Granada Love Affair

Much of Honduras lay ahead of us and driving to the border from D&D would not leave us time to make the crossing and get to a hotel before dark.  Honestly, usually its enough to get through the border by dark. no matter when you start.

The decision was made to transit Honduras and lay up in El Paraiso near the border to prepare for a crossing the next day. For all the dire warnings about Honduras, we had no issues through the country, not with either of the police or the not-police-but-still-scary. For the most part it was a continuous film roll of pastoral countryside and friendly locals. I guess you can't plan your life around 'they' or what they say.

On the road to Nicaragua we were not going to drive through Tegucigalpa because we know that major cities can be difficult to navigate. However... the evening before we had offered a ride to Tanya, our Austrian friend as she would be making a complicated bus transfer in 'Gooch to meet her friend just arriving from Austria.

We had a great chat while we travelled, which was a nice change from our usual, i.e.: Brad drives, I navigate, and we chat until we've missed an exit. All went well, we dropped Tanya off at a taxi stand in central Tegucigalpa and fled the smog and chaotic traffic as quickly as we could.

Our escape from the capital city to the near-border town of El Paraiso went well. Without any travel book or website coverage of the town to fall back on we had to book a room based on some sketchy Google reviews.

The Hotel Mario Chavez could have been anything.  I like to avoid thinking about it at times like this but scenes from Dusk to Dawn kept jumping to mind as we looked for the hotel.

Leona seemed as relieved as I (but I doubt it) when we rolled into a charming little family hotel that was, if anything, a little grander than its web presence. The staff were very kind and helpful and the hotel was clean and very comfortable.  A familiar theme with rooms around a garden courtyard and a bonus of good food in the restaurant. It's a little out of the way but, if you are ever in the neighbourhood, it is highly recommended.

We left early the next morning for the border at Los Manos with all our ducks in a row.  We had very little trouble at the border, despite the fact that no one spoke English. The usual exit stamps for our passports and relinquishing our temporary vehicle permit, and a short drive to the Nicaragua side to get our temporary vehicle permit for Nicaragua and our passports stamped.  Routine is never routine!

There seemed to be a long line at the "bank" where we would pay for our vehicle import permit.  For no apparent reason we were ushered in ahead of everyone into a lovely air-conditioned room with an armed guard. We felt a little like celebrities! The guard was very friendly and we never found out what all the other people were lining up for. Sometimes it sucks when you don't know enough of the language to effectively ask questions but in this instance discretion would be a virtue.  Best not to piss anyone off  with poorly phrased questions at the border.

One welcome difference in Nicaragua was mandatory liability insurance that had to be purchased at the border.  It gave us some assurance that everyone on the road would be similarly covered.  Yea Right!!!

If the local buses spent as much on liability insurance as they did on lights, paint, and slutty automotive jewellery everyone aboard could be assured of reasonable compensation when a bus careened into a chasm.

The roads had shoulders and better than those we had travelled for past weeks!

On our way south we travelled through Nicaragua's breadbasket and the farming communities around Esteli. Ideal farmland, it was amazingly rich and verdant.

While marvelling at the farmland we joined a line-up to pass a police checkpoint. With policemen working both lanes, Brad slipped into a near-empty lane, which turned out to be an infraccion. 

As the severity of the violation was being impressed upon us by a very earnest officer, it became apparent that a lack of understanding was going to be an asset.  In part we were having trouble with the Spanish but the biggest part of the confusion was total incredulity.  How could moving into an empty lane at 2 kph, while signalling, be any kind of an infraccion?

It slowly dawned on us that our stupidity was working.  It was raining so hard that this poor fellow was getting soaked and the harder he tried to squeeze the retarded Gringos the dumber they seemed to be! Finally, amazed that we were driving in his country without ANY knowledge of Spanish, he threw his hands with apparent disgust and waved us on. Turns out that being dumb can actually save you money!!!

We decided to stay first in Nicaragua's original capital and one of the oldest cities in Central America; Granada. On the western shore of Lake Nicaragua it's about 50 kilometres from the beaches of the Pacific, cradled between dormant volcanoes, and deceptively compact.

Granada has a rich and colourful history, a small city with a big city's pedigree. That history was at least in part due to the fact that it is also accessible by ship from the Caribbean.  The San Juan river provides a navigable connection from the southern end of Lago Nicaragua to the coast.  Granada was therefore a natural transit-point between the coasts for Spanish plunder from lands along the Pacific.

A lovely garden in the centre of the courtyard and restaurant

We arrived in Granada and found the hotel quite easily. What a lovely place the Hotel El Almirante turned out to be!  Another classic example of a grand home in a colonial city converted to a hotel. And what a home it would have been!

The Almirante was welcoming and exuded colonial charm.  The amenities were excellent, the staff exceptionally kind, and the food was excellent.

A meticulously maintained pool near the rooms and Brad
making sure that the tables are sturdy enough for really big drinks

Feeling the Christmas spirit

With all of that going for it and a great cash discount, staying for longer than we had originally planned was a no-brainer. Rudy, the jefe or manager, was there to make it right whenever our Spanish failed us.

Over the next few days we explored the town and took care of the necessary phone and banking needs. The centre of town was only a couple of blocks from the hotel. As we explored,  we were enchanted with the town more and more.  Central square was lined with colonial era buildings painted in pastel colours and everything was decorated for Christmas.   There wasn't much English spoken here but the locals were happy to help us with our Spanish and we could get by.

Nativity scenes adorn the bandstand in the central square

Christmas in Granada is a festive affair

With some time to enjoy the city we decided that it was time we sharpened our language skills a little so we enrolled in a few hours of Spanish classes at one of the local schools.

