Adios, Granada!

Our final day in Granada was appropriately filled with color and beauty, with occasional reminders of the challenges faced by contemporary Nicaraguans.  We met a very friendly local gentleman, Jorge, who was born in Granada but who was sent off to Houston with family during the struggles of the early 1980s.  His English was a testament to the veracity of his story.  He tugged at our heartstrings, explaining how he came back to his home country and started his own business giving boat tours of the 365 isletas in Lake Nicaragua just off the coast of Granada.  Because the price was right and we were looking to check out the isletas anyway, we hopped in a cab with Jorge down to the beach.

Walking the plank

Ever-friendly Jorge

It turns out that all of the isletas were formed by a large explosion of nearby Volcán Mombacho tens of thousands of years ago.  Nearly all are now privately owned, several by some of the wealthiest families in Nicaragua and foreigners from all over the world including a vacation home owned by the King of Spain.  It's ironic that the most iconic modern representative of the Conquistadors still vacations here.

Mombacho

Part of the King of Spain's complex.  We weren't invited in, though.

Apparently no trip to the isletas is complete without a trip to "Monkey Island", which apparently was originally stocked by an American veterinarian.  Lucy, a sweet and pregnant 5 year old spider monkey, even hopped onto our boat for a quick visit and a pet.  And nobody was bitten!

We love Lucy!

Erica stops to smell the national flower, Sancuanjoche.  Apparently a type of Plumeria and quite fragrant.

La Casa de Tres Mundos (house of three worlds) was our other adventure for the first part of the day.  Our expectation was that of a museum with some petroglyphs, but an art academy was more of the reality.  We were greeted by a (not visible) horn version of "The Girl from Ipanema" and four dancers in a class in courtyard.  Strolled through the grounds, finishing up with a large number of drawings and paintings for sale by students and local professionals.  Some were stunning and would have been tempting if we were in a collection phase of our lives.  And we didn't break anything!

A local beauty on the grounds of La Casa de Tres Mundos

We had a late lunch at a (not so) fast food but sit-down restaurant called "Tip Top".  This place could have been anywhere in the world, with its french fries and play area, but the fact that Toña was served clearly identified it as Nicaraguan alone.

Yes, gerbil-like play tubes even in Nicaragua

For all the beauty and modern conveniences, there is no paucity of reminders of poverty and other challenges faced by Nicaraguans at this time in their history.

A tired-looking horse waiting to work

Plenty of potential hazards on the sidewalks and streets

Plenty of lovely buildings

During another afternoon swim and siesta I finally managed to take a peek at the temperature:  97 degrees.  This is apparently pretty typical.  We celebrated our trip with a dinner at a locally famous and relatively fancy restaurant, Las Colinas.  Interestingly, it had very nicely raked dirt floors.  But, we came for its Guapote, a reportedly aggressive fish found in Lake Nicaragua (as well as Lake Arenal close to home in Costa Rica).  This particular guy was exceedingly tasty and the kids insisted on taking its upper jaw, full of teeth, home with us.

Tasty guapote with its toothy grin

After another good night's sleep, we gave the local economy just a little bit more support and then took a cab back to the Costa Rican border.  It was a great day for a cab ride, as several of the buses we saw were completely packed, sometimes with several folks hanging on the outside.  Possibly because it was Sunday?  There were no glitches during our return, though we waited an hour or so in the immigration line getting back into Costa Rica.  In line we met some Nicaraguan men coming back into Costa Rica to work after having had to return to their home country for visa reasons.  Though we'd left Costa Rica for the same reasons, there's no doubt we are in a much better situation, so fortunate to have been born in the US and to have had the opportunities we've had.  We decided to share a little good fortune with these men as a gesture of our thanks.

Arriving back to the lush environs of our house, it felt like we were home again, at least for now.