On our way out of the hostel, we asked the doorman where and when we could get a bus to La Laguna del Apoyo and were informed that there were 2 options. #1 wait til 10am and take the tourist bus to the private beach or #2 take the public bus to the intersection, get off and catch a different bus the rest of the way. Having no interest in waiting 4 hours just to pay twice as much to get to the same place, we thanked the doorman and headed towards the local bus stop.
We found the bus with little issue and once again ademantly informed the driver that we wanted to get off at the intersection to La Laguna del Apoyo and nowhere else. Nonetheless, we still had to holler and shout as we passed by in order to convince them to stop. We disembarked with our bags of goods from Masaya and rather blurryvision due to the lack of sleeping the night before. Crossing the street, we asked the sweet little couple on the corner if the bus was coming and were told yes, but they didn't know when. Not really wanting to stand still and wait, we started walking on the theory that we could just flag the bus down when it came by. Unfortunately, that never happened. Instead, we ended up hiking up hill for about 3 hours, hitching a ride for about 5mins of the way before hitting an intersection. I was truly surprised that more cars did not pass by, but it just was not destined to be our day. Instead, we got a lovely hike through the jungle whether we wanted it or not.
Finally arriving at the bottom of the monstorous hill we had just crossed and descended, we could see the water, but could not reach it. The entire beachfront was privately owned by various hotels and private homes. Slightly discouraged, but still persistant, we finally found an alley that led down to a series of restaurants right on the water. Not particularly in the mood for food just yet, we pushed through the tables and headed straight for the crystal clear lagoon. Despite the greywater runoff from the kitchen and washing stands that emptied directly into the lake, the water was stunningly refreshing. The whole body of water was ringed by hills covered in a vibrant green and rarely broken by human inhabitation.
Thoroughly refreshed and happy after our long hike finally bore fruit, we eventually climbed out and ordered some food. After a short meal of fried chicken and fries, we opted to take advantage of the hammocks hung about and each passed out in the shade for a couple hours.
When we woke, we decided we had had it for the afternoon as we were planning on catching the overnight bus back to Bluefields that evening. Hence, we decided that we would go ahead and pay for the first available taxi to take us all the way back to Managua. On our way back up the hill, we asked the guys on the corner where we could catch a cab and they waved down the truck that was just pulling out to take us out to the corner. Only, when we got in, we immediately hit it off with the driver, who had an easy laugh and was in a fabulous mood. When we mentioned that our final destination was Managua, he offered to take us the whole way. Weary and very greatful for the nice gesture, we passed the next half an hour chatting away with our driver. We did so entirely in Spanish and had a great time learning to really express ourselves only to find out later that he spoke perfect English and actually lived in the States. He was just back to check up on some business before heading back to finish a documentary on Kansas coal miners. After that, he was off to Hollywood to try his hand at becoming a movie star. I hope he makes it!
Getting dropped off essentially at our door, we came home to a mildly full house with Juli and Max having just arrived. We took care of a few last minute things before cooking a quick meal of pasta and making our way to the bus stop for another long journey back to Bluefields.
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