The last two nights and the full day between were spent in Granada, Nicaragua, at the same hotel as three weeks before, Hotel Terrasol, run by a couple from Portland, Oregon, USA.

The Hotel Terrasol in Granada. The rooms had small but fully adequate air conditioners to keep the heat and humidity at bay.

Most of the houses have courtyards, the open space between roofs. Courtyards are a common feature of most buildings in Granada.

Both rooms had balconies overlooking the relatively quiet side street. After the quiet of Ometepe, the quiet location of the rental house near Masaya, and the rustic quiet of Hostel Paradiso, being in the city of Granada, was a change. Motor vehicles and horse-drawn carts were going up and down the street, though it got very quiet a couple hours after dark.

Horse-drawn carts are a major means of moving things around in Granada.

Here are two horse carts criss-crossing in front of me.

The horse-powered conveyance tourists will most likely use: a horse-drawn carriage.

The plan in Granada was to do some errand shopping for school supplies, visit this town’s big market, get up the church tower for a view of the city, and otherwise relax. The owner of the Hotel Terrasol was a chef in Portland, so had recommendations for the best Granada restaurants.

A view of Granada from the La Merced Church bell tower.

Calle Xalteva from the bell tower.

I want to make specific mention of the food we ate in restaurants, and direct you to the photos. The food was all good. (Granted, we had good guidance on food.) From the small, four-table, family run restaurants on Ometepe, to the French cuisine of the Hostel Paradiso, to the restaurants of Granada, there were no disappointments.

Eating plantain was an new experience. I had always avoided the banana-like fruits in the grocery stores back home, because I didn’t know what to do with them.

The menu at the gringo-run El Garaje restaurant, off the beaten path in Granada—not catering to locals, but to gringo visitors.

Thick tortilla chips and a not-too-spicy salsa.

La Merced Church is one of the tallest buildings in Granada, and the bell tower is open to the public for the grand charge to tourists of $2. The bell tower isn’t just a tourist attraction, though. The bells are rung to call the faithful to Mass.

The sun setting behind the La Merced Church.

There are two bells in the La Merced Church tower, making possible the rapid ringing you hear.

It rained both evenings in Granada, as storm cells moved through. The rainy season was finally starting. The storm cells often had lightning and thunder. The rain, both nights, got pretty intense, a lot of rain in a short period of time. I understand that one wants it to rain a lot, if it is going to rain. If there is only a little rain, hot streets quickly evaporate the water and the humidity goes way up. If there is a lot of rain, it cools things down.

Rain and thunder.

This sight was a puzzle—plants growing on the phone lines. No doubt the rainy season allows these plants to get a start…though they must be dry-tolerant to survive the lengthy dry season.

Heavy rain.

This is the Cathedral. It has no other name, just Cathedral.

Drivers in Nicaragua use their horns a lot. Mostly it is to warn the vehicle you are coming to that you are going to pass, or something like that. Another interesting feature of Nicaraguan city traffic is the “speaker truck”—usually a pickup truck with one or more speakers mounted on it driving around the city blaring out some recorded message.

This cart driver is signaling his left-hand turn. Horse drawn carts are simply part of traffic in Granada.

Traffic sounds in Granada. Horns honking and a speaker truck driving by.

Because Nicaragua is a relatively poor country, horses are commonly seen pulling carts, not just the tourist carriages. You will also see many hand-pushed carts.

Bikes with baskets and cargo bikes carrying loads were also common sights in Granada, along with carrying material by hand.

A woman pushing a large hand cart.

These Eskimo (pronounced in Spanish es-KEE-mo) ice cream hand carts were ubiquitous in Granada and Masaya.

It was a good visit. Too short in many ways. There were things I did not get to do (though I felt busy most of the time), photos I did not get to take (though, I still took nearly 2000 pictures), sounds I did not get to record (though I have hours and hours of fascinating sounds). There is never enough time for everything. I’ll admit, the heat and humidity took some getting used to, but I have a great sandal tan!

Thanks for reading and listening—for coming along on this adventure.

This was a magnificent salad, topped by a large avocado half with a crab salad filling.

These are Pork Quesadillas, very tasty.

A big salad with a big avocado. For avocado lovers, Nicaragua was a great place to eat.