Granada: Tourist Hot Spot of Nicaragua

We arrived in the beautiful city of Granada on Monday afternoon. After walking from hostel to hostel, either being told they were full due to a group of 30 arriving later in the day or deducing that the place looked like a complete bore, we decided on a place that a man next to a horse and carriage recommended. Hostel Libertad. When we first walked in it seemed to be okay. Lots of hammocks, a bar, in a decent location, and lots of information on things to do. Upon further investigation, the so-called kitchen was barely usable, the water wasn´t working for at least 5 hours, and when it did start working the water trickled out of the faucet so slowly that it would have taken me an hour to take a shower. Oh, and there was a really stinky girl lounging around, which caused both of us to cringe when the wind blew the wrong way and would cause Nick to shudder sporadically throughout the day when the memory of "stinky girl", as we began to call her, crept into his mind. Needless to say, before going to bed that first night at Libertad, we had decided we would wake up early the next morning in search of a new hostel.

This was one of the best decisions we made the entire trip (besides deciding to get scuba certified). We have now been at Hostel Oasis for three happy days/nights. This place is, by far, the best hostel we have been at the entire trip. First of all, it´s huge. So, so, so many rooms and dorms. Tables, rocking chairs and hammocks galore. A kitchen which we use at least once a day. The best showers, which are even shared! A decent sized book exchange and game selection. A pool. And so many friendly backpackers. I'm a little sad that tonight is our last night at Oasis.

Besides Oasis, other great things about Granada include beautiful churches, beautiful colorful buildings lining the streets, delicious chocolate banana bread, Lake Nicaragua and all the little islands, and the most beautiful lake in the world.

One afternoon we spent in a canoe on Lake Nicaragua, navigating through the 365 islands that are right along shore. Well, we didn´t really see all 365 islands, but we did see a lot! We also heard, and sort of saw, some howler monkeys high up in the trees. Another day, which is ranking towards the top of the list as one of the best things of the trip, was spent at Lago de Apoyo, a crater lake, that is said to be one of the best swims in Central America. And it was. The water was warm, was crystal clear, had no weeds, and was surrounded by the most beautiful mountain and volcano background. Tonight is the baseball game, and we are crossing our fingers for this to be the one day it doesn´t rain in the evening.

Tomorrow we leave for Isle (Island) de Ometepe. If you watched Survivor this past season, the name "Ometepe" and "Zapatura" should both sound familiar. Both were the names of the teams on Survivor and both are islands on Lago de Nicaragua. After three or four days on Ometepe, we depart Nicaragua for Costa Rica, the sign that our trip is quickly coming to an end. We have decided that we will be putting our scuba certification to use in Costa Rica, but have yet to decide if we want to dive on the Pacific side (not as clear/no reef, but shorter bus ride from Nicaragua) or on the Carribean side (live reef, dolphin tours, but about a 12 hour bus ride from Nicarauga). We have decided we will decide on Ometepe.

One last hurrah scuba diving and one night of hopefully seeing the turtles lay their eggs and/or retreat back to sea will finish up our trip in Costa Rica. One month ago today we were just arriving on the island of Utila. It is amazing how many completely different things we have experienced in a months time.