Granada and the Islets

Kimberly photo bombing a picture of the church of Xalteva

Church of Mercy Bell Tower

The incside of the Church of Mercy

sign reading "Do not Ring the Bell Please" We have a leisurely morning at our Airbnb before heading out to explore more of Granada.

We first go to Church of the Mercy and we climb the bell tower. Like yesterday’s bell tower, this one also posts a sign requesting you don’t ring the bell…Soooooo tempting.

John with his hands on the bell cord The stairs are very narrow, steep and winding. Not my favourite combo. It takes me forever to go both up and down. However the views were great.

Church of Xalteva

Exterior of the pink Church of Xaltiva

interior of the Church of Xaltiva We next make our way to the Church of Xalteva. We go in but this time no bell tower to climb. There is a shady park in front of this church which we take advantage of.

In and Around Granada

Exterior of the Fort of the Polvora with horse and carts in front
an old colonial style church We go on to check out both the fort and the ruins of the old hospital. Both are interesting but not open to the public.

We return to the town centre by way of neighbourhood streets. Many of the colourful houses are very charming.

colourful houses on a neighbourhood street Traffic consists of cars, scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, horse and cart as well as horse and carriage.

Throughout this trip we have seen people carrying things in inventive ways. A lady passes us carrying a large basket , full of stuff on her head. The embarassing part is that she is walking much faster than us.

Lady walking with a basket on her head After booking tomorrow’s spa day, we stop again at the Garden Cafe for refreshing drinks… John has a mint lemonade and I have a coconut, banana, peanut butter and cocoa smoothie.

The Islets of Granada

Water birds on lilipads Mid-day we rest up again at the Airbnb and head out for our afternoon boat cruise of the Isletas. These are 365 islets formed from a volcanic explosion and are a short drive from Granada. Many islets are privately owned by locals and foreigners and many are still uninhabited.This is probably my favourite place in Nicaragua so far.

Our boat driver/guide was born and raised on these islets and still lives there.As our guide travels through the calm waters, I love watching all the beautiful bird life. There are egrets, herons, kingfishers, terns, vultures, Kiskadees, grackles, magpies, parrots and Jacanas which are also known as the Jesus bird because they walk on water.

Monkey Island

Kimberly feeding a monkey

We stop at an island with a small Spanish fort which was used to deter pirates in the ‘old days’. Spider monkey in the tree

We also stop at Monkey Island which has a small group of spider monkeys marooned on the island. These guys used to be pets. One of the monkeys is pregnant. These monkeys live totally on food fed by the tourists.

Monkey at the side of the boat taking food from Kimberly One of the monkeys only has half a tail because he tried to escape the island across an electric wire, got zapped and lost part of his tail. Click here to see a short video of one of the monkeys.I feed the monkeys some coconut. One of the monkeys took it and the other wasn’t interested.

Sunset at the Islets

Sunset view from the Islets

a large flock of egrets rousting in a tree We watch the sun set behind a distant volcano. As the boat makes its way back to shore, we pass a tree laden with egrets preparing for the night….and more keep flying in. Click here for a video. With so many egrets in the tree above, our guide says it would be very dangerous to drive the boat underneath.Too soon our boat tour is over. I am so glad to be returning to this beautiful place tomorrow.