La Laguna Apoyo

So here we are once again back in San Jose. This time we have a little private room that I have named The Tiger Suite (due to the tiger print blanket on our bed and the jungle feeling bamboo on the walls). We just got settled back here at Galileo Hostel and are happy to be back somewhere familiar. The rain is coming down and we are relaxing on our bed getting straight to work on some blogging. We had such a great and busy time in Nicaragua that we didn’t get a chance to put up any blogs and now have some catching up to do! 

Sad to leave!

We headed up to Granada, Nicaragua after leaving the House of Dreams on November 11th. It was a sad day leaving our wonderful cabin and we were both a little nervous about our upcoming border crossing into Nicaragua. We boarded the Ticabus to Granada feeling a little sad and tired but we were pleasantly surprised by the plush condition of our bus! The Ticabus had extra comfy seats and they even played us a movie. Once we made it through all the border check points with no problem we began to stare out the window into the new unknown territory. Getting off the bus, it was nice to know that we had a friend waiting for us upon our arrival in Granada.

Getting bags checked at the Nicaraguan border

Katie’s friend Hobie, who she met last year at Burning Man, has been living in Granada for the past 5 years. Hobie has quite the life in Granada and owns a wonderful yoga-spa-gym named Pure. Pure is a wonderful tranquil place for people to go and enjoy a yoga class taught by Hobie himself or one of his great staff members, up their moves with a Salsa dance class, or relax with a massage while taking in the scenery of the garden courtyard. People aren’t the only ones enjoying this serene setting, there is also Snoopy, Hobie’s resident desert tortoise who likes to wander around spreading his tranquil vibe among all the guests. Katie and I really loved taking yoga classes everyday at Pure and loved how great our bodies felt with the daily meditation and stretching. 

The Entrance into Pure

Hobie and Snoopy

We stayed with Hobie at the fabulous Monkey Mansion right in the city with his two awesome roommates. We were lucky enough to show up at a time when we were not only able to stay in this great place but also have our very own room! The Monkey Mansion is a great open space complete with pool and garden courtyard. We were very excited to be invited to stay and felt very lucky to meet Hobie’s nice roomies, Blake and Alba, and get to know them a bit better. 

The View from our room at the Monkey Mansion

After getting settled in the Monkey Mansion, we got some rest and looked forward to our first full day in Nicaragua. Hobie and his roommates ended up taking us up to La Laguna Apoyo the next day instead of to the beach as we had discussed because we had gotten a bit of a late start. This change in plan ended up being a blessing because our day at La Laguna ended up being one of our best days in Nicaragua. The drive up to the Laguna was fun and I enjoyed riding in the back of the truck letting the wind blow in my hair. La Laguna Apoyo is a lake located in the crater of a dormant volcano and it was a breathtaking sight to see when we arrived at the lakeside hang out spot called the Monkey Hut. 

The Monkey Hut Dock

The Monkey Hut offers everything you need to make this perfect setting even more perfect with great homemade pizza, cold beers, docks to swim to, and a cool grassy area where we could lay in the shade and enjoy the view.  

Enjoying a sunscreen massage in the shade

Our day at La Laguna Apoyo couldn’t have been better! We spent almost the whole day swimming in the warm clear waters and taking in the beauty of the forest surrounding the lake from all sides. The water felt so good we never wanted to leave and ended up staying through the evening enjoying a night swim out to the dock to take in the view at night. Katie relayed what stories she could remember of the constellations and we all took in the starry night from the dock wishing our moment in the warm waters could last forever. 

As we all know, all good things must come to an end. But as we drove home to the Monkey Mansion, the cool night air against our skin, we smiled... knowing that we would always remember our day at La Laguna Apoyo. Now as our trip is coming to a close within just a few weeks, we are really cherishing all the great memories we have been making along the way. It is nice to know that even though this trip will soon be over we will always have this time that we spent together along with so many other great friends old and new.