Rosi Cornwell22nd – 26th December 2022.
Its literally called Paradiso Hostel. And it really is paradise. Especially after coming from Managua (no offence Managua)!
To get here we got a taxi from the Hotel, pre paid and driven by a female driver (just makes ya feel more secure ya know… No offence men)… When we arrived at the bus station the lady gave loads of change to a man at the window, and he gave her two tickets. We asked what that was for, and she just said ‘tranquilo’.. And she reluctantly accepted our tip when I said ‘Feliz Navidad’. We lugged our huge bags which now have the addition of pots and pans, and really give a Bert from Mary Poppin’s one man band vibe…out of the car and into the back of the chicken bus. The seats had ‘Blue Bird’ on, which was super cute as that’s the name of my bike.
We rode on this bus for about an hour, In that time many sellers of bags of nuts, chocolates, juice bags jumped on and tried to make a sale. The bus cost us 20 Cordobas which is 50p!!! We got out the back of the bus in Masaya and went to the smallest taxi and asked a price – 300 Cordobas… They pick up other passengers in taxis so I think as we have huge bags we take up more seats and space, so it costs more!
We had to pay some sort of road tax along the way of 20 Cordobas each, and then we safely make it to Hostel Paradiso. Yay. It was heavenly to walk down the stairs and look out over an insanely beautiful lake (Laguna De Apoyo – a thermally vented 48 Square kilometre body of water, contained inside the crater of Apoyo Volcano). We check into our room, another private room.. We are doing very well at not having to share dorms so far! Then we get a Mojito and sit and embrace the glory. I actually feel euphoria for the second time as I take in this beauty. Oh and we met two cute dogs.
I go for a swim and it is so beautiful and warm. We then get dinner – Chinese rice and veg, it tasted so fresh and gingery. Two girls come round and give us a free welcome drink and tell us there is a quiz at 8. Yes a quiz, I’ve been waiting for an activity! We sit to play and two girls come to join, they are from the Netherlands. It is only us and them playing. They win by 2 points!!! And it was for a bottle of rum… Next time we will be victurious! It was a victory though as the girls running the quiz told us about a New Year’s Eve party in the jungle in Granada, so we enquire about tickets and book a hostel. We go up to our room, all the ice has melter in the air con and it is hot!
I wake up at 4.30am and listen to a podcast… I keep listening to podcasts about food which just makes me hungry so I need to stop doing that… Its now 6am so I go to the lake and watch the sunrise in all its glory.
I decided to have a day with out my phone/WiFi. Wish I could do more than one day, but it is nice to be connected to those at home, especially at Christmas. Although it does not feel like Christmas, despite the Christmas decor.
Holz realised that she left her Go Pro in the draw at the last hotel.. So the reception staff ring them and they have it! We predict it could cost $100 for them to deliver it, and it only cost $45.. Result.
We have a swim and I jump off the floating wooden block and am impressed that I don’t find it scary, so I do it multiple times and feel like a dog that runs and jumps and just does it continuously for the thrills. We sit in the sunshine and then take a trip out on the kayak. It was so nice to be splashed by warm water and go over the bouncy blue waves.
We return and make lunch (just jam sandwiches as Holz also left the peanut butter in the hotel as well) (but it’s better to have just jam, than just peanut butter.. That would be dryyyyyy).. To compensate we eat a handful of nuts and then a bite of Jam sandwich. Flawless.
We sign up to Work Away so that we can start to look into volunteering. Holz is up for hostel party vibes, and I’d love to do something with less people, so hopefully we can find a match for both or do something separately (although we have signed up as a couple – so not sure if they allow that.. Who knows).
TheGo Pro is reunited with Hollie just in time for our Volcano tour! We get in a taxi to the main road then a shuttle bus. The Netherland girls told us it was a 4 minute walk, and not that impressive. The bus drove us up to a view point of Masaya Volcano and we see smoke coming out and can smell the sulphur. A German guy on the tour says ‘it’s not that impressive’… I don’t know what he’s seen in his life, but me and Hollie are impressed. The sun was setting and it looked beautiful.
We walk up to a view point and it looks even more stunning!!!!
We then walk past a sign with a ‘no entry’ symbol ( tour guide led) and we are walking on the edge of a Crater and I try not to look down and just walk straight ahead.
We then climb up some huge, vertical steps to the highest view point and take in the final glimpse of sunset.
Thank god we didn’t walk back along the unfenced crater as it is now dark. We stand at the side of the volcano and look down to see flaming orange lava!!! Those Netherland girls really down played it, because this is awesome!!!! Maybe they’ve seen a lot of lava in their life. It’s even more impressive as this volcano is the only one you can see with lava in Nicaragua, and the 2nd one is in Guatemala. So there’s only two with visible lava in Centra America!!!
We get the bus and taxi back and by this point my belly hurts from hunger pains and I know that we have the stove fire and beans to contend with for a 2nd time. We think it will be more successful this time as we have already foraged for lots of wood, and we have soaked the beans. Some how this time it took even longer than before and we spent TWO HOURS scuffling around on the floor over this fire, pandering over these hard beans, wondering if we will get sick but decide that it’s surely not possible. We eat the chilli which is scolding hot so surely has burnt any toxins away. The things we do to save a few dollars aye! Oh and it was a beautiful setting to be cooking by, next to the lake with the clear starry night sky above us.
