Two Weeks in Central America: Granaaaadaaaa!

You can’t actually say Granada, you have to sing it. Yes, the song is actually about the Spanish city, but it works for Nicaragua as well.

So in Granaaaadaaaa we arrived after a full-day bus journey across Honduras. Founded in 1524, Granada is the oldest city of the New World, the first European city on the continent.

The Iglesia de la Merced was built in the early 1500s, though it was damaged and had to be rebuilt twice, with the current Baroque façade added in the 1780s

View from the Iglesia de la Merced bell tower — You can see all across the city from the bell tower of the Iglesia de la Merced

The Cathedral of Granada — Built in 1583, the Catedral de la Anunciación has also been damaged and reconstructed many times, most recently about 100 years ago

Parque Central, Granada — In the Parque Central in front of the cathedral, you will find souvenir stands and horse-drawn carriages

White colonial building in Granada, Nicaragua — Much of the city has been restored to its colonial glory

Colourful street in Granada, Nicaragua — A bit of colour would brighten up the streets of London, don’t you think?

Imagine bar on Penny Lane in Granada — Imagine bar, on Penny Lane

Having wandered the streets of Granada, Annie and I booked onto a tour of the Volcán Masaya. The tour included an hour or so at the Mercado Artesanías, an artisan market so large that I was completely overwhelmed and ended up not buying anything. We were then dropped off at the volcano and left to our own devices, unsure of what would happen next…

Masaya volcano — As we waited for our guide to arrive, we took the opportunity to snap some photos of the unusual landscape

Smoke at the Masaya volcano — The tour was actually a lava rock night tour, but unfortunately we didn’t see any lava on our trip; we did see a puff a smoke that I imagined came from a dragon lying asleep at the bottom…

Staircase up to view the Masaya volcano — You can climb up a staircase to look down from an even higher point. Once I got to the top, though, I really struggled to breathe in the sulphurous air and had to return to the bottom right away

Sunset at Masaya volcano — More posing as the sun was setting in time for our night tour…

Lava tunnel, Masaya — Lava tunnels are formed as the surrounding lava cools and hardens, while the lava inside remains hot and keeps on flowing, leaving behind a hollow tube shape. If you time your visit right, you’ll see all the bats leaving their hideaways at dusk. In one of the tunnels, the guide thought it funny to throw a snake at Annie. Hilarious.

Sunset at Masaya — The highlight of the tour was probably the spectacular view over the volcanic landscape, worth a visit even without the hot lava that was promised

Next week, more volcanos on the Isla de Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua…

Two Weeks in Central America: Granaaaadaaaa!

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