Laguna de Apoyo - Fun in the Volcano.. umm I mean SUN!

Lagua de Apoyo is worth another post. A lake that was formed in a centuries old volcano crater, the laguna is a beautiful, relaxing spot, but also an interesting one. We heard from one local that the crater lake is so deep that no one has ever been to the bottom. Shaped like an upside down cone, the laguna maintains a mystic air to it. It is said to be 200 meters deep and 200 centuries old. According to some, there is an underground cave that links the volcano to nearby Volcano Mombacho. There is apparently a witch who lives down in the underwater grottos and protects the passageway. It is said that the bodies of people who drown in the Laguna de Apoyo are never found because the witch takes them from the bottom of the laguna and transports them to a final resting place under the volcano. Another story is that the Laguna is linked deep, deep down, to the sea and that is why the water is very slightly brackish. Whatever the truth, there is definitely a lot to ponder while floating in the laguna's emerald waters.

Laguna de Apoyo was the perfect compromise for J and I. I love swimming and he hates everything beach related: Sun, sand, salt water, swimming, fun. He hates it all. The Laguna de Apoyo is a freshwater lake with very little sand and a good amount of shade. All things that made our compromise possible. The beach is rocky and strewn with bigger volcanic rocks. Some of the volcanic rocks even float and you can come across one floating along side you while you're swimming. Others are so fragile that you can actually break the rock in half with nothing but your hands.

Paradiso, the hotel we stayed at was more like a resort than a hotel. There were kayaks, paddleboards

and inner tubes to use, along with comfy beach lounge chairs and a waterside cafe/bar. Most people visit the Laguna de Apoyo on a day trip from Granada. We intended on going for one night and ended up staying two because we liked it so much. Had we been on a longer trip, we probably would have extended our stay even more. We spent the entire three days working our way through a relaxing cycle of swimming, lounging in the shade, eating delicious meals and washing them down with cold Nica beer. We even met a few awesome new people. One of the most inspiring was Deneice, a Brit (by Nationality only) who has been on the road for twelve years! We chatted well into the night and left Laguna de Apoyo knowing that we had been very lucky to have gotten to know her better.

We dragged ourselves back to Granada the very last moment possible and only because we had plans to head north into Nicaragua's cool highlands the next day. New adventures awaited and we had no intention of missing a single one.

Volcanic Zen

I woke up sweating. Despite the fact that two fans had been whirring furiously directly on me the entire night and it was barely 7am, I was sweating.  It was definitely too hot to go back to sleep and I desperately wanted to be much cooler then I currently was.

Thankfully we had fled the oppressive Granada heat and were staying at a 'resort' on the Laguna de Apoyo where the swimming was spectacular. This the third volcano we had been to in almost as many days. Instead of being active, or blanketed in a thick forest, this inactive volcano crater was full of water. Maybe my favourite option of the three!

I slipped out of our room and headed down to the water. The air was hot and thick and sticky but I felt instantaneously happy as soon as I stepped into the lake. I walked out as far as I could touch. The crystal clear water deceptively deep.

I laid back like a starfish and let the water wrap around me like a cool silk sheet. The silence under the water is so complete, its hard not to be instantly relaxed. I looked down at my toes poking just out of the surface. I tried to memorize every detail of the scene around me to re-live one cold February afternoon. The crater rim rising up around me, lush, vibrant, tropical and impenetrable. The tendrils of mist that are clinging to the highest edges, weaving in and out of the tallest reaches of the crater. The sun slipped behind a thin cloud, bathing the entire scene in a silvery, early morning light. The laguna is a mirror. The only sounds are of exotic sounding birds calling to each other from the thick forest. Little fish are jumping a few feet from my outstretched toes. I'm not sure if they are the hunters or huntees until a much bigger fish leaps out of the water and grabs one of the little fish in its mouth. Definitely the hunted. I try to take everything in and make a video in my mind. A tall, elegant white egret lands on the raft floating out deeper. I lie still willing the tranquility to linger just a little bit longer.

But, it doesn't. Employees are arriving for the day, calling out greetings in Spanish. Other guests filter down to the lake, dogs start barking at a neighbouring property...the moment is gone. I slip back under the water and surface  feeling re-energized and lucky that I get to spend another day with the Laguna.

The Classic Masaya Tour

Aka: Stand at on the Crater Rim of an Active Volcano followed by a live pottery demonstration

Ok, so there were a few more stops involved in the tour. However, standing on the edge of an active volcano, watching the smoke billow up from its burning depths- is kinda hard to compete with.

