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Undiscovered Nicaragua

By : Kassandra Miller
Trip Begins November 15, 2012
Trip Ends November 29, 2012

Ian and I escape to Nicaragua for two weeks to explore a country almost NO ONE visits. We discovered a land of impossibly friendly locals, beautiful scenery and unexpected adventures!
See my photos : Undiscovered Nicaragua

Want to go? Nicaragua Custom

I went to: Mombacho Volcano, Masaya, Selva Negra Lodge, Matagalpa, Leon City, San Juan del Sur, Ometepe, Granada, Managua, Nicaragua
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November 15, 2012
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Welcome to Nicaragua!

Managua, Nicaragua

Tick another country off my list of Central American destinations! Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, now Nicaragua. I'm working my way south.

Ian and I are off on our first international trip together and I've planned the whole thing myself. It's time to put my skills as a trip planner for Adventure Life to the ultimate test. An unfamiliar country, little outside help and one guide book.

We arrive to the Managua airport relatively unscathed after a few flights. We're met at the airport by one of our best Adventure Life guides and whisked a whole mile away to the Best Western. I know I've booked us in the most unadventurous hotel ever - but we have to pick up the rental car tomorrow at 8 AM and the office is located at the airport. That's right - we rented a car in a country that we know very little about! We get the lay of the land (roads) from the guide and fall asleep to the sound of the highway nearby the hotel.

November 16, 2012
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Granada!

Granada, Nicaragua

We pick up the rental car bright and early and head straight for shopping. That's right - first day in Central America and I'm dragging Ian to a local market. I LOVE local markets - I could probably spend a lifetime wandering around them. Here we are in the famous Masaya market which lives up to its name, though I'm a little disappointed by most of the handicrafts. I'm a sucker for textiles and what Nicaragua has doesn't hold a candle to Guatemala. However ... they have ceramics ... amazing ceramics. Ian quickly gets overwhelmed, so I sit him down for a licuado made of copious fruit that one can only find here. He seems happy again.

We're off again - this time on the short drive to Granada. We've already figured out that Ian is the driver and I am the navigator. This is mostly due to the fact that I can't drive a manual transmission very well (at all). We soon figure out that even though I'm fluent in Spanish, I also can't figure out maps in Nicaragua. So basically, Ian drives a certain direction based on his gut feeling. We drive this way for the rest of the trip while in cities and it ends up working quite well.

We pull into Granada, about 30 minutes from Masaya, and are quickly lost in the maze of tiny one-way streets. That is, until Ian manages to park us directly in front of our hotel - Hotel La Bocona. This hotel has some of the best reviews on Trip Advisor and I'm here to check it out. Let me just say that it 100% lives up to the reviews: perfect location, helpful staff, beautiful historic rooms, immaculate. It's HOT here and we are in the tranquil pool within 10 minutes of arrival.

Tonight, we're out and about - trying to get a feel for the town. It reminds me of a small, rundown Antigua, Guatemala. We have dinner at Tercer Ojo, which is a great funky restaurant downtown. The food is so good, we will eat here again and see some fabulous live guitar playing.

November 17, 2012
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Isletas de Granada

Granada, Nicaragua

Granada is known for its hundreds of tiny islands, called isletas, protruding into Lake Nicaragua. This body of water is the largest in Central America at 3,191 square miles and was the original proposed site for the Panama Canal. We take a boat through all of the little islands, finally arriving to one of the outlying ones. The owner of Hotel La Bocona owns a house here and we spend a few hours relaxing, with our feet dangling in the water. We're not much for sedentary vacations, so we're quickly ready for more action! We head back to the hotel and grab a quick lunch.

In the afternoon, we drive to Masaya Volcano. This is a super active volcano - the park guards give us hard hats to wear as we enter and hand us a pamphlet on how to park the car so as to ensure the promptness of our escape route! Ian is a geologist, so the volcanoes of Nicaragua entice him. He's fascinated as we peer through the sulfuric steam clouds into the crater. We're offered a night hike down into some caves and we readily accept. There are bats and all sorts of wonderful creatures in the caves. We hike out at sunset for some beautiful views from the top of the volcano.

