"Granada" Nicaragua Travelogue by paradisedreamer

Our driver arrived at 9:30am, we were still having breakfast but he didn´t mind waiting as he was a bit early anyway. It really is amazing how the temperature changes as you go down the mountain, must have been 15 degrees hotter within 30 minutes. Not far out of Matagalpa Sam decided to throw up all over the taxi. I guess it was too soon after bre4akfast to be bouncing around in a taxi. We had to do a quick clean up and change her clothes on the side of the road. She was fine after that.
The drive back towards Managua was lovely, very similar to Hartebeespoort in South Africa, The view of the lake was beautiful as we came down the mountains, with a huge volcano in the distance. We saw men on the side of the roads selling birds, not in cages but just sitting on sticks that they were holding out, beautiful green and yellow birds
The road between Masaya and Granada is awful, potholes everywhere but it seems they are trying to widen and fix the road in places.

Granada is stunning, a beautiful colonial Spanish town. My camera is going to get a good workout here. We eventually found our hotel (driving round suited us fine because we got to see a lot of the town). We managed to get a room at Hostal Oasis but have to change rooms after two nights and can only stay for 4. I think we will move on after that and then come back again because we definitely need more time here. Our room was not ready so we waited in the courtyard. There are lots of hammocks to chill out in and the hotel has a small pool, the reason we wanted to stay here. A German / Dutch couple we met on Caye Caulker spotted us, they are also staying at the same hotel. I was really taken by surprise, it was fantastic to see them again!
We spent the afternoon at the hotel chatting to people and cooling off in the pool. it is really hot here but apparently yesterday it was 42 degrees. There is free internet access here which is a huge bonus!
Later on we took a walk to the central p;aza and then down some side streets. Granada is one of those places that steals your heart I love this place. I knew from pictures that the buildings and architecture were stunning but I imagined a few streets to be like that but thye are ALL like that. The one storey houses are painte din natural colours, ochres, terracottas and blues.
We had dinner at Redfords, we had heard some people in the hostal talking about it and the food was good. Even though we felt very comfortable about walking around town there is a notice on the door of the hostal telling people to get taxis at night. We got back just after dark and had no problems at all. We have foud people here to be very friendly and helpful and very patient with my terrible Spanish, they correct you so politely instead of getting irritated with you and they are just as eager to learn the english words.

I cannot find the words to describe what a wonderful city Granada is. It tops my list f favourite city for sure. It is vibrant, architecturally beautiful, the people are friendly and smiling, there is an atmosphere that I just cant describe. Today we walked around the town to orientate ourselves and sightsee.
We first went to Iglesia de la Merced a short walk form our hotel. It is one of the most beautiful churches in Granada. We managed to find the caretaker and he let us climb up the belltower (just give him a tip and he is quite happy to open up for you). The views from the top are well worth it. You can see everything from there down towards lake Nicaragua, the volcano and the whole of Granada. The church itself is beautiful inside, vaulted ceilings with the walls painted a lovely green.
From there we walked down to Parque central where we had something to drink and could not resist buying some CDs from a kid in the park, he tried so hard and when those big brown eyes are upon you its impossible to say no. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the world, its hard ot really see it in a place like Granada but when you see kids spending their days selling cashew nuts, pottery, pirate DVDs etc instead of being in school it brings it home.
We walked down Calle Calzada which is a beautifull street with all the houses and buildings painted in different colours. We passed Iglesia de Guadelupe but didnät actually go in. It used to be a fort before it became a church. We walked down to the lake and then jumped in a taxi to Peurto Asese. We had lunch at a very nice restaurant there overlooking las isletas. These are tiny islands formed over 10 000 years ago when Vocan Mombacho erupted. The restaurant has a great view of the volcano and you can see lots of birds as well, it is fairly expensive but the food is good. We managed to call a taxi to take us back to town. We found another hotel (Casa San Francisco) and booked in there for two extra nights as the place we are in now does not have any rooms availabe for the entire time we want to be here. Just down the road is the Convento y Iglesia de San Francisco, a beautiful church painted in vibrant blue and white. The church was the headquarters of William Walker until he burnt it to the ground. William Walker had it in his mind that he could take over all of Central America but obvioudly did not succeed but he managed to burn down most of Granada when he left. The church then became a university but was shut down by Samoza in 1951, it had now been completely restored.
From there we walked to Plaza de la Independencia at the corner of Parque Central, there is an obelisk there dedicated to the heroes of the 1811 struggle for independence. In the park we bought a beautiful wooden bowl, not sure where we will pack all these purchases but hey!

We made our way back to the hotel as it was stinking hot and the pool was calling us. We passed a bank and managed to draw some money. You basically have to carry a lot of cash, not all hotels take travellers checks and out of the cities there are very few banks, next week we willl try and change travellers checks, apparantly it is a long process as they check each number and will phone American Express and check they are valid etc.
We spotted a little electronics repair shop so we took our DVD player in to get fixed, that’s another thing I love about towns like this, it is so easy to get things done. When we were in SE Asia we found a tiny shop in Saigon to get our camcorder fixed. In any first world country it would be a lot harder and would probably take a lot longer, so-called progress and efficiency do not tend to go hand in hand!

Back at the hotel we cooled off in the pool, we were exhausted for all the walking and the heat. In the evening we went to Tele Pizza for dinner and ate and drank well for just USD10 for the three of us. There are only so many dinners of rice and beans a person can eat so while we are in the city we will take advantage of unhealthy western food!

