Rygsækrejsen 2015-2016: Laguna Apoyo hike to Mirador de Catarina

We woke up at sunrise and sat on our patio and watched the sun rise above the mountains. What a great start to the day. A bit early though since breakfast wasn't until 8 AM but we just relaxed in the hammock. Then a good Nica breakfast with plenty of gallo pinto and some pancakes on the side. We wanted to do a hike to the top of the crater this morning and asked around at the hostel for directions getting some mixed feedback about the safety of hiking up the hill.

Anyway the owner told us that it was okay but we should leave valuables at home, we just had to walk 30 minutes down the road, look for a hotel and next to it would be a sign for the footpath leading to the Mirador de Catarina. So we did just that, walking down a very quiet gravel road. The area around the Laguna is quiet and especially at night nothing happens - at all. A few howler monkeys entertained us on the way, jumping from tree to tree and looking like they had a fun time.

We made it to the end of the road, found the hotel, asked for directions and were told again that it was dangerous to hike up the footpath even without valuables. So we decided to head back towards our hostel and find us a taxi to drive us to the viewpoint instead. First we headed for the lake shore and had some good photos of the lake. Then we headed back, haggled with a few taxis and got the price down from the original USD 10 to 4. And then we went up the hill, with a driver that didn't seem to know exactly where to go, so we stopped a few times for directions before making it to the viewpoint after some 20 minutes.

The view was really stunning from up there, with the city of Granada visible in the horizon. We took a few pictures and enjoyed the place before going past all the souvenir stalls and finding some local food for lunch, some kind of pancakes with cheese and meat in. Then we got a tuk-tuk back to our hostel and went straight for a swim in the lake. There is a small floating platform in the lake and we just managed to soak up the sun for about 30 minutes before it disappeared behind the mountain ridge.

This evening we wanted to eat at another place than our own restaurant - just to try something different but the whole area seems deserted at night. The only place that served food was the neighbouring hostel where the kitchen closed at 7 PM so we just managed to place an order and get food and drinks. Nicaragua is weird in that sense. It is really "go-to-be-early-country". To us it has been another great day.