It's hard to believe that I've been in Granada for almost four days. On one hand, it feels like I just got here, and am nowhere ready to leave. On the other hand, I feel like I've been here forever, but could stay a lot longer. It's a lively, beautiful city, with lots of amazing day-trips, incredible architecture, food options for days, and as an added bonus, this is where I've met the most backpackers. As a solo traveller, this is important!
My time in Granada started early, as Monday was (unbeknownst to me) a holiday, and I wanted to be sure to catch a bus before any madness started. As it turns out, I didn't need to worry, as buses were up and running, and despite it being Independence Day, this really had no effect on getting to and from places, or accessing different businesses (in my experience, anyway). My initial impression of Granada was that it was an impressive, stunning colonial city, with a frenetic energy, and heat like I haven't experienced yet. Immediately after getting off of the bus, I felt a little bit swarmed by vendors, taxi drivers, and others who saw the glowing ""Lost traveller!!!" sign that seems to be above my head at all times. I stumbled across my hostel completely by accident, but it has ended up being one of the best choices I've made. I was thrilled beyond belief to see people hanging out in the hammocks, or chatting in the large communal areas. Since Masaya had been a largely solo mission, it was nice to be among others. The hostel also includes breakfast, a pool (for when the heat gets painful), and an amazing central location, making it quick, easy and safe to get around. Hostel Oasis, friends. If you ever find yourself in Granada.
Immediately after I checked in, I was informed that they were fumigating the rooms, and everyone was required to leave by 11:30am. I won't lie, this freaked me out, until I learned that this was just a routine thing they did every three months. This seemed like a good call to me. This was also a blessing in disguise, as having to head out encouraged me to meet some rad girls from England and New Zealand, and do a day-trip to Las Isletas in Lake Nicaragua. I had assumed that the isletas were a group of small, uninhibited islands. However, as I learned on the two hour boat tour (I know...), they are a group of tiny little islands, formed naturally by an eruption from nearby Volcan Mombacho, and now, owned by wealthy families from Nicaragua, Europe and North America. It's...interesting sitting in a boat, and marvelling at the multi-million dollar homes, some complete with heli-pads, situated in the middle of the huge lake. It was nice to be out on the water for the day, and definitely interesting to see the kind of homes money can buy, but Las Isletas were different than what I had expected. It's a nice day tour, and seems to be a must-do in Granada, but to be honest, I don't know if I would be devastated if I had missed them.
The next day, however, was worth it all. We decided that as a group, we wanted to hike Volcan Mombacho. Originally, we had hoped to hike all the way, but decided that this may be a nightmare in the heat. We ended up getting transport to the base of the volcano, and riding up in a huge, rambling truck that, quite honestly, I was worried may not make it up the steep, narrow, winding road. I was set to get out and push, but thankfully, it didn't come to that.
Halfway to the top, we stopped at a small organic coffee farm, and learned about the process of harvesting, roasting, and producing coffee. While I'm definitely not a connoisseur by any means, I'm an avid coffee drinker, and liked seeing the process. They also sell coffee beans at the farm (shocker!) While I know the prices are massively inflated due to tourism, this did not stop me from purchasing a pretty thorough selection of beans. Vancouver friends, you're welcome.
The hike itself was an hour and a half walk around the crater of Mombacho. Since it's fairly high up, and immersed in a cloud forest, it was wonderfully cool and breezy, and I almost thought it might rain. The number of lookouts along the trail provided unreal views of Granada, Lakes Nicaragua and Managua, and the other volcanoes (including smoking Masaya) in the distance. While I took some pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) panorama shots, it really didn't do it justice. I would go so far to say that you can't leave Granada until you hike Mombacho. It's standing out as a trip highlight for me, and I can't imagine missing it.
Day three in Granada, myself and several others from my crew decided to head to the Chocolate Museum, and take a class, which involves learning about where cacao comes from, and then picking, roasting, crushing, and mixing your own beans to make three different chocolate-y drinks (with different spices), and your own chocolate bars, where you can add anything you want, such as sea salt, chilies, nuts, or raisins. To anyone in Nicaragua: do it. Seriously. This was the best. Ismael, our leader, walked us through the process, got us stoked about the process with ridiculous chanting (that we were pretty keen on joining), and cheered us on as we exhausted ourselves crushing the beans into paste. This was one of the most fun things I've done on the trip, and the end result was nothing but success. As an added bonus, there is air conditioning!
I spent the evening of my last day walking around the city, just taking in the sights, and playing tourist, whipping out my camera at any given opportunity. While I find that the machismo (read: men hissing vulgar comments and catcalls as you try to make your way down the street) culture is slightly more present in Granada than it was in Leon, I still felt quite safe overall. I have found that walking with purpose, and keeping my face set in a Nurse Ratched-esque scowl when these guys approach keeps them at bay for the most part.
To sum up my time in Granada: Hiking. Food. Lounging in the pool. Heat. Chocolate. Friends. Hammocks. Coffee. Frequent stopping and staring. Love.
Questions? Comments? Criticisms? I'd love to hear them all!
the-wanderingjew@hotmail.com
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