"Travel Notes from Granada, Nicaragua " a Granada Travel Page by gdilieto

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Granada in Nicaragua was my third stop in Central America in 2007. As well as many of my other trips, it happened to be conceived by accident. And by saying accident I mean it, for I was supposed, on a long US weekend holiday, to travel with some friends to a different destination, but I booked my flight in the wrong dates and I had to turn my plans down. However I did not quit on the intent of traveling, and eventually I ended up booking a flight to Nicaragua, that I had just added to my travel list at that time. Once in Nicaragua, I skipped Managua altogether and I headed to Granada to enjoy its colonial flavor, the nature and the rural country.

Granada is a pretty and colorful old Spanish colonial town, rich in history and grace. It has the typical layout and architecture of Spanish colonial towns, a central square with the Cathedral, a grid-type pattern of streets and bright-painted single-storey buildings. Even though there are few sights of some historical and architectural relevance, the best of Granada is in its somewhat sophisticated atmosphere, enriched these days by a growing community of expats from Europe and North America. Yet, the thing that I appreciated the most is that, unlikely many other historical colonial towns in Central and Latin America, Granada has not developed yet through the point to loose its old charm to become a theme-park. At time of my visit there wasn't yet a McDonald's and a Starbucks nor luxury boutiques and shops and the city was still "owned" and lived by locals and residents. The other great deal about Granada is the natural setting, with lakes and volcanoes, easily accessible to tourists and visitors, all around. I have attached few photos in My Travelogues in this page to describe better Granada and its beautiful surrounding.

As well as other counties in Central America, Nicaragua is a land of volcanoes. Volcanoes, crater lakes and volcanic ecosystems are among the most impressive sites to visit in Granada area. There are two volcanoes in Granada area: Volcan Mombacho and Volcan Masaya. I visited, and was impressed, by the venting crater of Volcan Masaya, reachable with just a thirty-minute comfortable drive from Granada. You drive up to the top of the volcano, you park your car, you lean from the fence and ... you are just sticking your face in a venting crater of an active volcano. I would never expect that so much could be achieved with so little efforts. Volcan Mombacho is also supposed to be beautiful but you shall trek to get atop. A great deal are also the crater lakes, with Laguna de Apoyo the largest and the best developed for tourists. For a visual representation of volcanoes and crater lakes please visit my Photo Gallery of Volcanoes and Crater Lakes.

Nicaragua is a poor country. At time of my visit it ranked as one of the poorest in Latin America, with some 50% of population living below the international poverty line. You won't take much to realize it, though you won't see, at least I didn't, scenes of extreme poverty in Granada and surrounding area. Despite being a very poor country, surprisingly Nicaragua is not as dangerous for travelers as one might expect and if you don't go looking for troubles most likely you won't find any. Anyway, Nicaragua is still the least visited country in Central America and, even though tourism industry has developed fast over the last few years, it has still its way to go, so be prepared to put up with some discomforts. Among other things, at time of my visit to Granada, electricity and water were routinely discontinued for many hours a day, making not easy to visit a place which is hot and humid all the year long. Anyway, all in all, the gain is definitely well worth the pain.