Emma and Roland's Little Adventure: Week 10 Granada and Ometepe

Week 10

Tuesday. We left Leon in a Collective to head to Granada (are we in Nicaragua?). We arrived at our hostel GM Granada and were greeted by Greg, the owner, who gave us some great information on what we should do during our 3 days stay. We spent the afternoon wondering around the beautiful city and enjoying a few drinks and snacks along Calle Calzada

Iglesia La Merced

View from the top of Iglesia La Merced

Another view from the top of La Merced

Cathedral Of Granada

Train Station

Old railway change over ´thingy´

San Fransico Convent

Government buildings around the plaza

View of Lago Nicaragua

In the evening we stumbled across a street party. We had no idea what was being celebrated, but I am guessing it was something to do with Jesus or Mary ...

Jesus? Mary?

Dancers with masks on

Wednesday. We joined a German couple for a 2 hour boat ride around the Isletas de Granada ($25 for 2 people).

Stopped off on one of the islets to admire the vie

My favourite part of the trip was feeding the monkeys - not sure that crackers are that good for them but they seem to prefer them to bananas! We saw quite a lot of wildlife, mainly birds and overall it was an enjoyable and relaxing couple of hours.

In the afternoon we attempted the journey to Masaya via a chicken bus. A journey which should have taken 30 minutes ended up taking us 2 hours!

Yay, finally I was allowed to shop! Masaya is famed for its handicraft markets and we left with quite a few souvenirs - not sure how we are going to get them back as we were advised that the postal system in Nicaragua is not to be trusted. I now have a very heavy backpack!

We managed to find the chicken bus stop and waited with a million other locals for our bus back to Granada. The bus pulled up and there was a surge of people all pushing to get through the open door - Roland and I were in the middle of it. Eventually we squashed on, almost hanging out of the door! I did manage to get a seat after a few stops but Roland remained squashed at the front of the bus. The expression on his face was one of bewilderment and I couldn't help but giggle a little.

Spot Roland!

In the evening we returned to Calle Calzada and ate at Nectar. The food here was really nice. We had an array of starters washed down with beer and cocktails.

Man from Masaya hand carved maracas for me

Rather pleased with them!!

We were entertained by some street dancers

Xmas tree in Granada

Thursday. We jumped in a taxi and spent the day by Laguna De Apoyo
which had been formed in a crater of a Volcano! I spent the whole day swinging in a hammock while Roland ventured into the warm waters for a little swim. The most beautiful place to swim in Nicaragua (apparently!)

In the evening we ate at Kanpai My goodness, the food was delicious and we really did treat ourselves (bill was 1000 Cordoba's!). It was owned by a Japanese man who had fled Japan after the numerous natural disasters, finally settling in Nicaragua (mainly because Masaya was his name and there is a town with his namesake here).

Friday to Monday. We left Granada and treated ourselves to a taxi to San Jorge, on the edge of Largo Nicaragua ($30) which happened to be driven by a baseball legend from the 70s, apparently! We caught the ferry to Moyogalpa on Ometepe Island (70C) followed by a 1.5 hour bone breaking taxi ride ($35) to our home for the next 4 days - Finca Mystica.

This place was lovely and at $30 a night we had our own little hobbit hut with private bathroom! The food here was wonderful - I am sure that I have gained a few pounds after staying there!

Garden surrounding Mystica

This was MY chair!

Hibiscus field

During our stay:

We walked to the nearby beach to view Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the distance.

We made friends with a lovely Dutch couple, Lola and Sam, who we kayaked with for 3 hours ($20) to see the wildlife.

Lola and Sam

Nice hat Roland!

Well earned Beer and Food - Trip was 3 hrs in total!! Arms were killing!!

On one of the evenings I gained control of the kitchen and was let loose on the rum and various juices - creating the 'Emma Special'! I managed to get quite a few people a little merry :-)