Nicaragua: Not crowded!

In January 2026, Nickie and I were hunkering down in Ontario, enjoying the massive snowfalls and chilly temperatures.  What could be better, you ask?  Let's take a look!  We had considered Costa Rica, but we had left it too late and accommodations were sparse.  Since Nicaragua was a less popular travel destination, we were able to find reasonable flights and accommodations.  We booked a trip leaving in 5 days!

Some shoveling required

Temperatures in January/February in Nicaragua are quite pleasant.  Of course, anything is pleasant after enduring -20 degrees and shoveling snow until your arms fall off.  Since driving in Nicaragua is tricky (plenty of horror stories regarding what happens if you are in a serious accident) and we were not familiar with the country, we decided to stay in an ecolodge.  They picked us up at the airport, which was a really good idea.  I have no doubt we would not have made it to the Hacienda without getting lost for 3 or 4 days.  The main highways are well marked, but there is no signage on the secondary roads.  And the country roads are almost impassable!

The road to the Hacienda!

The Hacienda was wonderful.  Well appointed cottages, a small but refreshing pool and incredible vistas.  In the distance was a volcano with smoke pouring out of it.  The hacienda was not busy during the week and was visited by locals on the weekend.  It was a bit surreal as we were the only guests for most of the time.  It gave us a feeling of what the rich and famous experience, when they allegedly rent the entire lodge. 4 - 5 staff waiting on us, no waiting for meals or drinks.  We had supper with a couple from California one night, which was a refreshing change from eating by ourselves.

Masaya volcano as seen from the Hacienda

Because the hacienda was rather remote and we did not have a car, we were forced to spend considerable time lounging about the bar and pool.  Not exactly torture, but infrequently I find idle time to be a challenge.  By "infrequently" I mean "frequently".  We went on 3 excursions and hiked almost every day.  We hiked near the volcano, which was cool but a tad disturbing.  Our guide would show us smoke coming out of the ground, which was awesome, but made me wonder what exactly we were walking on...  Hmm.  Don't dwell on it!

View from the pool

We drove to the top of the Masaya volcano and peered into the smoking caldera.  Again, totally awesome, but just don't dwell on what might happen if the volcano went KABANG!  Time at the volcano was limited to 5 minutes.  I did not have the nerve to ask why.  Let's assume it was the toxic atmosphere, not the likelihood of getting coated with lava.  Nickie's hat blew off her head and landed on the other side of the barricade, a few inches from a 300 meter vertical drop into the caldera.  I offered to retrieve her hat (it was worth more than $10!) but thankfully she declined my offer.  Actually, she mentioned something about limited cerebral capacity.  I think she was talking about the hat.

Masaya Volcano

Go get the hat please...

Another excursion was to the nearby city of Granada.  We took a boat out to some islands that had formed during an eruption of the Mombacho volcano.  There were some very cool cottages on the islands whom our guide declared to be worth a million dollars.  It is hard to be impressed with the value of large cottages on private islands when they cost about the same as a shack in Toronto.  We visited the old section of Granada, then went on a hike along the Laguna de Apoyo.  The hike was great and we met up with a few fellow Canadians.  We saw some local wildlife that looked a bit like an aardvark.

Nice cottage!

Other days we hiked along the dirt roads and trails near the hacienda.  The area is rather poor (we were told not to hike with our phones) but quite beautiful.  We hiked into the small town of Masatepe and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

Sunset at the Hacienda

Overall, Nicaragua is safe enough to visit and a worthy country to explore.  It is quite poor, so be careful when travelling there.