We're back to the hotel late and out on the town. Granada's not terribly rowdy and it has a nice mellow bar scene. We walk back to the hotel around midnight and about a block from La Bocona hear a familiar refrain, "karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon ..." Could it be? Did we just stumble upon a Nicaraguan karaoke joint? Yes we did! We LOVE karaoke and the woman singing Karma Chameleon is perfectly on pitch and rocking it. On the choruses she is joined by 30 other people in the bar. Needless to say, we pop on in and stay a few hours. We sing Angel From Montgomery, one of the few songs we know on the playlist. We suddenly feel very endeared to the country.

November 18, 2012
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Another Volcano!

Mombacho Volcano, Nicaragua

Today, we're set for some serious hiking. We don't get as early a start as we'd like (hello hangover!) and we make it to the entrance to Mombacho Volcano at around 10 AM. It takes some finagling to figure out how we're getting to the top. We find out that the big trucks go up only once an hour or so. We're stuck waiting, which is no big deal seeing as how we're stuck at a coffee plantation. To this day, Ian still says this is the best coffee he's every had. We load up on caffeine and wait for the big truck to come.

We hook up with two brothers from the U.S. that are doing the same rough itinerary that we are and start a friendship based on the fact that we all want to do the same hike today. When we get to the top of the road, we get ourselves a guide for long hiking circuit and start walking. Our guide is quick - she says she does the long circuit sometimes 3 times a day. This is good because we all want to hike fast. We get amazing views from the top of the volcano and the boys find a vine to swing from, doing their best Tarzan impressions. We come to the end of our hiking circuit and take the big truck back down to our little rental car that could.

We drive through the Pueblos Blancos a bit on the way back to Granada. I immediately wish we could have spent more time exploring them. They are quaint and show a more local flavor of the country than the touristy Granada. We have dinner overlooking Laguna de Apoyo and make friends with the restaurant's owner, Charlie. Strangely enough, this is the name of our favorite bar back home.

November 19, 2012
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Ometepe

Ometepe, Nicaragua

It's time to say goodbye to Granada and head for our next location - Ometepe Island. We run into our first case of bad luck at the ferry dock - they have no reservation or ticket for us. I show them our voucher that we pre-booked, but the look that the ferry attendant gives me oozes nonchalance. I tell a few untruths about who we are and why we're visiting and 15 minutes later, we're on the ferry we were supposed to be on.

We meet some nice people on the ferry that ask to split a taxi with us to the far side of the island. We are both staying about a 30 minute drive from the ferry terminal. We tell them that we have a car and offer them a ride. Suddenly, we have new friends! Steve and Jennifer end up being from Seattle (where I'm from) and we get them to come up to our hotel for dinner. We stay at the most amazing hotel, La Omaja. It's located at the top of a hill overlooking Lake Nicaragua. They recently put in an infinity pool and I still can't describe the sunsets. They were the best of my life ... until a few days later when we were in San Juan del Sur (see photos). It's been a long day of driving and figuring out how the heck to get here. We share a few beers with the other lodge inhabitants and kick back.

November 20, 2012
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Hiking Maderas Volcano

Ometepe, Nicaragua

It's been two days since we've seen a volcano, so guess what ... time for another volcano! Ian and I are suckers for mountains, so climbing volcanoes seems the thing to do. The hotel arranges for a guide to meet us bright and early as this climb will take 6-8 hours. We head out around 7 AM and walk through the lowlands near the lodge, passing plots of beans and corn, people's houses and horses. Eventually, we meet up with the main trail up the volcano. Suddenly, everything is steep, way steep. During the next few hours, we find ourselves climbing up root structures and on our hands and knees. Some places are so sketchy, they have ropes installed. We feel like we are WAY off the beaten path at this point, especially considering that Jaime, the owner at La Omaja, tells us that this hike is gnarly. Gnarly sounds perfect to us!

We finally make it to the top, where we don our jackets. It's cold up here! Dropping at least 20 degrees. Ian and I decide that if we moved to Nicaragua, we'd have to live on top of a volcano or else we would sweat to death.

Downhill seems much faster for some reason and we make it back to La Omaja in time for dinner, a bottle of wine and a dip in the pool. We are fairly exhausted after the hike and sad to be leaving Ometepe. I take a mental note that 2 days/1 night on the island is not enough. For all future Nica trips, I will suggest at least 2 nights on the island.