Our entrance fee to the Masaya Volcano included a pamphlet that stated that the volcano could erupt at any moment. In English and Spanish. There's always lava bubbling at the bottom, although you can't see it because of all the smoke venting out the heat at the top. No one else seemed particularly concerned with the warning, nor did I get the overwhelming sense of impending doom- so on we went, bubbling lava and all. Before getting to the actual volcano, we stopped at the little museum of the Parque Nacional Volcan Masaya. We learned many interesting, gruesome facts. For example, the people who originally lived near the volcano believed that  the volcano was actually a devil/god. To keep the god satiated, the people gave him sacrifices of women and children. It was considered an honour to be thrown into the volcano-alive- to appease the powerful volcano god. Much to my embarrassment, J sized up the volcano and noted the probably-bumpy trajectory that the human sacrifices took. To summarize his observations: they didn't do graceful swan dives right into the lava...they first free-falled before slamming into the volano's walls and brokenly tumbled into the molten lava. Why he noticed/pointed this out is beyond me. Anyway, when the Spaniards came, they erected a massive cross on the rim of the crater and named the spot the-gate to hell. Seems reasonable enough to me. Especially since in 1772 , said Volcano erupted and killed everyone in the vicinity.

But don't worry parentals, this volcano hasn't erupted violently since 2003 and it barely killed anyone that time (J: "barely" means in this case "did not"). In fact from what we hear, it was just a small case of steaming boulders being strewn 500m into the air landing willy-nilly, thankfully not on its visitors. Other countries, ones with more rules, may not allow tourists to drive to the edge of an active, unpredictable volcano for this very reason. Thankfully (fingers crossed) for us, Nicaragua is not one of these boring rule-laden countries.

A 15 minute walk uphill to the neighbouring crater offers a stark contrast. Whereas the the Santiago crater is alive and volatile, the very next crater is lush and green, coated in jungle and alive with tropical birds! Fascinating! Speaking of birds, it also turns out that the large amount of sulfuric dioxide gas that is constantly being pumped out of the active crater is of no deterrent to local green parakeets. They return every afternoon to their nests that are literally little nooks inside the crater of the active volcano! Talk about living on the edge!

Next stop on our classic tour we stopped in at the National Artisans Market in Masaya (the town). The market building is a Gothic structure, built in 1888 with turrets, towers and oversized basalt archways. The stalls were jam packed with colourful woven blankets, painted masks, knit hammocks, ceramics and soapstone sculptures. Oh, and neon t-shirts emblazoned with the local Tona Beer logo. Yup- backpackers have been here. It was a fun place to stroll and check out the quality offerings. And get a frozen lemonade.

Our driver stopped in the small town of Catarina, which is known for its garden supplies and ceramics, and sometimes the larger than life ceramics that decorate gardens. Catarina is also known for its gorgeous lookout over the Laguna de Apopyo. Yet another volcano crater in this very volcanic nation. This crater, in contrast to both the bubbling and the lush green calderas in the national park- was filled with water! Deep, clean, perfect for swimming water- but more on that later!

The final stop on our tour was at a traditional ceramic school in a small non-descript neighbourhood

that one would never find if they weren't on a tour. We were given a private and very impressive demonstration of how the pottery is made in the traditional way of the area. Clay is collected from pretty much around the corner. It is then danced on (yes, you read that right) in bare feet for 3.5 hours to soften it up. The potters wheels are powered by the potter spinning a disc with his foot while he shapes the clay on the wheel with his hands. Before our very eyes, our demonstrator masterfully sculpted a lump of clay into a beautifully shaped vase. He made it look so easy- which I know its not, because I've tried to make a pottery mug.. which unintentionally turned out to be a bowl...  The pieces are  polished by sea stone and the the pit of a local fruit. All the colours are natural pigments and the designs are hand carved. The pottery is fired in brick kiln with real fire and polished a final time. Each piece takes 16 days to complete. They are of exceptionally high quality and exquisitely detailed. If we didn't have to carry the pottery around in our backpacks for the next two months, we would have been very inclined to buy ourselves a piece of this Masaya heritage.

We aren't usually big on tours and very rarely do we take them. But in this case, having someone drive us exactly where we wanted to go, without having to fumble around the local buses, walk extra long kilometers in the heat and be able to see so many sights in a short period, taking a tour made the most sense.

