Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

My final stop in Nicaragua was the colourful city of Granada. 

Many travellers I met were heading to Ometepe Island in Lake Cocibolca, which, incredibly, is home to bull sharks that can migrate between the freshwater lake and the Caribbean Sea via the San Juan River. As fascinating as that sounded, I stayed on the mainland this time, basing myself at De Boca en Boca Hostel.

Walking Tour

I joined a free walking tour of Granada, booked through Guru Walks. One of my favourite recommendations from the tour was climbing the bell tower of Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced. For just US$1, you get amazing views of the city. It is a tight spiral staircase to access the tower, and every 15 minutes a man climbs up to ring the bells by hand – so definitely worth staying around long enough to see this!

Apoyo Lagoon

By this stage of my trip, I was thoroughly done with hiking. So when I saw that the hostel offered a day trip to Laguna de Apoyo, a volcanic crater lake surrounded by forest, it was an easy yes.

This place was incredible – I can see why it’s voted one of the best places in Nicaragua to relax and enjoy nature. The water is mineral-rich and slightly warm thanks to faint volcanic activity beneath the surface. At its deepest, it reaches around 650 feet.

I made a lovely friend here, and we spent most of the afternoon free diving, searching for things people had dropped in the shallows before venturing deeper – down to about 40–50 feet. I had to remind myself how to properly equalise my ears (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever felt that tell-tale pressure at 10 feet down!).

For US$20, our ticket included transportation, a day pass to the Laguna Beach Club, free use of the kayaks and a paid lunch buffet. It did rain for a couple of hours, but it didn’t stop me swimming – only the lightning made me reluctantly get out of the water for a while!

I never even made it onto a kayak as I was too content just being in the water. It was my idea of a perfect travel day – being in water amongst beautiful nature and with good company.

If you are in need of relaxation or just a good swim, I cannot recommend the Apoyo Lagoon enough.

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Ears equalised,

Aelfgifu