Paradise Found

…and it’s called Laguna de Apoyo.  I played hooky from Spanish school today, but it was worth it.  A friend that I met here, Victoria, and I traveled by two local buses and a taxi to The Monkey Hut, which is a beautiful little compound alongside the water’s edge of a volcanic crater lake.  The weather today was the best day ever and a perfect day to skip school.  (Kids, don’t try this at home!) I felt that traveling on our own to Masaya and then to the Laguna was an immersion experience in itself, so I felt justified.  At one point, a professional looking woman boarded the bus with a Bible and began preaching, in Spanish of course, about turning to God to help the Nicaraguans drive out the United States from their country.  I tried to look less American, but it wasn’t possible.  She was very passionate, and I found I could pick up bits and pieces of what she was saying.  When we got to The Monkey Hut, we had to open a large, metal gate to get in and then in front of us was this beautiful little tropical retreat.  For $6 we had use of their beach, the tubes and the kayaks.  It was such a beautiful and rather remote area.  The lagoon fills the crater of a dormant volcano and it is about 200 meters deep – actually, according to my guide book, the lowest place in all of Central America.  It was idyllic.  We floated on the lagoon in tubes surrounded by a lush forest that grows on the slopes around the crater.  The water was pretty warm because, apparently, there is still some seismic activity occurring here.  At lunch, the manager, Carlos, a Nicaraguan dude, played his guitar and sang songs in Spanish.  A storm blew in from across the lake about 2:30, when we were getting ready to go anyway.  It was amazing to watch it move across the laguna towards us.  It lasted about 30 minutes, and then clear skies again! We returned to La Mariposa via a taxi and stopped on the way in San Juan del Oriente to take a look at the beautiful Nicaraguan pottery that is made there.  The driver had his wife and daughter with him, and at one point he pulled over to a roadside stand, where an older woman was cooking some kind of tart or cake out in front of her home.  He ordered some from her to pick up on his way back after he dropped us off.  It was just so random! All in all, it was really quite a great experience, and now I must study the 601 verbs my teacher gave me for homework over the weekend!  Adios!