We were the only ones booked for the day, so we had a private tour, arranged through Danny's Tour Agency ( associated with Hostel El Momento). Our tour guide was the lovely Elisetta and her father, Juan, was our driver. Elisetta is studying tourism in Managua and speaks English well. It cost $35 USD each.

72 HOURS IN GRANADA

Some things are just worth the money. For us being greeted at the airport after a long day of travel by a man with a sign that has our name on it- is one of them. And so we prearranged for it to happen. Thankfully our driver didn't mind silence because we were exhausted. He drove us the hour from the Managua Airport to the tourist town of Granada on surprisingly smooth roads, with surprisingly little traffic, minimal stray dogs and not a single honk. Not at all what I was expecting from our first hour in Central America.
Although Nicaragua is only a two hour time difference, we still found our first day to be a bit rough. The 40 degree weather was also probably a factor. And the humidity. Oh boy, is it hot here. That's a statement, not a complaint. I've had three cold showers today and foresee a fourth before getting into bed. HOT.

We started off our first morning in Granada with a huge plate of gallo pinto. Jonathan was in heaven. Rice and beans for breakfast! It was a dream come true. Rice, beans, scrambled eggs, toast and grilled tomatoes, to be specific. Delivered with a bottle of hot sauce. What's not to love about a country where hot sauce is automatically offered with the salt and pepper.

Granada has an interesting past. Its been a major trade centre since its inception, when it was built as a showcase city by the Spanish in 1524. Granada is one of the oldest cities in the new world. It's a resilient city too. Granada was sacked by pirates three times between 1665 and 1670 and burnt to the ground by Tennessee-born William Walker in the midst of a civil war in 1850. Each time, Granada was lovingly rebuilt and because of this, we get to enjoy its regal beauty and masterful architecture today.

Chock full of gallo pinto, we headed out on the town to take in the sights. We strolled through Parque Central and confirmed approximately thirty times that no, we did not want to take a romantic horse and buggy ride around town. We admired the churches, colonial streets, bright houses, and colourful window shutters. Granada is a very photogenic city. We headed down to the lake via a wide promenade lined with promisingly-refreshing-looking patios. I had intentions of renting kayaks or going out on a boat ride out on Lake Nicaragua around the nearby islands. Unfortunately J read somewhere that there were, at one point, abundant Bull
Sharks in the lake and despite them being massively overfished (like thirty years ago) to the point of almost extinction, J still refused to go anywhere near the water. (J: anyone at the top of the food chain shouldn't have too much trouble recovering population numbers) I had to kibosh the kayak AND the boat tour plans. We went to the market instead. A busy jumble of colourful stalls selling everything

from food to flashlights. We settled on icecream.

Just before sunset we headed up the bell tower in Granada's Iglesia de Mercad. The view was amazing, especially because we had the whole tower to ourselves. It was worth both the dollar (or so) entrance fee and the sketchy narrow staircase to be able to take the city in from the high vantage point.

Red Beard Fan Club Update:  Dear devoted fans, just a quick note to say that membership in this most ridiculous of clubs, J's Beard Fan Club, has now transcended nearly every continent. No culture or ocean can divide the devoted. The newest fans, joining the Tibetan monks, Canadian folk musicians and Chinese businessmen (just to name a few) are now gay Nicaraguan men that we met at a sports bar in downtown Granada. Let me paint you a picture of this fascinating situation. We were in a sports bar for dinner, because it was Sunday and everything else was closed. A Nicaraguan joint trying to be a Western bar. This is not somewhere we would usually be. Homer Simpson was painted all over the brick walls enjoying his Duff Beer. There were tvs tuned into some sporting event or another and neon beer signs hung from the ceiling and walls. Our new friends, a gay couple, were very interested in telling us their woes, dancing and constantly plunking coins into the karaoke machine to ensure that Shakira, their most favourite of all singers, continued to croon away. They loved Shakira so much that they insisted that the server turn the huge projector onto the big white wall, so that they could watch the Shakira music videos in larger than life format. They stroked J's beard and kissed their fingers in the Italian "muah" way and told J how beautiful he (and his glorious beard) were. I told them that I was going to cut it off in the night. They pleaded with me not to, and told him that if I did sneakily cut his beard, then he should cut up the dress I was wearing!! Jeez! Don't mess the the Red Beard Fan Club!

Where we stayed: Hostal El Momento. Clean, friendly, great atmosphere and food. $30 USD for a private room with a bathroom