Monday, January 25, 2010 -- A TASTE OF LAGUNA DE APOYO

When we got electricity last night we both took hot showers and then ran the fan and the air-conditioning (to hell with the extra cost) until 1:30 am when I got up and shut off the AC because it was (believe it) too cold. We should move to another hostel today but we’ve paid the room two more nights in advance and have a morning and an afternoon tour planned. So, we organized our gear and sorted out a large pile of clothing to take around the corner to a laundry.

We dropped off the laundry and then Jamie, our Tierra Tours driver, drove us up to Monkey Hut at Laguna de Apoyo—a large caldera lake about half an hour west of the city—in his immaculate and air-conditioned SUV. What a treat! Jamie was obviously a well-to-do Nicaraguan and spoke pretty good English. He stopped at the rim to let me take photos. Jamie promised to be back at 3 to take us to Masaya’s large covered shopping market, which LP described so: “Masaya’s main claim to fame is shopping, and savvy buyers come here to find great deals on Nicaragua’s finest handicrafts. Tours and taxi drivers drop you off at the 1888 Mercado Artesanías (National Artisans Market) a black-basalt Gothic structure with a Spanish fortress motif, including turrets, towers, and oversized gates. . .” From Masaya we would find our own way back to Granada on public transportation.

Two pix cobbled together to show this gorgeous caldera lake

Before we left, we went to Garden Café (recommended in LP), had breakfast, and ordered sandwiches to go. When we got to Monkey Hut, we put the sandwiches in the fridge and later ate them at lakeside, sitting with our feet in the water. Now THIS was the life, particularly after all of our water and electricity trials and the heat and heavy tourism of Granada.

A very happy Jess reading her Lonely Planet after a swim

Mother washing clothes and her little daughter at lakeside just down from where we were sitting eating our sandwiches

We loved Laguna de Apoyo so well that we’ve booked two nights up here at San Simian. The air is much cooler at this elevation and the water is deep and refreshing. Jess swam out to the Monkey Hut dock and sunbathed. Then she got the idea to take one of the kayaks and paddle around the bend to San Simian to book a room. Distances were deceiving. Jess returned without having found San Simian, so she called from the phone at Monkey Hut and reserved for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Her little kayak venture got her a pretty good sunburn on her back and shoulders.

One of the huts at Monkey Hut

We will lose the money we’d put on our Granada room, but it doesn’t matter. It is nothing compared to the freedom and comfort of Laguna de Apoyo. We both finally realized that we were the happiest in the countryside—and Jess on the water—and the least happy and comfortable in a city. While Jess was calling, I bought a boar’s tooth necklace for Lucy from a guy who had set up in the lobby.

Jaime came for us at 3 and dropped us at Masaya’s Mercado Artesanías. It was a huge disappointment. Yes, it had sandals, clothing, hammocks, hanging chairs, inscribed vases in a native design, but most of the goods were trinkety little tourist souvenirs such as key chains, stuffed frogs, overly embroidered pieces etc. We walked its aisles for a bit and I even tried on a few tops that I thought might be cooler than what I had. Then we fled to the bus back to Granada, which required walking about five or six blocks.  On the way to the bus we bought a cheap $2 daypack for me.  Oddly, I did not take a single photo of the market. Those below are of our walk back to the bus. On the way we passed a store full of piñatas and a bicycle shop. Of course I had to take a photo of the bicycle shop.

The end of the line for our bus was somewhere on the back streets of Granada and required about a 10-block walk to our section of town. Once there, Jess picked up the clean laundry, while I searched for the guy who had been selling jewelry there two nights prior. He had some wonderful things made from ojo del venados (eye of the deer) seeds and some great rings and necklaces made from carved shells. Jess had bought a necklace, three bracelets made of beer tabs woven together with ribbon, and two shell rings from this jeweler the night she went for her wild bike ride. But the vendor was nowhere to be found.

We returned to the hostel, showered, and Jess pulled up Sábalos Lodge on the computer. We wanted to reserve a room at Sábalos Lodge, which was right on the San Juan River two hours from San Carlos, so we’d have a sure place to go after flying to San Carlos. After trying unsuccessfully to make an e-mail reservation, Jess went to two different public phones and finally made a reservation . . . she thought. Carla, the woman to whom she spoke, did not speak English. The next day we had Tierra Tours confirm the reservation, just to be on the safe side.

We dressed in our clean clothes and wandered Calle La Calzada looking for a promising restaurant. We ended up at an outdoor pizza place where we shared a pizza. I had a beer and Jess had a couple of glasses of wine before returning to our hostel to excitedly pack up for the next day’s move to San Simian.