Granada come, Granada go, swimming in a Volcano hole

SOOO for those of you considering visiting Nicaragua EVER in your lifetimes... leave Granada out of your list of cities to visit. Lonely Planet blabs aout its "Colonial Charms" and yadda yadda yadda, but it's all crap mostly. It's a pretty city as far as far as the colors of the buildings go... I guess... mostly it's a big city with MANY stray dogs and several beggars. An elderly woman actually asked me for water! Water! She poored it into a plastic bag and then bit off the tiny corner so that she could give it to her three daughters. Incredibly sad really. I did not spend more than 18 hours there... but the up side is that I met oodles of awesome people at the hostel there who were feeling along the same lines. So, we all grouped up and went to Lago del Apoyo. Let me tell you... this place is AMAZING! SOOOO absolutely gorgeous. It's literally a lake that sits on top of a dormant volcano. I don't want to know what would happen if it ever erupted.
One of the gentleman from Holland had a birthday last night and we held quite the celebration... if you are not a rum drinker prepare to become one in Central America. It's quite the local liquor. At the lower level on the hostel there is a lake entrance where you can swim in really warm water! ALL night we swam! Pitch black night swims are really amazing. PIRATE rum party!!! This morning we woke up and walked down to the water and there were two empty bottles of rum laying on the swimming platform. AMAZING! that's when you know it was a good night... at least that's what they tell me.
My new friend Anna and I are going to take the sea kayaks out on the lake and see what we can find!

FAREWELL!!!