DEliTOUR: Nicaraguan wonders

Again, taking some advice from our gurus, Alex and Iris, we realised we should buy at least something before leaving CA, and so, in spite of pack weights, we set off for Masaya, in search of the crafts capital of the region. Weighed down by my constant babble about ´being the Masaya´ and how ´ony the true Masaya denies his divinity´ we made it to the hammock city, even though we had come to the only tourist town in the world with no maps for tourists to find the workshops, markets, galleries and peddlars that are the town´s lifeblood. We bought a hammock. I failed to convince Anna of the need to purchase a hoop of my people (feathery round thing unfortunately used hanging from the rear view mirror in these parts, but originally a very important symbol for native american Indians, representing the life of the tribe. I have just read Black Elk Speaks, pitched as a native american Indian bible, which details the last stands of the North American Indians before their betrayal and butchery and removal from their lands. But I also like the feathers.). And we went to the evening dance show in the market. It was weird because it was mostly Nicaraguan families in from Managua having a night out drinking. The show was a faux traditional shambles. Nice masks. Rock band to finish. 40 left feet on stage. Pity the shoemaker.

And then we went to Lake Nicaragua and the twin volcanic isand of Omotepe. We had presumed that Omotepe was going to be cheap but it is being overrun with foreign owned posadas, big hotels, and a transport system whereby American toursists pay 25usd for a taxi so the 25 taxi drivers think that everyone will pay it. As it is difficult to get around the accomodations are far apart we took a recommendation and stayed at El Encanto. We were very pleasantly surprised. Just five rooms, hillside, glorious views of the two volcanos, 200m down to the end of the long beach on the lake, amazingly rich garden, giant frogs blocking the path at night, fireflies, butterflies, ancient petroglyphs on rocks dotted around, lovely terrace, big hammocks, lovely-if-pricey food, bikes, and a great vibe. Even when the very-loud-American-groups arrived the next day we still couldn´t be shaken from our peace. We swam in the lake, got wet in the afternoon rain, biked to the swimming springs, walked the garden, and should´ve changed the guitar´s strings.