Granada

Granada was fine – another colorful colonial town. A town square, a few nice churches, backpackers’ coffee shops, etc. Now that we’ve seen so many of these, we’re a little pickier than we should be and prefer options in Mexico and Guatemala.

It didn’t help that the hostel we were in tried to charge us an extra $10 a day when we checked out. After some back and forth, they returned $20 US back to me. The hotels here quote you in US dollars, add a few extra things to your running tab and then bill you in cordobas with a pretty bad exchange rate. Watch the math.

Every day there is a downpour which leaves the town muddier, but doesn’t provide any relief from the mugginess. Every day, in every Nicaraguan town we’ve been in, the electricity goes off for part of the day or night. The water goes off too. It usually isn’t a problem (though nights can be rough without the fan). Last night we were at a pizza joint where the lights went on and off 3 times before they went off for good following a chorus of ‘ohhhh’ from the patrons. A few minutes later the generator comes on, with it the lights and music and the new chorus of ‘ahhh’. 15 minutes after that, the entire restaurant was packed as it was the only light on the street.