DAY 12: Granada

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day today, visiting the city of Granada. It's one of the two main cities that still embody Nicaragua's Spanish colonial history. It has a beautiful town square, surrounded by many grand, colonial-style buildings. We loved it there, and wanted to stay as long as we could.Horse & Buggies
There was a taxi strike in Granada that day, so we had to use horse and buggies to get down to the shore of Lake Nicaragua (nobody minded!)
An Island Cruise
Once down by the Lake, we took a cruise around and through dozens of little islands along the coast. The islands were created from the debris that had exploded from the nearby volcano thousands of years ago. Today, they are all privately owned by the country's wealthiest people. It was a beautiful cruise, and very refreshing to be out on the water.We had a chance to stop for an hour or so on one of the islands where there was a cafe and a chance to cool off with some swimming.One of our guides, Carmen, showed us how to make friends with a parrott.
Finally, we headed back to Granada, and then made our way back to Managua by car and bus.