Granada, Nicaragua

We left San Salvador on the TICA bus at 3:00AM. The reason for this early departure was in order to arrive in Managua at noon. The later bus didn't arrive until after dark and we did not want to spend the night in Managua. The bus trip was not too bad. We crossed the Honduran border twice on this leg and that entailed getting off the bus, standing around etc,etc. We grabbed a taxi at the bus station in Managua and were out of there on our way to Granada in about 5 minutes after arrival.

Granada is the oldest city in the Americas, having been founded in 1524.It lies at the base of Volcan Mombacho which is inactive, having last erupted some 22,000 yrs. ago. It is on the shore of Lake Nicaragua which is the largest lake in Central America and was important in the 1850's as part of the water route from the east coast to California. Ships would arrive at the mouth of the San Juan River on the Atlantic coast and smaller boats would then take cargo and passengers up river to the Lake and across. They would then go overland to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific side where ships were awaiting to complete the trip to California. This was shorter and easier than the overland trip in the isthmus of Panama.

Granada is a beautiful old colonial city with many churches. There are many good restaurants and multiple places to stay in every price range. We stayed at The Bohemian Paradise Hotel which was in a quiet and safe neighborhood just 1 block from the convent of San Francisco.We had a nice airconditioned room w/ pvt bath, cable TV and WiFi. Breakfast was included and all this for $45/ night.There were 4 other rooms built around a central courtyard. We spent 6 days here exploring the town and surrounding area including the Volcano.

El Salvador and Nicaragua

I have been remiss, thus far this season, in posting to this blog. It is so much quicker and easier to post pictures to Facebook that I took the easy way out. I will try to make up for it now.

We left the Rio Dulce on February 10th and spent the next two weeks traveling through El Salvador and Nicaragua utilizing public transportation except for the few times that we took taxis or a private tour to a particular destination. The international buses are clean,air-conditioned and show movies, sometimes in English w/ Spanish sub-titles. The Pullmantur bus which we took from Guatemala City to San Salvador was downright luxurious, with large leather reclinable seats and excellent service including a light breakfast and drinks. This was a 6 hour trip leaving the up-scale Zona 10 in Guatemala City and terminating at the Sheraton Presidente Hotel in the like-wise safe and upscale Zona Rosa in San Salvador. On arrival we immediately got a taxi for our first destination, Suchitoto, an hours drive N. of San Salvador. This is an old colonial village situated on Lago Suchitlan, a large man-made lake and one of the largest in Central America. We stayed at Hotel Villa Balanza in a room that boasted a balcony and a beautiful view of the lake and surrounding mountains.There was a TV and full kitchen downstairs where I could make the morning coffee. All this for a whopping $20 per night.The town was fun to explore and there were several good restaurants. We celebrated Valentines day at Los Almendros Restaurante which is part of the expensive hotel of the same name. The food and ambiance were quite nice and we almost had the place to ourselves. From here we will return to San Salvador for a few days.