Juan with his 'special' students

Not wanting to plunge into the deep end of Spanish syntax we decided to book just 10 hours of casual lessons at Casa Nica, a well regarded school in mid-town. For five days at two hours a day it should prove to be beneficial without becoming frustrating!

Juan, the young fellow assigned to us was immensely patient.  His gift was being able to gauge both our current capabilities and understand what we hoped to accomplish.  His English did not appear to be great but appearing to be weak in English was, in the end, a benefit to us and may have been a tactic that made him a more effective teacher.  We may never know.

In the end we gained a deeper understanding of the language than we would ever get through stilted, one-off conversations.  It was especially useful to understand how Central American idioms differed from the Spanish we had learned in Canada.

Juan's gift to us was an appreciation of how much work we had in front of us.  Never was it more true that the more you know, the more obvious it is how much you don't know.

The cobblestone streets of Granada are wide enough for
cafes to host sidewalk patios and allow cars to pass

We had to ask a local, why are the cobble stoned streets of Granada wider than those of the other ancient cities of the region? In Central America answers to such riddles are often vestiges of American foreign policy.

In the 1850s, before the Civil War or the Panama Canal, American adventurer and a proponent of 'manifest destiny', William Walker, was bankrolled by the Vanderbuilts to secure for the US, by force, the overland passage across the Americas via Nicaragua.  As mentioned that route pivots on Granada,

Walker followed a tried and true pirate tactic from the 1700s: he sailed a small mercenary army through Lake Nicaragua; seized Granada;, installed himself as Presidente; declined into madness; turned on his American backers; and burned down the City just before being ousted and executed. The new Nicaraguan government moved the Capital to Managua and rebuilt Granada, widening the streets and modernising the civic infrastructure in the process. Ancient City, modern streets.

As fascinating as the city was, the immediate area was even more amazing with two lakes, a volcano, and a labyrinth of islands on the very edge of the city.  The volcano last erupted in 1580 and has a road up to the rim of the crater.

The cluster of 300 islands in the island on the outskirts of Granada are what remains of the top of the volcano following a major eruption thousands of years ago.

Beyond Apoyo, the sweep of Lake Nicaragua
looked like a great inland sea

The easiest day trip was to Lake Apoyo, also a lake formed by the dome of a volcano but one much lower in altitude and easily accessed by car.

We drove about 30 minutes from town to Catarina, a incredibly picturesque town perched on the western edge of the crater.  On the edge of town was a magnificent lookout over Apoyo. We could see the whole of the lake, down to Granada, and beyond.


To the right is a view of the Lake Apoyo from the road near the beach front.  It was late in the day but the mini-resorts looked so nice we returned later that week for a 'beach day'.

Almost as nice as Whitefish

Returning a few days later with a free afternoon following Spanish class, we chose a small resort that had a bar and restaurant and several terraces with beach lounges, picnic tables, umbrellas and all the accoutrements of a day at the beach. There was kayaks and paddle-boards for the use of guests all for an entrance fee of $6 per day. Leona took advantage of the free paddleboards to test out the waves on the lake and managed to not get dumped!

The water was warm and incredibly clean and clear. Development on the lake was tightly controlled to ensure that the water stayed pristine.  Even though we were told that powerboats were allowed on the lake we only saw a few Hobie Cats and no motorised traffic whatever.

A view from the lake shore at one of the mini-resorts

In Catarina it seemed like every plant was in bloom.  Because of its ideal micro-climate the area was a major centre for plant nurseries and horticulture.  Leona was so entranced no photos were taken!

Our next outing was to the Volcano Mombacho which was only about a half hour drive from Granada. While the access road to the crater's edge had been open to private vehicles in earlier times, today it is only available to specially designed 4X4 tourist lorries.

Volcan Mombacho

The jungle tour up Mambacho

The half hour trip straight up the volcano on a one lane, cobblestone road can only be described as harrowing! Plastic tarps over seating area in the back provided a close perspective to the ever-present danger as we approached the craters edge.

Our guide was a university student of Hospitality Services in Granada and a charming hostess

One of many vents spewing gases from deep in the volcano. 

We arrived to the visitor's center at the crater's edge, about 1,200 meters (3,800 ft) above sea level. There were topographical maps of the area as well as information about the flora and fauna in the cloud forest at the volcano's rim.

The temperature had dropped significantly and the wind was howling, pelting us with a fine mist. Didn't get the memo about bringing an extra sweater/jacket.

We hired a guide to take us on the one and a half hour hike around the main crater.  She mentioned in passing that this semi-rainstorm and near zero visibilty prevailed at the rim, i.e.: about 80% of the time.  Great!

She was able to provide a wealth of information on the geology, the fauna, and the flora.  To the left and below are some of the beautiful orchids that we saw everywhere along the hike.













During our hike we also heard howler monkeys and thought they may be close, but their calls can be heard many miles away, especially in the higher elevations. We craned through the trees and tried to spot them somewhere down the valley.

After a few moments of silence a rustling in the trees above us caused us to look up, just in time to see a full grown howler walk across the branches 15 feet above Leona's head. It was thrilling but it happened so fast it was nearly impossible to capture on film.  The guide assured us that it was rare that they came so close to the trails. We were to be lucky that day however, as it was not the last we would see of howlers.

After a coffee to warm up we embarked on another 'death wagon' for the return trip down the volcano.  We arrived back at the parking lot to find several people looking up into the trees.  To our great delight there was a whole troop of howler monkeys moving through the area!

There were many opportunities for photos while several family groups frolicked as they passed overhead.


Towards the end of our stay in Granada we took an opportunity to tour the Isletas just beyond the lake-shore and to view the Granda's many historical sites with a proper guide and riding a horse drawn carriage,  More of all that on the next posting as we head to the Pacific beaches south of Leon to celebrate Christmas.

Hasta pronto:  B&L