On my third attempt to get to Nicaragua from Miami I succeeded. The first time my flight was cancelled, as Miami International Airport was suffering delays and cancellations in the aftermath of a certain hurricane, that prevented me from travelling to the Bahamas. The second time I was still living on Cancun-time, which is an hour behind Miami-time. This meant that instead of arriving a bit under two hours ahead of departure time, I arrived a bit less than one hour ahead of take-off and I wasn’t allowed to check in my luggage. Important note to the traveller-self; ALWAYS check the local time when arriving at a new destination.
So, on the third attempt the next day I managed to make it to Nicaragua. As I wanted to avoid the capital Managua, as I’ve been told it’s ugly on many levels and there doesn’t seem to be much of interest, I headed straight for the colonial city of Granada. After having spent almost four months in North America and especially having disembarked from Miami, the first thing I noticed about Nicaragua, besides its lushness, because it’s winter and therefor rainy season, is its underdevelopment.
Granada; on every Corner a church
Granada, like the colonial city Antigua Guatemala, is a major tourist attraction in Central America and like with the old capital of Guatemala, I was rather underwhelmed by it. It’s by no means the Disney Land that is Antigua and Granada is a great base to venture to nearby attractions like, volcanoes, crater lakes and jungle landscapes with great biodiversity. Due to Nicaragua’s general underdevelopment the centre of Granada is not as well maintained as a colonial city like San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico. The city does have many churches, none of which I visited. To my surprise Dark Fairies are considered rather exotic, although, like other Central American countries, Nicaragua has a black population predominately living at the Caribbean cost. Many people felt the need to make a little proverbial song and dance about me in the form of looks and comments and I experienced more catcalls then anywhere else during my trip. Despite that, I think Nicaraguans, or Nicas for short, are very friendly and kind people.
Apoyo Crater Lake; the Hike
Lago Apoyo, lago meaning lake in Spanish, is a body of water in a volcanic cater in the vicinity of Granada, that is sourced by subterranean rivers. I had booked myself a hiking tour around the lake and was looking forward to getting some physical exercise. Besides, I had been dragging my hiking boots along for several months without having used them. Lunch would be included in what was presented as a picnic and there would be the possibility to swim in the lake. I don’t have much hiking experience, but I thoroughly enjoyed my trekking in Peru and Colombia. This hike, however was a different matter.
Besides having a few pieces of dried mango I bought at a local hippy centre, I didn’t have breakfast. I wasn’t hungry and I was picked up by taxi before the hostel breakfast was served. It was just another guy from Switzerland, me and the guide. At the beginning of the track we we’re given a litre and a half of water and our lunch, which consisted of a small bag of fresh fruit and a hamburger. Since I don’t eat meat or wheat, lunch was not going to be very substantial, but I wasn’t bothered. When we started our hike, the guide took out a machete, which made me giggle as it looked rather dramatic and gung-ho. I wasn’t giggling or remotely amused a few hours later.
The Rise of Hiking Frustration
Lago Apoyo is surrounded by jungle. There are no paths and any paths created by means of traffic and machete-action get overgrown within days, especially now in rainy season. So the guide’s machete was a necessity rather than a gung-ho accessory. Trekking through the jungle like that is cute for a few hours. After that I got rather annoyed.
We broke for lunch and had our ‘picnic’ at the bank of the lake. After having been sweating like a pig, dipping into the lake was refreshing and soothing as the surroundings are so tranquil. Yet, as if we were on a break from our office jobs, we only rested for half an hour, which was just way too short in my opinion and I hadn’t even been eating. After lunch the guide picked up the pace considerably. Although I had been a bit out of shape in terms of exercise- extreme hatha yoga doesn’t count in my book- I was by no means unfit. Yet, walking with two men, who are experienced hikers and at least a decade younger then me, I was struggling to keep up with the set pace.
Somewhere in the afternoon the Dark Fairy system started to react to barely having had any food in the last 20 hours. I started to feel shaky and a strong need for sugars. As lunch was included and I expected there to be some pulpería, a shop-shack, along the trek, like I had experienced along the trails in Peru and Colombia, I hadn’t brought any edibles with me. At some point the guide checked my pulse, told me it was rather low and that I should visit a doctor to get a check up on my constitution, which I found rather dramatic. As I REALLY needed food, the guide contacted base camp, explained the situation and arranged a food delivery further along the track. After hiking for another 50 minutes or so, we met a guy on a motorcycle, who had brought bananas and chocolate bars. Like a junkie in need of her fix, I munched on the delivered goodies and immediately felt better. Despite more balanced sugar levels, it had been decided that I would do the last bit of the track on the back of the motorcycle. I actually wanted to walk, but it was probably better to give myself a break and not keep the guys up any longer.
It was after 6 and dark when we got back to Granada.
top image: nicaragua-community.com
middle image; vagrants of the world.com
Dark Fairy Adventures 
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