Again, we had another ah-MAZING group of wicked awesome peeps on our trip. Nine of us from school went this time; some new friends that just started at the school, and 4 of us that made the Nicaragua trip attempt 2 weeks ago.
We got to sleep in this time and leave a little later......4:30am. Woo hoo! We drove a couple hours to the border, hopped out and breezed through customs. This time, the border crossing process was ridiculously smooth and fast (thank goodness).
Once in to Nicaragua, we drove another 1.5 hours to Apoyo Lagoon. It's a crater lake that was created by volcanic activity a go-gillion years ago, and since then, it has filled with subterranean water and rain water. Long story short, it's a lovely lake, that we got to view from a breezy hilltop, once we finally got out of the van in Nicaragua.
Afterwards, we headed to see the Masaya Volcano. After a quick stop at the main gate for our tour guide to sign some safety waivers for the group, we got some hard hats, and we headed up to the top of the volcano. P.S. just in case boulders start to spew from the volcano, head underneath the bus. (Eeek! Yup, that's what we were told). Anywho, looking down into the volcano was pretty cool, although we couldn't see too far dow; there was a constant cloud of gas lingering over the hole. AND said sulfur-y gas was stinky.
Then, off to do some shopping! It's cooler than it sounds. We went to a really cool outdoor market filled with rows and rows of cheap stuffs. Cool stuff too (leather goods, paintings, hammocks, jewelry, tchotchkes, stuffed frogs
Then, off to Granada, a city founded by the Spanish in the early 1500s. We visited a church originally built in 1539! We went up to the bell tower for some sweet views of the city. After carefully making our way back down the super narrow/steep staircase, we went to a city park right next to the big (very yellow) cathedral in town. After cruising the park and opting out of the romantical horse and carriage ride (haha), we headed to the lake, Lake Granada.
The lake has over 350 small islands. They are all somewhat clustered together, and we got to take a nice boat ride in and around some of the islands. Some are small, with a couple of trees and shrubs, but others, have snazzy houses on them. One island even had a couple monkeys on it. Apparently, a man who had some annoying monkeys on his property, moved them out to a small island he owned in the lake. A little weird, but the island has enough food for them, plenty of trees, and there is a lot of activity around to keep them occupied. After our relaxing boat ride, we headed back to Costa Rica.
Another super swell, super fun day: great peeps, interesting activities, yummy food, new adventures. Muy excelente! :)
