When we finally landed in Managua, we jumped into a car and headed towards San Juan del Sur. This was going to be our grand finale for the trip. Two weeks of beaches, surfing, whale watching, and luxury. Nate had other plans for us. While we were flying into Managua, the outer rings of the storm were reeking havoc on Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Our two hour drive to San Juan ended up being almost four hours in the car, constant reroutes due to flooded highways or massive fallen trees blocking the road. When it became dark, we decided to give up and try again the next day. We went ahead and headed back to Granada and checked into Hotel Casa San Francisco. At this point, we were only about forty minutes of the two plus hour drive to San Juan.
The next morning, our AirBnb host in San Juan sent pictures. San Juan had taken a terrible hit. A sinkhole in the main road into town would prevent us from getting there.
The entire town was without electricity. Deaths had been reported. And the beaches looked like a war zone.
San Juan del Sur
After recovering from our disappointment, we decided to make new plans to go somewhere we hadn’t ever been, as well as try to enjoy where we would spend the next couple of days. I mean, there are certainly worse places to be stranded!
The hotel we were in was fabulous. It had so much character. Each room was different, and even the kids’ room was wildly different than ours right next door. I personally loved that it had a fantastic restaurant in the main entry. We ate more than once there while drinking more than our fair share of the beer.
The kids’ room
We loved Granada more on this stay than the one just a week or so earlier. We knew where everything was, where the great restaurants could be found, and we found a new museum that we hadn’t visited yet.
The Convent San Francisco had a wonderful museum that included a free tour by an English speaking guide. We learned about the many festivals that are celebrated in Granada, and it was unsurprising that most were religious based. We soaked up information about their arts and were even fortunate enough to see a special exhibit that featured huge stone carvings from 2500 years ago.
We finally also made it to the Merced Church (Iglesia la Merced) for some amazing views of the city. It may not be obvious from the picture, but Caden was a little over seeing churches.
But we did think it was fun that we found a praying mantis praying in the church.
The praying praying mantis
And the 360° views were unbelievable.
The top of Volcano Massaya obstructed by clouds
We let the kids have a complete day of screens. They were over the moon to just sit in the room and joint play on the iPads. Scott and I snuck out and met a local artist who does some amazing work.
Nasser makes beautiful paintings and amazing door replicas
We also made a little time for some cocktails. And three days after we arrived Granada, we left again. This time we would head to Ohio. The view from the jet was amazing as we left this beautiful country.
The volcano view from the plane
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