Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The Hotel Barca de Oro is a classic backpacker hotel in Las Peñitas, Nicaragua. The village surrounding it is a classic fishermen’s village and when you’re up early enough you can watch them going out in their boats and returning with the catch of the day in front of the hotel. Next to it the natural reserve San Juan Venado begins and you can observe the water of the Pacific ocean rise and sink during the day.
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The Volcán Masaya is the most heavily venting volcano of Nicaragua. While the lava is continuously bubbling you’re nevertheless allowed to get up and have a look into the crater. The mountain is 635 meters high and pre-Columbian civilizations called it the ‘burning mountain’ (Popogatepe). Its eruptions have been seen as a sign of enraged gods and therefore children and virgins have been offered to calm them – not the last time that people fell into the hot lava.
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Whether you want to buy some souvenirs like a tourist or buy some shoes, toys or food: shopping is different in Nicaragua and it mostly happens at markets outside. A good place to learn about this is Masaya where they have two markets, one for tourists and one for locals. But first you’ll have to find them in this confusing and busy city known for the artisan production of hammocks.
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If you want to enjoy the best view on the Laguna de Apoyo, the lake inside a former volcano crater west of Granada, you’ll have to visit the Mirador de Caterina. It belongs to the city of Catarina in the Masaya region and sits on top of the mountain range surrounding the lagoon. As you can guess the Calle hacia El Mirador guides you to your destination and at the end there is a paid parking area and lots of seats on which you can enjoy sundown over the lake.
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The San Simian Eco Resort is located at the shore of the Laguna de Apoyo west of Granada, Nicaragua. It is run since 2011 by a Swiss expat and offers only five cabañas distributed throughout a wonderful garden. There you can go swimming in the clear and warm lake inside a volcano crater, take a canoe tour on the laguna, you can just relax inside a hammock or spend your day by watching birds, monkeys, squirrels or discovering all the fruits and trees around you.
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The Laguna de Apoyo west of Granada, Nicaragua, is a little piece of heaven: a sweet water lake inside a former volcano. The region is a nature protection area but around the lake you’ll find a hand full of hotels and hostels blending into the forest. Some people just get here for a day trip. The hotels allow entrance for a small fee, you can use their facilities and are well-catered. But to be honest: it is best to stay here for some days, go swimming for sunrise and enjoy the natural beauty inside the crater.
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When you’re leaving the city center of Granada, Nicaragua, to the east you’ll reach the Malécon at the Cocibolca lake. Don’t expect a promenade with many people passing along or bars and restaurants. It is the chance to have a look at the lake or to get onto the pier to catch a ship going to the Isletas, to Zapatera or Ometepe. If you want to have a drink you need to walk along the shore further to the south, to a place flagged as Centro Turístico.
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People sitting on benches chatting, children chasing pigeons, merchants selling their products on a small market, horse carriages waiting for passengers to jump in. The Parque Central of Granada, Nicaragua, is as usual in colonial cities the heart of the town, the living room, the meeting place. Bars, restaurants and hotels surround this place which makes a good starting point for a visit to the city. Fountains and statues, dedicated to national poet Rubén Darío, to the country Nicaragua and to mothers in general decorate the place.
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The Hotel El Arca de Noé is the perfect starting point for a trip to Nicaragua. Located in the city center of Granada it is situated in a former colonial house with a garden in its center. Once you’re overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the streets you can enter this oasis and relax in one of the many hammocks or rocking chairs. The rooms are all located around this patio and in the mornings they serve you breakfast there: either the traditional Gallo Pinto (beans and rice) or pancakes with bananas.
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The Cocibolca or Lago de Nicaragua is the second-largest inland lake in Latin America after Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru. It stretches from the border to Costa Rica in the south to the city of Granada in the north. The water of the lake runs through the Río San Juan into the Caribbean Sea and this river can also be used by larger ships. That was discovered in 1525 by the Spanish, but also in the 17th century by pirates attacking the city of Granada.
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