Nicaragua Adventure in Granada

Day 1  (click on photos to enlarge)
We left our place in San Jose to arrive at the fairly close by bus terminal at 5:00 am.
On time bus departure at 6:00 am began our 8 hour trip to Granada, Nicaragua.
We did enjoy the scenery.... between little naps. The border crossing out of Costa Rica into Nicaragua was uneventful...yeahhhhhh.

Our introduction to Granada was a short 5 block walk to our hotel. We are not quite sure of the significance of the purple flags but loved the effect.

Our small hotel was not fancy, but very pretty.....especially this lush courtyard complete with the wild parrots on a neighboring rooftop.......www.kekoldi.com

Day 2 Highlights

Breakfast at the hotel after a refreshing nights sleep was typical fresh fruit, beans and rice, fresh juice and great coffee. There were 3 small groups of guests having breakfast at the same time with us.
One group asked one of the hotel employees about the starfruit tree in the courtyard. Next thing we knew, he was climbing the tree... and picking the ripe starfruit. He came down the same way and disappeared into the kitchen to return shortly with a plate of fresh...verrry fresh... starfruit for each table! Customer service at it's best, right? 

A good part of the rest of the day we spent on  an open air bus tour of the city of Granada which also included a boat tour of the Granada Islands located in the huge Lake of Nicaragua. It was totally worth the argument with Michael about taking a "tour" We BOTH loved it. The pictures say it all...

Of the 30 some beautiful islands, some were very small, some were larger...some were uninhabited and some were inhabited by humans....one by monkeys. The "island dwellings" ranged from local fisherman's modest homes to very luxurious international estates.......

A very good day ended with a very good pizza at a local restaurant in a festive downtown Saturday night setting.

The 3rd and final day tomorrow........