Meeting old friends in a beautiful colonial city

On my first evening in Granada I met Simon and Elizabeth again which I had met before in Guatemala. It was pleasure to see them again.  When I was in Leon, they had contacted me because Simon had forgotten his wallet there a few days before. Luckily I could get the wallet there for him and bring it back to him when we met in Granada. We enjoyed some nice dinner later on in the main night out area of Granada. I had some fried banana chips.

All in all, Granada is one of the most beautiful colonial cities that I have visited. Specially the huge colourful cathedral on the main plaza of the city stands out. Everywhere there are still small old houses with brick roofs in the typical Spanish style. In addition, the city has a beautiful location near Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, and several volcanoes. The climate could hardly be more typical Latin American. With humid-hot temperatures of almost 40° C I also started sweating very fast.

It was nice that I had a room for me alone in the hostel "La Mexicana" and that for a very reasonable price. Generally Nicaragua is one of the cheapest countries in Latin America.

Feeling hell near an active volcano

Together with Simon and Elizabeth I made a trip on the lake on the first day, but it was not worth mentioning.

The next day, the three of us went on a tour where we first relaxed at a lake and later on we were driven to the Masaya volcano, an active volcano. Only a few minutes one is allowed to approach the crater and it is suggested to put on the distributed masks. Like a hellmouth the smoke and fiery lava rises up. Absolutely impressive.

On our last day in Granada we visited a small cigar factory and got an insight how cigars are made.

After 4 nights in Granada, Simon, Elizabeth and me traveled together to Omotepe Island, an island in the huge Lake Nicaragua