Back in 2007, I planned a trip to the Dominican Republic. Tickets were purchased and we were scheduled to go right after my graduation from culinary school for Eric’s birthday. Unfortunately, that year, many plans got sidelined. The trip to Nicaragua last October was my mulligan for the previous foregone vacation.
Overall, Nicaragua is a great country to visit. Still slightly below the radar, not quite as built up as Costa Rica, great surfing (sadly, I didn’t get to go surfing this trip…wasn’t quite ready for that...still too out of shape), tropical dry forests, gorgeous beaches, lots of monkeys and fairly cheap (both the flight and when you’re in the country). Note that there is significant poverty. But that did not deter us.
We split our time between the Pacific Coast near San Juan del Sur and Granada – a beautiful colonial city on Lake Nicaragua.
The bridge we had to cross to get to our bungalow at Morgan’s Rock. I had to get over my fear of heights to get to the main lodge (my fear of heights is somewhat controversial…if I’m strapped into a harness climbing rocks or something along that line, I’m completely fine. But I get a little nauseous standing near the edge of our 15th floor balcony).
The greatest coffee ever. The owners of Morgan’s Rock also own a coffee plantation in central Nicaragua. Due to a fear of unwanted critters in the bungalows, the resort does not offer room service but provides coffee service every morning: a carafe of hot coffee and one of warm fresh milk from the cows from the farm. I abandoned my ten years of caffeine-free living (I originally gave up caffeine when I was 23 just to see IF I could do it)...and would go back to Nicaragua solely for this coffee.
We spent one morning on the farm at the resort. We milked cows, picked fresh eggs, visited the shrimp farm and made tortillas (side note: I really loved this cow...and the angle is deceiving...he was much bigger than he looks here).
This was significantly harder than it looks.
I will no longer complain about our kitchen.
My favorite breakfast: scrambled eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans), fresh queso, and corn tortillas.
We spent one morning on a boat tour/fishing. This snapper turned into a lunch of ceviche and grilled fish. Considering that I got sick twice on our three-hour tour, I sometimes find it hard to believe that Eric and I were married on a boat.
Cigars aging in a shop in Granada. Eric came home with three boxes of cigars.
Monkeys on a tiny island in Lake Nicaragua. Thousands of years ago, the Mombacho volcano erupted and created a string of tiny islands in the lake. Some islands are private residences. This island just had monkeys - various types of monkeys that came right up to our boat and would pose for pictures. I kept wanting to reach out and play with them, but then remembered that they are not trained and would probably claw my eyes out.
Amazing pottery in a small shop between Granada and Managua (the country’s capital).
Climbing the active Masaya Volcano. The air was filled with sulfurous smoke; this is what it must have felt like to climb Mt. Doom.
Good advice at the top of the volcano.
All in all, a great vacation. Sadly, we couldn't actually take a picture of my favorite moment: seeing baby turtles hatching and helping them with their long journey across the beach to the water.
My only recommendation is to NOT go in October. It was rainy season – which I knew – and everything that I read said that it would be like summers in the South…hot and humid, afternoon thunderstorm and then clear up. And that could’ve been the case had a tropical storm not passed over Nicaragua. But we still had a fantastic time.
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