Apr 2007

Founded in 1524, Granada is Nicaragua´s oldest Spanish city. It stands at the foot of Volcán Mombacho on the north-western shore of Lago de Nicaragua. With access to the Caribbean Sea via the Lago de Nicaragua and the Río San Juan, Granada has become a rich and important trade centre and remained so into the 19th century. This same Caribbean passage made Granada an easy target for English and French buccaneers, who have sacked the city several times.

To Granada we came in a very different way, very comfortable and luxurious you could say. Already on our way back from Corn Island we met a couple from Sweden, who also were on their honeymoon for three weeks traveling in Nicaragua, and they told us that we could get a lift from Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, where the air plane would land, to Granada our next destination. How nice, we thought. And it turned out to be really nice. Anna-Carin and Oskar, the Swedish couple, had arranged, through friendships, connections and coincidence, a ride by the Swedish ambassadors chauffeur and we were the lucky ones to join them. That has been by far the most comfortable ride on our trip so far and also the cheapest. Anna-Carin and Oskar didn’t want us to pay anything. They just allowed us to invite them for a drink the other night. In Granada we did some serious sightseeing as you can see in the photos. We visited churches –what a surprise, he?- , strolled through the streets and even went to the city’s must-see (according to Lonely Planet) museum. The museum is housed in the Convento y Iglesia de San Francisco and displays a collection of pre-Columbian artifacts, including about 20 man-sized statues dated from AD 800 to 1200, some modern art from Latin American artist and Nicaraguan primitivism art. The tour was guided by a Granadino and was quite interesting. That same night we met our friend Harry again. You remember him? It’s this crazy German guy who we met on Roatán. After Roatán we stayed in e-mail contact and managed to meet again. So we went out for lots of Sangria and some really good food at “El tercer ojo”. By the way there are some really good restaurants in Granada. The next morning, after a very bumpy jeep ride up the volcano Mombacho (we got sick altogether), we went on a canopy tour where we had fun swinging on zip lines between giant cedar and rubber trees. We also explored the fauna and flora a bit. We saw a nicely proportioned spider and a fairly good sized cicada (see photos). The same day in the afternoon we left together (Freddy, Harry and myself) for Laguna de Apoyo, a lovely crater lake set in a picturesque valley brimming with wildlife. It is less than an hour from Granada and definitely worth the visit if you are longing for relaxing and cooling down from the heat of the city. We stayed for two nights until today. Harry carried on to Corn Islands and we, Fredrik and myself, will be heading for Costa Rica, first San Juan, the capital, and then the Peninsula de Osa at the southern pacific coast. You will hear from us then.

Lots of love,

Sabrina and Fredrik

Hola amigos,

Les mandamos saludos de Granada en Nicaragua. Durante las últimas ocho semanas hemos viajado por Honduras, El Salvador y Nicaragua. Lo hemos disfrutado de lo máximo como pueden imaginarse. Los lugares que más nos han gustado en Honduras son Copán, donde se encuentran ruinas de una población Maya con muy detallados estatuas, y las Islas Bahías (Roatán) en el Mar Caribe, donde aprendimos a bucear. Al principio me costó algo de acostumbrarme a la idea de quedarme bajo agua durante una hora respirando a través de un regulador conectado a un cilindro lleno de oxigeno pero después de varios inmersiones ya no pensé mucho en eso y tanto Fredrik como yo nos quedamos fascinados con la vida marítima. Es difícil de describir y captar en fotos pero les aseguramos la experiencia es única. Roatán en si es un lugar turístico con una fuerte presencia de gringos. Comparado con el resto de Honduras los precios son algo más elevados pero comparado con México, Playa de Carmen por ejemplo, el nivel de precios todavía queda algo más abajo. Las playas son muy bonitas con arena blanca, palmeras y agua de color azul turquesa. A parte de ser un lugar perfecto para bucear, se recomienda mucho para hacer esnorquel, relajar y comer bien. En la(s) isla(s) se habla tanto el inglés, por haber sido gobernados por los británicos hasta 1859, como el español. Los hospedajes más económicos y una presencia de turistas más joven, se encuentran en West End por si acaso algún día quieren irse. Luego en El Salvador nos gustó Suchitoto, que es una cuidad colonial con un ambiente relajante y un creciente circulo de artistas, y Perquín, que es una aldea en el montañoso norte de El Salvador y donde se puede visitar el Museo de la Revolución Salvadoreña. Pudimos formar una mejor idea de lo que pasó durante los 12 años de guerra civil en El Salvador y el porqué. Nuestro lugar favorito de Nicaragua es la Isleta del Maíz -es más conocido como "Little Corn Island"- que se encuentra 70 km fuera de la costa este de Nicaragua en el pleno Mar Caribe. Es un lugar fantástico, todavía poco explotado y con playas maravillosas. Es perfecto para hacer esnorquel, bucear o sólo para tomarlo tranquilo algunos días. Por supuesto aprovechamos a bucear lo más posible y vimos tiburones gato, de arrecife y martillo, rayas, tortugas y mucho más. El lugar que más podemos recomendar para hospedarse es Derek´s Place que queda directamente en la playa. Vean también el artículo de "Little Corn Island" más abajo para obtener más información y sobre todo para que vean las fotos. Declaramos el lugar como nuestro paraíso en la tierra. No hay que decir más.

Por el momento nos encontramos en Granada, Nicaragua, y en algunos pocos días seguimos adelanta hacia el sur, Costa Rica y Panamá. Luego les mandamos más novedades.

Les extrañamos mucho.

Un abrazo fuerte,

Sabrina y Fredrik

What a lovely place. We have declared it as our paradise on earth. We stayed at a beautiful spot right at the beach in some cute little huts surrounded by palm trees and the Caribbean Sea. Every morning when we opened up our door to the little porch of our hut we felt this wonderful breeze coming from the crystalline water right in front of us and we rested for a moment in our hammock and deckchair to enjoy our paradise to the full. In the afternoon before it got dark we did the same thing, taking it easy, enjoying the breeze and the sound of the Caribbean Sea. Between all this relaxing we did an awful lot of diving. (This is why we had to rest that much.) The diving was spectacular. We have not so much to compare with (only Bay Islands in Honduras) but we have been amazed by the stuff (marine life) we have seen here. The best dive we did was to Tarpoon Channel where we first saw five Spotted Eagle Rays and an enormous school of Lookdowns (beautiful) and to top the dive we saw a Hammerhead Shark. We were blown away. On other dives we have seen nurse sharks, reef sharks, sting rays, a turtle, a huge crab and lots of other amazing stuff. A couple of days we had rainy and windy weather so we got the chance to dive under slightly more rough conditions as well, with currents and bad visibility. You have to try it all!!!!

To sum it up, we loved Little Corn Island and would like to come back one day.

Lots of love,

Sabrina and Fredrik

PS: The place where we stayed at is called Derek`s Place, owned by a Catalan-American couple and their two kids. They are great people and prepare delicious dinners. The huts are simple but really charming. The bathrooms and showers are shared, clean and very nicely decorated. It is highly recommended by us!!!

Hier nur eine kleine Nachricht von Little Corn Island. Wir geniessen die Insel und das Tachen in grossen Zügen und bleiben etwas länger hier (allerdings nur bis Montag 9/Apr).

Wir melden uns dann wieder.

Viele liebe Grüsse,

Sabrina und Fredrik

PS: Frohe Oster alle zusammen!!!! Happy Easter!!! Glad pâsk!!!!