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.