A very lazy day, we had to pack our bags and move to another room as ours was booked out. It seems to be the norm at the hostel, a lot of people are having to move rooms. A pain but we hadnt planned on doing much today anyway.
We went out for a walk around town and booked a tour at Tierra tours to Volcan Masaya for tomorrow. When walking around its worth keeping yours eyes out for places where the plaster has falllen off the walls and you can see the bricks made from straw and mud underneath. An excellent example of this is inside the Iglesia San Francisco. We had lunch at Pizzeria Don Lucas, yeah pizza again! After that we walked back to the hostel and just chilled. We managed to get one of Sams DVDs to play on one of the TVs in the courtyard so she finally got to see Barbie Swan Lake that she got for Xmas. We chatted to other travellers and just relaxed.

We met a family from Texas (apparently it is important to stipulate that it is Austin Texas), Nicolette is actually from Hawaii. They have a daughter, Ryan, who is also 4 and looks just like Lilo (as in Lilo and stitch). The girls played all night and only went to bed when we did which was 11pm. They live in Costa Rica and have just bought a hostel in Monteverde.

Ran, Nicolette and Ryan decided to join us for the tour which was really great. The tour was only USD18 plus C65 entrance fee to the national park.

We went straight to the Volcan Masaya National park first. You can drive all the way up to the crater where there is a large parking area. When we first got there you could not see anything it was just a huge cloud of steam and it began to clear you could see the edge of the crater below and all the striation in the rock. The gases are not too smelly but they do catch in you throat of you get close. It is so stunning especially since a volcaoes are always such mysterious and strange landscapes for us.

During the pre-Columbian age, Masaya Volcano was on object of veneration by the indigenous people. They believed the eruptions were signs of anger from the Gods and to appease them they offered sacrifices, which ofter included small children and maidens. We did warn the girls that they be on their best behaviour! They then planted a cross, "La Cruz de Bobadilla (named after Father Francisco Bobadilla). It was placed on the crater lip in the 16th century in order to exorcise the Devil. The cross is still there but you cant climb up to it because of landslides.

We hiked up to the extinct volcano right next to it and the views are just beautiful, you can see Volcan Momotombo in the distance on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Nicolette and I stayed with the kids while everyone else hiked up around the edge of the volcano to Lagune Apoyo. It was a little too dangerous for them and because of the gravel pathway it is slippery as well. It is worth visiting the museum at the entrance to the national park.

From there we went to Masaya market, it was a lot more modern that I had expected. You can buy all sorts of handicrafts and it is worth a look. I have an unhealthy obsession with clay pots so I really should not have gone. I saw at least 5 that I really really wanted. That is the one drawback with backpacking or going on a long trip – you cant buy anything, especially nothing fragile. They really were beautiful pots……

After that we drove to Caterina which is a small village with lots of seedling nurseries so it is very colourful. It is 520 meters above sea level. At the highest point is Mirador Catarina where you get a spectacular view of the very blue Cocibola lake, Volcan Mombacho and on to Granada and Lake Nicaragua. There were some local Nicaraguan singers and it was so peaceful sitting up there with this spectacular view and listening to the beautiful music. Heaven! Sam and Ryan kept giving us heart failure by jumping around and we could just imagine them tumbling off the edge.

Once we got back to the hotel it was time for a welcome swim and a sleep for Nicolette (she is 3 months pregnant), later the guys went to get some Rum and beer and we just chilled.

By the time we went for dinner the guys were very mellow. We went to Dona Conchis which is fairly expensive but the tables are set around a beautiful courtyard with a fountain and candles. The food was very good too. When we got back to the hotel the guys got more rum and I took Sam to bed. Marc ended up passing out in a hammock and will be in the dog box for a while!

Our tour to Las Isletas was only at 10am so we got to have a bit of a sleep in. A continental breakfast is included at the new hotel (Casa San Francisco). We had fruit salad and freshly baked muffins.
We had a bit of time before heading to Tierra tours. There were over 6 people on our tour so it was only $10 each and Sam was free again. We ended up having the same guide as we did for the tour to the Volcano.

We cruised around the beautiful islands, lots of birdlife and a few people fishing and doing their washing in the lake. We stopped at El Castillo which is an old fort that was used to protect Granada from British invasion. There are some old cannons there and a lovely view of Granada and Ometepe from the top of the fort.
We passed lots of beautiful mansions on private islands. Apparently you can buy a good sized island for only $125K or rent a 4 bedroom house for $100 a day.
On one of the islands we saw some monkeys and one with a baby clinging to it which was fantastic. They are used to tourists so they come down to get a look at you. We stopped at a restaurant for a drink, I am not sure what it was, a fruit smoothie but something I have never tasted before.

After the trip (2.5 hours) we went to Don Luca for lunch. On the way back to the hotel we poked our noses through a doorway and saw some artists with excellent paintings. They told us to go around the corner to Casa des Leones. We paid C10 to get in but didn´t find where they were, we just looked at the pictures on display.

After a swim back at the hotel Marc and Sam went to fetch the DVD player. Unfortunately they couldn´t get the parts to fix it. They got a horse cart back (Sam has been nagging for days!). They also managed to organize a private transfer to San Jorge for tomorrow for $35 through Oro travel. We were ripped off big time when we went to Selva Negra!

We had dinner at the hotel, the food was very good and so was the key lime pie for dessert.