Today in my opinion, was the best day of the trip by far. The plan for the morning was to head over to Laguna de Apoyo. I was looking forward to this day the most because I did a lot of research on it because it was the subject of my final. This beautiful lake was once actually a volcano but about 2,300 years ago a huge explosion left a crater which eventually filled up with rainwater and became the lake it is today. Fun facts: the lake reaches depths of 656 feet, is considered the the lowest point in all of, and is the cleanest water in all of Nicaragua.
After waking up very early and eating breakfast the group drove about 45 minutes to lake, arriving at around 8 a.m. Let me just tell you, driving down into the crater to the lake is one othe most beautiful experiences you could witness. The first thing all of us noticed is how big the lake actually is in person. By the time we reached our hotel/resort destination, the excitement of the group was palpable. It only grew even more as we walked through the hotel, seeing all the gorgeous trees and flowers, cabanas and huts, and hearing all the beautiful tropical birds chirping away. What makes it even better is that because we got there so early, we had this paradise to ourselves. After placing our orders to prepare for lunch and lathering on sunscreen (because as I’ve learned the hard way the Nicaraguan Sun is not something you want to mess around with), we walked past the beach shore, to the water, and jumped right on in. The water was just the perfect temperature for the day, cold enough to be refreshing but warm enough so that it wasn’t too cold. It was also so clear and blue, almost as if it was one of those picture ads for the Bahamas come to life. About 10 feet off the the shore was a steep drop forcing all of us to actually swim. We all spent hours here swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding, and soaking in the sun on a floating dock about 50ish feet off shore. After awhile lunch was served where so,e of had pizza, others had fish, and the rest a good old hamburger.
Photo by Abby Motter
All in all this day was definitely very enjoyable for everybody. It was a much needed R&R day after several days of constant traveling, and not only that but it was also a wonderful way to solidify the friendships we’ve made on this trip; making it a very good way to spend our final day in Nicaragua and wrap up the trip.
Photo by Abby Motter