November 21, 2012
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San Juan del Sur

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

We say a sad goodbye to our new friends at La Omaja and set out on the ferry once again for the mainland. There isn't too much confusion about our tickets this time and we find ourselves driving in to San Juan del Sur in under an hour. SJDS is the surfing mecca of Central America and I can see why. Perfect, white sand beaches, funky little town, nice locals and cheap everything! Where we're staying isn't in that category though (cheap). Morgan's Rock is a few beaches north of SJDS, probably the most beautiful and exclusive property in the country. We offer this hotel in our Adventure Life trips and I want to check it out to see if it's everything it claims to be. It is, and more so.

Each couple has their own cabaña overlooking the most pristine beach imaginable. The cabaña itself is one of the more impressive designs I've ever seen - local woods, metals and craftsmanship. Even though this is a luxury property, the owners have created a truly eco-concious lodge. That's not just lip service. A lot of thought has gone into the design and layout of the cabins and main lodge.

We're only here for a night, so we relax on the beach and enjoy swimming and exploring. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and the food was just amazing. I've rarely felt so pampered in my life as the one night we spend at Morgan's Rock. Just writing this makes me want to go back!

November 22, 2012
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Off to Leon!

Leon City, Nicaragua

We have A LOT of driving to do today. Today will be our longest day. We are essentially going from the south end of the country to the north end, so we expect to spend around 8 hours in the car. It actually ends up taking only 6 or so hours, but we end up having a great adventure along the way.

We end up taking the wrong road from Managua north to Leon. We don't realize this at the time, but a brand new highway was recently built that connect the two cities. And I hear it's a lovely highway. Unfortunately for us, we hear about this supposed highway way too late and we take the old road from Managua to Leon. For anyone who knows, this isn't REALLY a road and no one uses it anymore. Most of it isn't even paved anymore and it goes through the middle of nowhere. Literally, we don't see another vehicle for hours. We find it quite funny that we might run out of gas out here. And then we wonder if the monstrous potholes will ever end and whether we have enough tires for the little rental car to make it to Leon.

And then it ends and we're done with the road from hell. We tie into the nice new highway and it takes about 15 minutes to get to Leon. Oh well, what were we going to do today anyhow?? We get into Leon late and manage to find our hotel pretty easily. This is a great city for walking the streets at night, so we do that a lot! Using trusty Trip Advisor, we select El Mediterraneo for dinner and enjoy our dinner here. The atmosphere is romantic, but there isn't much local about this place.

November 23, 2012
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City of Rebels - Happy Birthday Ian!

Leon City, Nicaragua

Leon was the heart of the Nicaraguan revolution. It stands in stark contrast to Granada, the seat of the conservative ruling party of several generations past. Leon is non-touristy, where Granada is all Irish Pubs and mojitos, Leon is cuba libres and buckets of Victoria beer on ice. Leon is for locals. This is our day to be city people. This is our day for 1,000 photographs.

Leon is also known for being the city of churches and along with markets, I love churches. We wander the streets of town, visiting what is hailed as the best coffee shop in the country (agree), an art gallery boasting some of the best from artists around Central America, and 4 or 5 different plazas. We are both drawn to the city. I have been boasting about street food vendors and we find a few ladies selling from a hot cart in the local market. We each buy a huge plate of food and sit down to eat. The bill comes to $5 total and it's the best meal we have during the entire trip. I'm surprised by how good the food is. When I lived in Guatemala, I wasn't overly impressed by the local cuisine, but Nica food some a bit more developed, using more spices, it's more complex.

Ian finds a pair of boots he can't part with and we continue to wander the streets, photographing everything that is unique to the country: the horse-drawn carts careening through the streets, the 3-4 people riding on motos at the same time, two men playing chess next to a street food vendor, the murals scattered everywhere depicting scenes from the war, couples making out on park benches in the dark. I'm starting to realize that I love this country and it might be the most under-rated place I've come across. I don't know whether to shout about how much I love it when I come home or keep it as a secret to myself. I think I'll do a bit of both.

Today is Ian's birthday, so we eat in style! The best dinner of the trip, without a doubt, is at Meson Real. The restaurant earns rave reviews on Trip Advisor for a reason. The owner is the head chef and he runs an intimate, jovial establishment. We feast on shrimp and succulent beef and buy two bottles of wine on special. Chef Gustavo chats with us for awhile and asks after our travel plans. I really can't say enough positive things about the food, atmosphere, etc. LOVE IT!