We stink and are super sweaty as we wore long clothes to prevent bug bites. We were surrounded by ants, spiders and it was best to not actually see what was beneath us. Oh and there was also a horse in the bush. I go and have a shower in the communal bathroom and just as I am about to get in the lights go out. Brilliant.
I leave in my towel and the security at reception is wearing a head torch and says it will come back on soon. Hollie came to find me with a torch as she knew I would be in the shower in the dark, and we agree to hold the light for each other in the bathroom. I actually really enjoyed feeding the fire and keeping the flames alight, and the feeling of satisfaction when your breath creates a flame again… However I felt like I’d run a marathon in the Sahara desert and that was one or the best showers of my life.
Waking up in Paradise on day two and eating breakfast with a view. Only with a few bites from last night, which is a miracle really.
We get a Bob Martley cocktail… Red wine, tequila, blue Curaçao and passion fruit… I don’t know who thought of mixing red wine and tequila, but if ya spending the cash, you may as well get all the hard stuff in one hit.
We sit and play the ‘I went shopping and bought’ game, except did ‘ I went to a concert and saw’… The hardest part was remembering the alphabet rather than the previous artists! Then we had a lush dip in the sea (we keep calling it the sea, and beach, but ya know what I mean), and did some more jumping off the wooden raft. I scared myself a bit as it was so wet I slipped when jumping and only jumped from the dry wood next time! Hollie tried to get the ‘cool water Davidoff perfume advert’ picture that I’ve been trying for in the Cenote and failing massively. Honestly how do people do this seriously.
We swum back in and got another Bob Markley and a bowl of chips. Everywhere we have gone, hollie has asked for bbq sauce, and these chips automatically came with bbq sauce, so they get a 10/10 chip advisor rating straight away for that. About a million dogs (4) surrounded us, and a cat and hollie fed them chips too. We played pool and for the first time in our friendship we were neck and neck, and Hollie won. Honestly we have been so bad in the past that we have had to end up playing doubles so that the game can finish.
We then sat and played Rummy and discussed how much the volcano tour was. I thought $30 and Hollie thought $20. We bet shots of tequila on who got it wrong. I went to reception to look and returned with shots. We both got it wrong…. It was $25!
We came to the room and ate the left over chilli whilst I video called my mum, step dad and Raz who were preparing for Christmas day together. I spent last Christmas with them, and feel that Christmas doesn’t really have the same meaning when not at home with family. Obviously I am with my best friend so am super grateful for that, but after 28 years of cold, cosy Christmases, this hits differently. Not in a bad way, I am not sad to not be at home, I am so lucky to be in the sunshine and living it up, I honestly have no concept of time or date!
We get changed for the evening and rock out to Christmas songs and go to the bar which is surprisingly quiet. We opted out of the Christmas meal as there was no vegan options, but we still wanted to be apart of it. We played pool and met a fellow traveller and played Rummy and chase the ace. The people eating the meal were a big family, so it wasn’t the same party hostel vibe that we were used to, but it will be nice to have the first hang over free Christmas in probably 10 years!
We had a dip in the lake in the dark and wondered where the moon was before going to bed, where we were joined by Pina the dog, who stayed comfy and cosy with us all night!
We awake and it’s Christmas day! We have group chats with family and friends stuck into the festivities. This gives me a slight hint of home sickness, but it’s not really home sickness, it’s just the idea of being with family, eating yummy food and doing the same thing I’ve done for the last 28 years. It’s a blessing to be able to go and order fruit and a watermelon mojito for breakfast, even if the bar tender questions my drink choice (its 9.44am on Christmas, give a gal a break)!
We go to sit on the ‘beach’ and find Sara and Mara the girls who are volunteering here and who did the quiz. They talk about playing games later and this sounds fun to us, as we love a game. We have a video call with Hollie’s family, Girlfriend Amie, and friends Kenny, Claira and their baby Henry. I eat some chips and get a salad. I finally feel full for the first time since we have been here! Not my usual Christmas grub, but it sure was tasty! We then go out on the kayaks, listen to music and see masses of people also enjoying themselves along the lake – it sounds like our hostel is the only place not having it up with banging music! It was more wavey than before and we enjoyed bobbing over the waves.
We head back to the hostel, and have a swim. This water has got to be the most refreshing, warm water I have ever swum in. I never usually like to get my head and face under, but I can’t get enough of this! Although it did get cloudy and I got cold so had to get out, shower and get ready for what the evening will bring!
We mixed and matched fajitas and veggie burger and chips for dinner, played Speed, Hollie won all 3 times. That game really is stressful. Then Sara and Mara came over, they taught us a new card game ‘Swimming’ and then we played doubles at pool. We spoke about their travelling experiences so far, and hope to see them again in Granada for New Year’s Eve.
We now await our final breakfast, and will catch the 11am chicken bus to Granada, to check into De Boca Boca hostel! The next adventure awaits….
