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I have tried to include as much detail as possible including costs and recommendations
Nica Travelogue-Part One-
On April 22, my friend, Dick, and I set off for a 2 week adventure in Nicaragua. We flew Horizon Air from Redding, Ca to LAX and Aeromexico from LAX to Managua- 17 hours travel time and arrived in Managua at about 11:45am on Wednesday , the 23rd.. However, when we arrived, we found our luggage was not there. Since flights from Mexico City only arrive on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we were told that they would not know if it would arrive until noon on Friday.

I had previously booked with Tierra Tours for the first couple of days ($110 pp for pickup at the airport, two nights lodging and a full day tour of the Pueblos Blancas, Masaya market, lunch that day and the night tour of Volcan Masaya). Our driver, Raul, met us at airport. He spoke some English and we spoke some Spanish so we were able to communicate fairly well. We did change $40 into Cordoba (at about 19.3) before we left the airport. We drove past Momobacho and Volcan Masaya/San Fernando and through the town of Masaya. It was hot and humid but his cab had air conditioning.

We checked in to La Siesta, a very nice little hospedaje just north of the center of Granada. The young couple who run the guest house met us with a cold drink and cold bottles of water. Boris speaks French, Spanish and English and Marcela, who I think is Nicaraguan, speaks Spanish and some English.

After unpacking, we walked downtown towards the park. We stopped at a pharmacy and bought Aralen (Latin-American chloroquine for $1 for 10 and Celebrex (an expensive anti-inflammatory) at .25 per pill still in its American blister pack. We continued south of Centro Parque to the street markets trying to find things we needed in absence of our luggage. I had been to the markets in other CA countries but never when I needed specific items- It was very interesting trying to mix our Spanish with their very limited English and hand gestures, combined with our state of fatigue. However, the people were great and we found all the things we needed including the requisite 750ml bottle of Flora Cana for C100.

The town of Granada is really beautiful with fine architecture and brightly colored buildings. The cathedral and other buildings around the Plaza are breathtaking and it is obvious that major improvements are continuing. They are renovating Calle Calzada, west of the park to include small businesses and several restaurants. We stopped at one of the small restaurants and had drinks and dinner for C383, about $20. We found that throughout Nica, the townsfolk were more than willing to accept American $1s,5s,and 10s as well as 20s for larger bills but the standard cambio was C19 to $1 We returned to La Siesta, exhausted, and after cold showers ( we did not have a hot shower during our entire time in Nica) we retired.

The next morning we woke up early. Great coffee and ordered toast and fruit and Dick had omelette-C5 per plate. Raul picked us up at 9am and we met our guide, Roberto, whose English was quite good. Another couple from Germany accompanied us. We began our tour at San Juan Oriente where we went through a pottery cooperative. They showed us how they make and decorate the pottery of that area and had one of the young men translate. I was able to buy some pieces for much less than I could have purchased them from the public markets.

We then went to Diriomo, a small town known as a witch town, where sorcery is said to be practiced. However, one of the principal attractions was an old and very beautiful cathedral. We stopped at a small candy store which sold some special (and delicious) candy made in that area.

We continued on to Catarina, a small village whose streets are lined with flower stands and fruit markets. We bought four different types of mangoes and a fruit they call the cashew fruit. The road in was amazingly beautiful with all the flowers. We then had lunch at the Catarina Mirador which overlooks Laguna Apoyo. There is a wonderful view of the laguna and over to Volcan Masaya. For lunch we had a huge platter of fish, plantains, beans and rice and salad at a restaurant on the deck overlooking the lake. The food was great and atmosphere special with several musicians wandering through. Those people who wished to have them contine playing for them tipped them.

After lunch we went to the Masaya Market which is a huge outdoor market set within castle-like walls. It was a typical Mercado with a maze of small shops offering art and craft items, lots of pottery, hammocks, clothing, cigars etc. I think you could probably buy almost anything made in Nicaragua in that one area.