November 24, 2012
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Monty's Beach Resort

Jiquilillo, Nicaragua

I have a penchant for seriously off-the-beaten path locations. Not only do I want to go to Nicaragua, but I want to go to the most remote places in the country. Way up north is a little beach village called Jiquilillo. This village is home to maybe a few hundred people. It's also home to Monty's Beach Resort, which I stumbled across on Trip Advisor. Monty's is a beach lodge with a big heart - they have all sorts of volunteer options in local communities, from soup kitchens to turtle rescue.

It's a quick 2 hour drive from Leon to Jiquilillo. We head north and soon find ourselves on a long, straight dirt road headed due west. We drive through the village and start to wonder if we'll ever find Monty's and then we see a sign and head to the left. We can see the ocean and we drive down the dirt path and then we see Monty's. Cabanas on the beach with people drinking cervezas underneath thatched-roofs, kids playing soccer on the beach ... this is what I had in mind.

We get settled into our cabana and get situated with a few beers and start to chat with the other guests. We meet a guy who invites us to release turtle hatchlings the next day, we walk down the beach, chat with Monty and get ready to learn the art of surfing. There are probably 10 people staying at the lodge and we are the only gringos for 100 miles. THIS is what I'm looking for when I travel.

November 25, 2012
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Learning to Surf!

Jiquilillo, Nicaragua

Today, we set our sights on learning to surf! The breaks in front of Monty's are fairly small, great for beginners. Ian and I head out with surf boards and Monty for instruction. He gives us a quick 30 minute or so tutorial and we head into the water. Ian is up and standing on his board within 10 minutes - not surprising. I quickly figure out this is a great way to re-injure my previous torn ACL and head back to the lodge for a sea kayak.

In an hour or so, I've got the surf kayaking thing pretty well figured out. It's great to feel the boat as it catches the movement of the water and starts hurtling forward at a quickening pace. The key part is not tipping the boat over as you turn out to paddle back through the surf. At the end, almost every time, I eddy out too hard and end up with sand and salt water in my nose.

Ian comes out to join me after awhile and I soon notice that he has exactly no surf kayaking ability. This makes me insanely happy as he's at least a thousand times better than me at everything else we try. He takes a beating on the waves and ocean floor and heads back to the lodge.

The afternoon is spent reading books, playing the guitar, drinking beers and walking on the beach. Later on, we walk down the beach a half a mile to the turtle rescue organization. A Swiss group has been working in the community for the past several years to save Olive Ridley turtle eggs from being poached and sold in local markets. We are there to help them make it to the ocean with a little help. There are several thousand hatchling turtles waiting in buckets for us. We plop them down on the sand and point them toward the direction of the water. Some are off and ready to go! Others get turned around or only take a few tentative steps. What's important is that they imprint to the sand, to remember that this is the beach from which they came and to which they will return from thousands of miles in their adulthood. Then, it's our job to walk them through the surf, buckets of turtles over our heads, to the safety of the water beyond the crashing waves. We bob through the waves, jumping up to keep the turtles from falling out of the buckets, until finally we are treading water beyond the breaks. We release the turtles from the buckets and suddenly there are thousands of 5 inch turtles swimming in the water all around us. In just a few minutes time, they are gone and I say a secret prayer to the universe that at least some of them survive and live to return to this beach.

November 26, 2012
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Into the Mountains

Selva Negra Lodge, Matagalpa

We say goodbye to the warmth of sand and water this morning. We have one final destination on our whirlwind tour of Nicaragua: the mountains near Matagalpa. We aren't really beach people, much preferring higher altitudes, so I've been looking forward to this. Matagalpa is where most of the best Nicaraguan coffee comes from and we are headed to a coffee farm. The drive becomes my favorite of the trip. We cut off from the coastal highways and drive on an amazingly well paved road across the lowlands, passing by volcanoes on the way. I was actually awed by how good Nica's roads were. Better than most in Montana, that's for sure!

