It was such a carm and relaxing place and right on the waters edge so you could swim kayak sun bath on the floating dock or just sit back and http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-129928.html Wendy What day is itDebbie I think its Wednesday.Wendy It feels like Friday.Debbie It cant be Friday because Im sure yesterday was Tuesday.Wendy Yesterday couldnt have been Tuesday. Im sure were closer to the weekend than that.Debbie We cant be that close to the weekend because we still have two more nights here and that left two nights before I was leaving back to Managua http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-125045.html Met up with a couple of english guys from huddersfield who were spending a month travelling through central america and we decided to go see one of the fresh water lakes about 45 minutes from Granada where a lot of well to do Nicos Nicas have their holiday homes.The taxi driver was great but spoke very little english so I had to act as translator for most of the day because the english lads span http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-119368.html Christmas day was perfect. The school had a huge lunch party and 40 people showed up mostly staff and their families from a primary school that was built by Proyecto Ecologico the spanish school. I spent most of time time with my Swiss and English friends and a couple from the Netherlands that are doing an environmental project in a different region of Nicaragua and came to see what kind of http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-114486.html Even when traveling I cant stop thinking about transportation modes. The highways to Managua are in surprisingly good condition its as if they were just paved last year. Even though they are plenty of cars and trucks speeding through they have a lot of competition for lane space. In addition to the cars there are chicken buses pedestrians of all ages taxis mostly without license plates b http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-113151.html After 3 days of class I was feeling really good about how much spanish I have retained from last year. I was really proud of myself. And then I had this conversation with Flavia my teacherin spanishto me You know if you are going to be living in Nicaragua for 4 months you should really learn the vos verb form.Oh you use vosotros here No problem I know that already...No no no no. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-112188.html I have been at Laguna de Apoyo for a week. It is a beautiful and endangered nature reserve surrounding the crater lake of an active volcano. If you dig in the sand by the shore of the lake steam rises out just a few inches down the earth by the lake is so hot that you can hard boil eggs by burying them. Before arriving here I was most excited about seeing and hearing the many howler monkeys t http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-112184.html First check out entry from Granada I added some photos of the church that I walked past everyday to get to Spanish School.Second thank god for getting out of Granada On Friday I headed out in the back of a truck the shuttle if you will... to Lagua de Apoyo. What heaven on earth.... The water was beautiful a clear teal. The sky slighty overcast and cloudy the wind blowing.... Each and e http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-108441.html We decided halfway through our lessons that we needed a day off to absorb and take a break. So we decided to head out to a crater lake nearby. A friend of ours from UVic named Sophie has a cottage on this lake and urged us to go out there and check it out. So we got up early one morning and rented a little motorcycle. With the two of us on board we cruised out to the crater and attempted to f http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-106191.html We went for a walk down the road in the morning there wasnt a lot too see as this is a pretty quiet area. The rest of the day was spent reading relaxing swimming and kayaking in the lake. After dinner we headed down for a swim under the full moon.Nighttime at the lake we generally quiet... until a mango falls out of the tree and hits the roof which sounds like a bomb going off. This happen http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-80882.html We caught a taxi out to the Craters Edge a guest house on the edge of Laguna de Apoyo. The laguna is a lake in a deep volcanic crater and it is billed as having the cleanest water in Nicaragua. It was very clean a nice change after swimming in Lagos Nicaragua and a nice temperature to swim in. We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the lake in hammocks and taking the occaisional dip. http://www.travelblog.org//Central-America-Caribbean/Nicaragua/Laguna-de-Apoyo/blog-80881.html