Leon & Granada

Another day in Latin America, another beautiful colonial town! There's no shortage of colonial towns in this part of the world, and they only seem to get more beautiful. After leaving El Salvador by small boat, we crossed the Gulf of Fonseca and landed on a black sand beach in Nicaragua. We had to take our shoes off and wade to the shore, it all seemed like a bit of a dodgy way to enter a country! But sure enough, when we got off the beach there were some immigration officers there ready to check us into the country before getting on a bus to Leon.

Leon is one of the more gritty colonial towns in Central America, with a lively revolutionary history. The beautiful and colourful buildings are contrasted with revolutionary street art. The history of violent revolution in this area spans from the 60-70's when the war to overthrow the Somoza regime became a proxy war between the Russians and Americans, to the 2018 protests against the current regime. I visited a revolution museum that was interesting enough when discussing the more historical conflicts, but was clearly giving out a heavy dose of propaganda when discussing the more recent 2018 protests. According to this museum, the protesters were planted by America to make the government look bad, because clearly no Nicaraguans are dissatisfied with the way that the country is being run. And people dressed as police, but who definitely weren't police, and weren't ordered by the government to beat the protesters resulting in around 30 deaths. Sure Jan.
Aside from learning about the interesting history, there were plenty of beautiful old churches, plazas and streets to explore, I always enjoyed looking at the high camp that is the catholic art. I also spent a lot of time trying to avoid the unbearable heat! Whether that be in air conditioned cafes or in the tiny hostel pool with a beer.
Granada is a more polished colonial town on the shore of the huge Lake Nicaragua. The colourful streets are particularly attractive with the volcanoes visible in the distance. Granada was named in 1524 and is supposedly the earliest colonial town in mainland America. With many streets to explore and rooftops to visit, I spent a few days in Grenada before heading to the beautiful Laguna de Apoyo for a day of relaxation. The Lagoon is a crater lake in an extinct volcano and is a perfect place to spend a day chilling with a cocktail and taking a dip to cool down!Læs mere