Santa de la Playa

On one of our last days in Granada we elected to do our third day trip on the same day we took a closer look at the city before we left.  In the morning we started right on the shores of Lake Nicaragua within Granada's city limits.

We booked a private launch to leave first thing in the morning for a tour of Granada's las Isletas, or 'little islands' as they are locally known.  In four hours we didn't even scratch the surface of the 350+ islands that make up the archipelago.

The guide knew the many channels through the islands, which was a little nerve racking for us 1st timers. Huge basalt rocks looming just below the surface seemed to be everywhere we looked.


Near the city many of the isletas are large enough for a house or small estate so there are dozens, from grand to modest.  At times it seemed like a tropical 'Homes of the Stars' tour but some islands were still inhabited by native families who held title and were, according to our guide, "just waiting for the right time to sell'.

It's the windward side of the lake so the islands have rock abutments at the waterline all around. Most shoreline that we saw was rock anyway but it certainly was attractive.

The many scenes we past reminded me of cottage country in lake country across Ontario, except for the palm trees and bull sharks of course.  Yes bull sharks, which are tolerant of fresh water and often seek out fresh water for nurseries to have their young.

This lake was famous as a bull shark fishery that supplied Asian markets for shark fin soup.  It is also was know for tarpon fishing where Carribean tarpon follow the San Juan River to feed on fresh water fish.


Had to get a picture of this where one of the Big 5 (ie: the five families that controls most of the commerce in Nicaragua) has a cottage that forms a bridge spanning a channel and links two of the islands.

At every turn I half expected to turn a corner and see the global HQ of SPECTRE or some other shadowy evil empire bent on global domination.  This was the stuff of a James Bond thriller. Instead, the real Nicaragua is around that corner and sometimes its a heart breaker.


Local fisherman usually net freshwater bass but lucked into a run of 5 ft, 200 lb tarpon that morning.  Tarpon is the most sought after sport fish in the world and consequently a species endangered through much of the Caribbean.

Sport fisherman would pay local fisherman thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars to catch and release those same fish.

How can people living a hand-to-mouth, often on the very edge of survival, be asked to miss a legitimate payday at the local fish market for an uncertain payday in the future? The long-term approach is too risky for them.

The last stop of the morning was the most entertaining.  A family of monkeys had become accustomed to tour boats and seemed curious to come aboard and say hi.

No ransacking the boat like temple monkeys in India and no aggression, just friendly curiosity and a scratch on the belly.  I thought that the guides must train them with food for this but I never saw any kind of bribe or exchange for their good behaviour.

Brad was astounded that no one lost their glasses or iPhone and Leona truly thrilled with the exchange.

After leaving the boat, pictured at right, and cabbing back to the hotel for a quick lunch, we jumped on a horse drawn carriage for a city tour.

The guide had an excellent knowledge of the city and its history.  Brad found the legacy of the Sandinista regime of the 80s the most interesting, especially now that they were back in power but with radically different policies. Leona was most interested in the flowers and the butterflies. Yup!

memorial to the Sandinistas

A memorial to Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 80s and their socialist regime that defied the US under Reagan.

The walls of an old fort which had in the bad-old-days had been re-purposed to house a prison for political prisoners and a school for, shall we say, re-education.

The 'new' Catholic cathedral built after the city was burned down by William Walker and his freedom fighters.

Front doors to a boys school built from a church and monastery.
You guessed it, a few blocks away there is a very nice girls school painted in fresh white with pink trim.  Honest!
















Like many old Spanish grave yards, Granada's is primarily above ground tombs.








Oldest structure in Granada and reputed to be one of William Walkers homes







After a great visit and with Christmas approaching we had decided to accept a very gracious offer from Andrew, a friend and colleague of our good friend Lynn.  Andrew's offer was the use of his newly built home right on the beach.  His place was at Playa Tesoro, a new development south along the coast from Playa Penitas and only a few kilometers from the beautiful city of Leon.

That coastline is one of the up-and-coming tourist destinations in Nicaragua and still an un-found jewel we had heard much about.  It seemed like a great place to get away from the hustle and confusion of Christmas, when the  schedules for stores and restaurants are often very hard to anticipate.

Rule #1, Follow the power lines

We knew that the beach was out of the way by the directions Andrew had given us and by the way he encouraged us to contact the developers of a large track of land adjacent, who had people permanently on location and could help us out if needed.

Rule #2, Don't hurry

So the map was not-to-scale and the road in was a challenge. We planned our approach for mid-day to make accommodation for missteps.

