Laguna de Apoyo

The Laguna

Laguna de Apoyo is a nature reserve centered around a lake in the center of the Apoyo Volcano. It's only about 45 minutes from Managua, so I decided to go for the day and see what it's all about. It was pretty simple to get there, I took a microbus from Carretera Masaya which is close to my house and it cost about C30 ($1.40) for the ride down there. They dropped me off at the entrance to the laguna, which is where I decided to make the journey a lot more difficult than it needed to be. For some reason I decided that walking the rest of the way to the laguna would be better than paying the $5 for a taxi to take me down there. In theory it was a good plan, and was pretty enjoyable for the first 30 minutes but after that the monotonous road got pretty old and the humidity just doesn't quit here. 

45+ minutes of this...

But it was still nice to be walking outside of the city where it was nice and quiet and green. I eventually got to the public beach entrance. 

But I continued on to Monkey Hut, one of the hostels located on the lake that I'd researched beforehand. Most of them offer day use options, so I paid $6 to use their hammocks, bathrooms, kayaks  etc. for the day as well as have access to the bar/restaurant there. The place was really nice and the water was awesome! It's kind of in the middle between fresh water and salt water, and was so much warmer than the lakes I'm used to in Washington. Since I went by myself I passed most of the time floating in an inner tube, or reading in a hammock. Pretty relaxing stuff. 

The hostel property

My friend Victoria

On the way home I caught a bus back to the carretera instead of walking, plus it was absolutely adorable to see families on the bus with sleepy kids that had spent the day at the lake. I caught the next microbus heading back toward Managua and got home by late afternoon. I've never been one to travel solo, so it was cool to realize I'm capable of figuring out transportation and plans on my own, in Spanish none the less. However I definitely would have enjoyed it more with my friends. I know my friends from home would have a blast swimming and hanging out all day at the beautiful lake.

-Kayla Duskin

I Made It!

As of right now I've been in the beautiful country of Nicaragua for almost 24 hours. After waking up at 5am yesterday to catch my flight out of Seatac, I had a layover in Houston and landed in Managua around 6pm. In my exhausted, emotional state I was just glad the Managua airport is tiny and impossible to get lost in since there's pretty much only one option for where to go when you get off the plane. The ISEP director Mary Helen was there to greet me and take this celebratory picture. 

Chatting with Mary Helen made the drive to my host home go by quickly, and her kindness and excitement to see me definitely helped ease some of my nerves. When I arrived at my house I was greeted with a kiss by my host parents Anita and Edgard. Anita promptly made me a "sandwichita" made with three pieces of white bread and some ham and cheese. As I talked with my host parents it was good to realize I could understand most of what they were saying, especially my host Dad who speaks slow enough for a gringa like me to understand. 

I was so exhausted from my day of traveling so I unpacked my bags and went to bed pretty early. My room is small and cute with a little green fan that is my new best friend. 

Today I didn't have much to do since orientation doesn't start until tomorrow. My host mom took me to the supermarket and then to the mall nearby. It was so interesting to see all the American brands everywhere in the grocery store and the mall too. In some ways it's so similar to home here. We have wifi at the house and my host dad has an iPhone, I bought herbal essences shampoo and had a mcdonalds ice cream cone today. But in other ways it couldn't be more different. 

- Kayla Duskin