Chapter 5: Two nights at the Laguna

Laguna de Appoyo is a tidy little paradise in the midst of a beautiful but chaotic and rather untidy country. It is a crystal clear sulphoros lake tucked neatly into the crater of a dormant (at least I think dormant) volcano. I checked into the open air laguna-view dorm room, and immediately went for a quick swim in the cool but not too cool water. It was the perfect way to recover from a long day of traveling – and the perfect place to relax and do nothing but work and eat and swim. I spent the first night alone in the dorm which was at once wonderful and nerve wracking.

(the dorm)

There is no such thing as a peaceful night in Nicaragua – and I had traded the noise of the city for the noise of the jungle, cicadas, monkeys and all manner of disembodied sound – all of which was separated from me only by the metal grill that was the front wall of the dorm room. Luckily (and annoyingly) I also had a night watchmen dutifully pacing past my room every half hour or so setting off all the motion sensor lights outside the dorm – I wished I had chosen a bed at the back of the room – the next night I gained a few room-mates including a perpetually traveling yoga addict from the states, and two girls from Switzerland – the same day a bevy of other very cool and interesting people arrived at the hostel which made for some great evening conversation and an excellent swim in the dark in the laguna.It was a very awesome night – and needless to say, night swimming in volcanic lagoons has now been added to my top ten list of favorite things to do.

(sunrise over the laguna and the floating dock silhouetted to the right)

(painting of the laguna)

After two nights at the Laguna I headed back for a night of poetry festivaling in Granada – finally got to fix myself a meal – which consisted of a giant avocado doused in lime and two paupusas that I bought from my favorite Granadense eatery.