Once we got to the beach we sought out the neighbours to make sure we were at the right place.  It was a beautiful and well appointed 2 bedroom house on what seemed to be miles of pristine beach.


We had purchased groceries for the stay not knowing if it was practical to make the 30 minute trip to town during the holidays.  Just as Andrew had described it, almost everything we would need was there.  The one thing missing, a hammock, I had brought.


As Christmas drew near we kept close track of where the kids were, where Baba was, and where our visitor from Sweden was, all amidst the chaos that was Christmas with the Petricks.

Leona's family too was getting together for the Holidays and we were keen to keep up with everything and participate as best we could through Skype, FaceTime, and WhatsApp.  Unfortunately the community wifi that was to be up and running by then was not set up and our fall-back contingency of cheap data on a Nicaraguan cell phone, was not getting the signal strength expected.



We could see the potential for a problem with communication and Leona's confidence in her tech-savvy husband was eroding.... fast.

We went to the neightboring development to use their wifi but it was down.  With guests starting to flood in for the Holiday weekend and Leona glaring from the peanut gallery, action was needed and needed fast.

Within two hours the local principal and CFO for the property development had driven in from Leon and we were all bent to the task of turning that frown upside down.  Nothing less would be acceptable.

We got the local wifi working off the cellular network but stability was fleeting and ultimately unattainable.

We were forced to stand near the beach, but not too close to the pounding surf, and try to hang on to conversations through sketchy data. Merry Freakin' Christmas!!!

It became clear that the wifi was not going to be up and we were going to be out of touch through the Christmas and Holiday Season.  Paradise was becoming bittersweet.


The perfect surf, beautiful house, a riot of birds, and turtle hatches at every magnificent sunset was being outweighed by missing Christmas with the family.

At Tesoro Beach there was a great deal of action that week.  There were German kids visiting the house beside us with no real groceries and no transportation.

Prairie girls: an unlikely meeting

We ran into a group of Mennonite girls from Canada stranded on the road into the beach and found out that two of them were actually from Brooks, Leona's home town.  One actually worked for Leona's aunt.

Sea turtle hatchlings making for a life at sea

Despite it all, after less than a week it seemed our time was getting short in this perfect place. Leona's despair became too great on one beautiful sunset on the beach.  We were helping turtle hatchlings scamper to the water without predation from the air, done just before nightfall to give them some further protection from predation in the seas.  Not sure if any of that was helpful but it did seem to make Leona think of her little hatchlings spending Christmas without us. We were resolved then to find a place where we could FaceTime and Skype and WhatsApp to our hearts content, literally.


Missing out largely on the Christmas experience, even from afar, had been a disappointment for us and we made plans to move on before New Years Eve.  It was for the Petricks not just New Years, it was Baba's birthday and the anniversary of her marriage to our departed father, Woody.  Every year it is a very special night to all of us and we decided not to miss being with them virtually.

If these guy can get a cell connection why can't we?

Our plan was to move down to Nicaragua's Pacific coast beaches at San Juan del Sur.  It's very popular with expats and so promised to have well developed infrastructure.   When we looked for accommodations however, it became clear that SDJS was a hot New Years destination for both expats and Nicas.  The hotels were packed and prices were astronomical.

We decided instead on Popoyo, a surfers beach part way down the coast to SJDS which promised to have at least reasonable connectivity to the world at large.  We took the last room at Yalta's Inn, a newly built and mid-range hotel on the beach.

It turned out to be a disappointment as far as a hotel went but we spent a couple days on a deck overlooking the surf, chatting with all of our friends and family is they braved a wintery interlude between Christmas and New Years Eve.  I'm sure they envied us sitting at a beach in 30C sun
shine watching the surfers but we envied them a little too.


No matter, if things are not working out in Nicaragua we set our sights on Costa Rica and made plans to find a spot to enjoy New Years Eve and stay connected to home.

We booked the last few days of the year and New Years Eve in the northern highlands of Costa Rica at a hotel and brewery (again, you ask?) in the hills overlooking Lake Arenal.  It was near a place where we take our daughters, Nicole and Stephanie, when they came to Costa Rica to visit us.

Oh yes, Nicole and Stephanie were coming to Costa Rica for 2 weeks in early January.   It was beyond exiting to have them join us for a time on this trip, and especially so 8 years after we had all visited Costa Rica together.  We had planned two weeks full of activities in unique and special parts of the country and looked forward to making many great memories together.

For now the plan was enjoy New Years Eve, scout out Lake Arenal, and get ready to host the girls, even though the SUV was already packed solid.  We booked a house in Playa Coco for the week after New Years Day giving us a week to prepare.

Next, Pura Vida in Costa Rica