Granada - Laguna de Apoyo

Whilst in Granada you can take a popular day trip to Laguna de Apoyo. Here, at some point in the past, a volcano blew its top leaving behind a huge crater that has filled with fresh water. And the bonus is the lake has a sulphur content that keeps away mosquitoes. Don't worry, it doesn't smell!

 You can book yourself on a tour to the lake with most hostels ($12- $17), however if you want to conserve money, you can make your own way there. Information on how to do so is sparse, but you can jump on a bus to either Masaya or Managua and, so long as you jump off at the right point, you can get close. We asked our bus conductor to let us know when to jump off, however, he forgot and we ended up almost in Managua. Great.

By catching a bus back the way we came, we found that there is a direct bus to the lake from Masaya bus station. So all in all it took us 3 buses, but we were ahead of the game $2 versus $34 so far.

The bus stopped at a sign pointing towards a steep and narrow path down into the crater. Once on the lake shore we were at a bit of a loss. We could get the bathers on and have a dip, but we had come a long way for just a quick swim. And the shore consisted of half a meter of mud between the water and the trees. Hmm. In these situations all you can do is pick a direction and go. We hadn’t found a map of the lake, but there had to be somewhere you could rent a kayak or something. We chose left and after a 500m walk found Posada Ecological, a restaurant/hotel that half answered our prayers. It had one kayak and one pedalo (they called it a bicicletta) plus some inflatable rings. A one-man kayak you have to rule out if there are two of you. The two-seater pedalo would have been ideal, but it was extortionate for an hour’s rental. There is something wrong about hiring a pedalo for a good deal more than the cost of your hotel room!

So rubber rings it was. There was one condition though. We had to promise to spend at least $10 each in the restaurant afterwards. This meant that as soon as we were out of the lake, we had menus thrust upon us every five minutes. Maybe we don’t look trustworthy, but after cooling off and relaxing in the lake, the last thing I’d want to do is run away from angry Nicaraguan wait staff up a steep volcano crater!

We had no problem spending the $20 quota, unfortunately on very average food.

The lake itself is clear and dark blue and a sure way to beat the humidity. Well worth a trip, though unless you have a map or directions, it’s probably worth taking one of the tours. 

Granada and Archipielago Las Isletas

Having spent some time in Leon and Granada, it is clear that Nicaragua possesses some beautiful towns with many attractive colonial buildings. Have a look at Viva for some quality blogging on Leon! Check out Viva!

Granada, in particular, has some beautiful buildings and from La Mercad Church bell tower you can get a magnificent bird’s eye view of the city, which we happened to time extremely well with the sunset. However, unfortunately we didn’t have ear defenders when they came to ring the bell!

We stayed first at Hostel Oasis, which has a pool and is a carbon copy of Lazybones Hostel in Leon. All the amenities were on a par with what you’d expect for the price ($19 for a double room and shared bath) however, the room was far too hot at night. Were it not for the quantities of rum consumed, I don’t think I would have slept at all! They do have air-conditioned rooms, but obviously at a price. The next day, too hungover to ask about A/C, we moved to Hostel Chelero, which was basic, a little cooler, and cheaper too ($15 for 2).

The city has a pretty Central Square (what city worth its salt doesn’t?) and the architecture gives it a very European feel.

There is a bustling market, if you like that kind of thing, and if you fancy a trip around the many tiny islands on Lago Nicaragua, you can get a taxi from Parque Central ($1.50) to one of the many lanchas by the lake shore. They’ll take you on an hour’s boat ride. Expect little white-faced monkeys (Cara Blancas), a wide variety of birds, and a nose around some rich people’s island pads. Of course, money doesn’t buy you taste, but it can buy you a small island with which to put something ugly on!

I'm not sure how much he paid...