Granada and the Islets
San Juan Del Sur… an exotic sounding name that suits well this almost perfect half-moon harbor surrounded by green hills edging a central white crescent beach. We drove out early morning by bus and followed the old path made famous by Vanderbilt in the 1850’s between the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and the lake. Known by many by its modern name of Lake Nicaragua, it is now known in the country as Lago Cocibolca, the original indigenous name for this enormous body of water. It is the largest in the Americas between the great lakes up north and Lake Titicaca down in Bolivia and Peru. It was a path taken by thousands of gold seekers during the rush, hurrying their way from east to west and California.
But we headed only to the beautiful city of Granada on the lake’s edge. The colorful houses of pink, green, blue and shades of all, are painted this way by law to distinguish where one house ends and the other begins. The end result is a sense of lively interest and energetic people.
Horse-drawn carriages took us from the main plaza, around corners, along tree-lined streets, across bridges, stopped in front of the church of Guadalupe, and then down the broad avenue to the lake shore. Following the wetland shoreline of Cocibolca, our trotting steeds finally arrived at a small marina where we caught small launches. These took us winding between islets until we arrived at our destination of an islet owned by the Estrada family, who had lunch prepared and musicians playing.
Nicaragua fare in a delicious form was served, and although none chose to take advantage of the swimming pool, everyone took advantage of the boat trip. Not only did we see bird life but also the various houses and structures, built on sometimes impossibly small islets, that were fascinating. Both expensive and very humble homes were seen here. Back to shore and then ship brought us back early on board, because we were going to leave yet once more! A visit at night, to the beach La Flor. And we’re off! Tomorrow will tell you what we saw…
San Juan Del Sur… an exotic sounding name that suits well this almost perfect half-moon harbor surrounded by green hills edging a central white crescent beach. We drove out early morning by bus and followed the old path made famous by Vanderbilt in the 1850’s between the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and the lake. Known by many by its modern name of Lake Nicaragua, it is now known in the country as Lago Cocibolca, the original indigenous name for this enormous body of water. It is the largest in the Americas between the great lakes up north and Lake Titicaca down in Bolivia and Peru. It was a path taken by thousands of gold seekers during the rush, hurrying their way from east to west and California.
But we headed only to the beautiful city of Granada on the lake’s edge. The colorful houses of pink, green, blue and shades of all, are painted this way by law to distinguish where one house ends and the other begins. The end result is a sense of lively interest and energetic people.
Horse-drawn carriages took us from the main plaza, around corners, along tree-lined streets, across bridges, stopped in front of the church of Guadalupe, and then down the broad avenue to the lake shore. Following the wetland shoreline of Cocibolca, our trotting steeds finally arrived at a small marina where we caught small launches. These took us winding between islets until we arrived at our destination of an islet owned by the Estrada family, who had lunch prepared and musicians playing.
Nicaragua fare in a delicious form was served, and although none chose to take advantage of the swimming pool, everyone took advantage of the boat trip. Not only did we see bird life but also the various houses and structures, built on sometimes impossibly small islets, that were fascinating. Both expensive and very humble homes were seen here. Back to shore and then ship brought us back early on board, because we were going to leave yet once more! A visit at night, to the beach La Flor. And we’re off! Tomorrow will tell you what we saw…
