Day Eight - Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Woke up, after a surprisingly good sleep, feeling excited to explore Granada.  We quickly got ready, grabbed some cheap fruit from the street and headed towards the lake in search of Las Isletas (the islands).  After a fairly long walk we stumbled across some boats willing to take us on an hour tour of the numerous tiny islands (said to be over 360!)  It took a little hard bargaining, but after a while we settled on a price of $10 per hour ($5 each), which was a great deal considering Amanda and I were the only ones in the boat built for ten or more.  Our driver was extremely sweet, even going so far as to stop the boat a number of times so we could get a steady picture.  The islands were definitely worth the walk.

  The boat we hired

Along the ride

Along the walk back up to Central Square 

After the boats we walked back to Central Square, stopping for a quick lunch at Las Ranchitas ( I wouldn't recommend it) and wandered around the market that was set up for the poetry festival.  We each grabbed a few souvenirs and headed back to the Bearded Monkey.  After dropping our stuff off we were excited to find Luke and Elana (a couple we first met in Leon, then on the beach at Las Peinitas) were staying at the Bearded Monkey as well.  The four of us decided to explore the city, heading first to Dona Elba (the famous cigar factory).  

What should have been a short jaunt down the street turned into quite a trip as we were intercepted by the Ash Wednesday festivities.  The parade was pretty intense, ranging from giant Spanish ladies, to cross dressing men..quite interesting.  Eventually we found Dona Elba and wandered inside.  It was a short tour, but after watching the man roll the cigars he gave us a go and even let Elena keep hers free of charge.  

Ash Wednesday Parade

Their interpretation of Spanish men

...and Spanish Ladies 

Elana rolling her own cigar

After purchasing a cigar or two, we headed to the old hospital down the street (turns out you can no longer go inside, but great for pictures) and back to Central Square in search of a cheap dinner (each only spent 15cordobas, which is about .75cents..our mission was a success).  From there we found a liquor store where we purchased a 26er of rum for 30 cordobas ($1.50- Ron Plata).  

Nicaragua is known for making some fine rums, however reach for the plastic bottle of Ron Plata, and take a giant step down in price, quality and social class.  Despite the savings, Luke still managed to find something cheaper (local 'firewater') as his budget was a little tighter than ours (he was recently robbed), however after speaking with some locals we discover a certain amount of people go blind every year from drinking the concotion.  Personally I think its worth the extra .50cents to not spend the night worrying that your increasingly blurry vision means you must be losing your sight.  

I am happy to report Luke did not lose his sight, but he did manage to lose any sort of memory of the night.  Luke - just so you know we went to an Irish pub called Kelly's Bar, danced to some live music and celebrated Amanda's fake birthday...all in all a fabulous evening.

  The old Hospital

Things I learned from Day Eight:

1) Don't let your cab driver pick up other people! Agree to pay more for a private cab, as it is much safer.  Luke and Elena agreed to share a cab with a local woman, she flagged one down, the driver picked up a few more passengers and before they knew it they were being driven to different banks to withdraw money.  This is a common scam.  Cabs are extremely dangerous in Nicaragua..public transportation is cheaper and safer!

2)  Nicaragua actually produces some top quality cigars (Dona Elba is owned by a local as well as two young Canadians!)