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Arrived in Granada from Jaigalpa via Managua after two bus journeys and a 25 minute taxi drive around the edge of Managua to take us between bus station. The bus dropped us off right at Parque Central..where we stop for delicious frozen coffee drink....
Our hotel Guardabarranco is a few blocks away in a quiet street and on arrival, we manage to negotiate an upgrade so that we get a room which opens right on to the small pool.
The porter, Fernando welcomes us like old friends every time we come in but he is blind in one eye and poorly sighted in the other and we hold our breaths every time he negotiates the narrow path between the swimming pool and the pot plants when he heads from reception to kitchen.
This town with its colourful painted buildings and varied tourist attractions is great place to spend a few days.
We explore the main sites with a horse and carriage city tour which then later on we climb the Cathedral tower for a birds eye view.
Back at the hotel we discover that there has been no electricity all day and we find out next day that it was nationwide and blamed on the strong winds blowing trees through the power lines. In the evening we.found a nice bar that had a generator which came and went all night but they managed to produce a nice meal....
There are over 360 small islands in a group on Lake Nicaragua near Grenada known collectively as Las Isletas and we arranged a two hour tour with George, a local guide. There were only the two of us plus George and the boatman so we learned a lot from him. As a 12 year old, his father had sent him and his mother to the USA initially is illegal immigrants, to escape proscription in to the army as a child soldier during the civil war. After a year they were awarded asylum and eventually US citizenship but when he was older and the situation was more stable, he choose to return to Nicaragua to live and bring up his own children.
Several of the islands are owned by very wealthy people. One has become a sanctuary for spider monkeys which were rescued from chains after being kept as pets. One female named Lucy obviously knows and trusts George very well and she jumps off the trees and in to his arms as we sale past slowly. After one circle of the island she knows it's time to return and reaches up and pulls herself back to the trees.
In the evening we have lovely meal at night in Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant.
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