On one stretch of the road, Ian pulls over and looks at me. It's time for me to drive. But I don't really drive manual transmissions well and learning to do so in a Central American country seems kinda crazy. So ... I drive! And it's quite easy. I start to realize that hardly anyone else in this country drives well either, so we're all on the same page. I get us to Matagalpa and up to the coffee farm without wrecking the rental car.

We arrive to Selva Negra Ecolodge and Coffee Estate just in time for lunch. We have our own Austrian-inspired cabin in the woods and I'm immediately impressed - the property is charming and quaint - owned by an old German family that came to Nica generations ago and still run the operations here. They survived through the revolution (close ties to all the right people) and now run one of the most ecologically and culturally conscious farms in the country.

We hike around the grounds of the farm, which includes miles of trails through secondary cloudforest. We hear howler monkeys in the distance and follow the sounds of their calls down a side trail. Soon, we are right under them and mimicking their cries. At first, they seem interested in communicating with us, but after a few minutes, they figure us out and tire of our mockery. Feeling silly, we continue to hike until night falls.

November 27, 2012
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One Day of Rain!

Selva Negra Lodge, Matagalpa

Finally, it rains today. This is supposed to be the end of rainy season and it's been hot and dry for the past 12 days. And when it rains in the highlands, it really rains! We sleep in, relax and eventually decide to take a drive. We head north to Jinotega to check things out. It's really not all that fun walking around towns in the pouring rain and Jinotega is not all that charming, so we head back to Matagalpa and explore there. We poke our heads in local churches and wander the streets. Eventually, we head back to Selva Negra and meet with the owners for a tour of the coffee farm.

My head swims with how much the farm does for its workers. Having lived in Guatemala for several years, I'm used to the stories my friends tell of the horrible conditions, lack of clean water, education for their children and basic services. The people that live at Selva Negra have pretty little houses that their obviously proud of, a medical clinic on site, a school, cooking facilities, and more. The coffee workers' kids have tuition paid as far as through college and they have jobs waiting for them back at the farm, some as engineers working with advanced organic farming techniques. The most impressive thing: Karen shows me their trash dump. This is the dump for the entire operation: coffee farm and ecolodge. It consists of a single 55 gallon barrel. She says they take that down to Matagalpa every month or so. Really???? They only produce 55 gallons of waste per month over such a massive operation? I love this place!

November 28, 2012
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Last Day in Nica!

Masaya, Nicaragua

Today is our last day in Nica. We decide that we haven't really had enough time to do any actual shopping. Beyond that first day at the Masaya Market, we haven't purchased anything at all and now we decide we must be good American consumers and leave some cash in this country! And now that Ian has spent two weeks here, the hustle and bustle of the market doesn't seem so overwhelming. We head south towards Managua and continue on to Masaya again. We frantically search out our favorite vendors from our previous expedition. I start to get nervous as I can't find the one guy with the best pottery and I don't want to bring home sub-par ceramics. We finally find him and I accidentally buy 4 different pots. And I look over and Ian has done the same. Oh well - they're pretty!

We finally collapse after our shopping at the place our trip started: the smoothie stand at the market. We order exactly what we did 12 days ago and enjoy the cooling effects of the licuados.

Afterwards, we head back to Managua and the Best Western Hotel. We drop off the rental car without any incidents and research a good restaurant for our final dinner. Strangely enough, Nica is known for its excellent steaks. Well, we're from Montana, so we are a bit skeptical if they will live up to our high standards. We take a taxi to the #1 rated restaurant on Trip Advisor (how I love that iPhone app). We haven't really seen much of Managua and now I regret not spending a day here. It seems like one of the better Central American capitals I've seen, which isn't saying much (Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa, Belize City, San Jose ....), but still worth a poke around! We won't get that chance, but at least we get dinner and an awesome taxi driver who watches out for us and takes a few detours to show us some sights we would have missed. Dinner is delectable. Beyond delectable. The service is beyond good and the food is ... life altering ... seriously go to Los Ranchos when you're there. You won't regret it!

November 29, 2012
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Goodbye!

Managua, Nicaragua

We check out of the hotel bright and early this morning and walk across the street with our belongings. It's a quick and dirty 12-ish hours back to Montana and we arrive home refreshed and happy, best vacation in years. This is what traveling is supposed to do, reinvigorate you and connect you to the rest of the world; a world very different from your own.

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