We left the market and drove up to Volcan Masaya. We began seeing old lava flows almost as soon as we turned off the main road into the park and saw huge plumes of smoke coming out of the main crater. We started at the museum and learned that there are five craters that make up the Massaya/Nindiri complex. As we drove up the road to the parking lot there were large lava flows interspersed with grass and shrubs. In the parking lot here are lots of signs warning of danger of an eruption; to park cars facing the road and if you hear a roar to immediately take shelter. The last time it exploded with little warning in April of 2001, there were people hit with rocks and a car destroyed. You are able to walk to a wall around the crater and look down inside of the caldera. We were met by an English speaking guide and walked to the top by the cross. On our way we saw some of the parakeets that live in the caldera. The volcano continued belching out huge clouds of sulphur gas making breathing uncomfortable and finally we had to come down. I wonder about the health of those guides who are exposed to these fumes every day.

We went up to see the other half of the complex. That side of Massaya is also active but not currently erupting. However our guide warned us that it had the potential to erupt at any time. We walked over to the bat caves just as dark began to fall and saw hundreds of bats begin to fly out- both small insect bats and the very large fruit bats. We were issued helmets and hiked down into the cave where we saw young bats clinging to stalactites. At the entrance to another cave where bats were emerging, we saw a small boa attempting to catch the bats as they flew by.

We loaded into vehicles and they drove over to where you could see the reflection of the molten lava. Interesting to be that close to magma. Finally loaded back into vans and returned to Granada.

There was no word on our luggage and La Siesta did not have room the next night so Boris called Hostal Dorado and reserved a room. We also arranged for Tierra tours to pick us up the next morning to kayak the Isletas (2.5 hour tour for $25pp).

For breakfast the next morning we had some of Marcela’s wonderful French crepes and they stored our bags for us while we were on our tour. Raul picked us up at 8am and took us to the waterfont where we met with our guide for the kayak tour. This is a beautiful lake lots of birds and beautiful flowers. Some of the islands had houses and others were for sale. Mono Island was too far away to kayak to at that time.We ended up at Fortin San Pablo, a Spanish fort which was largely unsuccessful at preventing pirates from intercepting ships coming into Granada. We saw the marvelous vacation home of the lady who owns all the liquor companies as well as other major Nica businesses. This was a beautiful and peaceful trip and we were glad that we had hired a guide to take us around.

When we got back to Granada we found that our baggage was at the airport but they do not deliver lost luggage. Through Tierra Tours we were able to arrange for Paxeos to pick up our bags and deliver them to the Hostal Dorado for $15 per bag.

We had lunch at Nica Buffet which had lots of good food for very little money.We stopped at Parque Centro where a telethon was going on raising money for health care- some pretty good bands. We then moved into Hostal Dorado- simple rooms with private baths around a pretty courtyard and free internet. $23. We went to the Euro Café for gelato that afternoon and walked around the city. We saw the Iglesia Merced, a beautiful old church, badly in need of renovation. We went by Tierra Tours and were able to purchase our tickets for the trip to Corn Island later in the week. I cannot say enough good things about Tierra Tours, I think their prices were reasonable and they were very helpful.

That evening we had dinner at El Zaguan, located right behind the Cathedral south of Calle La Calzada. It was an excellent meal- $35 for two including Macua- very good rum drink. After that we went to a classical guitar concert at Casa De Los Tres Mundos. It was really more like a recital including a small chamber group of two violins and Cello then 13 guitarists playing various classical and pop pieces.

The next morning we stored our luggage at the hostel and walked up to the Bearded Monkey where we rented bikes for a half day for $3. We went to Kathy’s Waffle for breakfast. It was very good and only C30 for both. We then rode our bikes around the city- that is definitely the way to see Granada- the streets are in pretty good shape and few hills. We rode along the lakefront with a nice breeze and turned into an area that is obviously the poorer part of town. In this area the roads are unpaved and the houses are bare minimum shacks...

Stopped at El Mediterrano for lunch. They have a beautiful courtyard with bird bath and parakeets flying through. We had a huge salad with large prawns and a large carafe of cold ice water, a treat anywhere in Nicaragua.C383 for the two of us. We returned our bikes, picked up our bags and taxied to the bus station for our trip to San Juan Del Sur.
More later…..

Thanks for the detailed report - looking forward to more!