every day.When I askwhy he settled
here, he tells a story about a doctor’s
visitwhenhe first arrived.“Iwas really
sick,and theypaid foreverything.I told
thedoctorIwasn’tacitizenandhesaid,
‘You’reaperson,aren’t you?’”
After saying goodbye toWilliam, I
walkto
Espressionista
,acoffeeshopand
restaurant ina lightgraycolonialbuild-
ingwith typical Baroque flourishes. I
refuel and catch a cab to the
Marina
Cocibolca
,10minutessouthof thecity,
at the top of thePeninsula deAseses.
A short boat ride later and I’m
docking at the
Jicaro Island
Ecolodge
, a resort on a pri-
vate island near the end
of the arching peninsula
named for the Nica-
raguan tree and its
cannonball-likefruit.As
I disembark, a staff
member handsme a
glassof iced teaanda
cold face towel.
Jicaro strives to reconcile a taste for
luxury livingwithaconsciousnessofthe
environment.Theshowersineachofthe
nine lakefrontbungalows areheatedby
solar panels, and the rooms are cooled
by cross ventilation rather than air
conditioning.But guests aren’t exactly
roughing it.The one-acre islandoffers
a spa,a saltwater infinitypool,a sunset-
facing yoga deck and a fancy alfresco
restaurantwherethechefcancustomize
adinnermenu from local ingredients.
After lounging in a hammock on
my casita’s privateporch, I slather on
sunscreenandheaddowntothe
island’sdock.ThereImeet
a resort staffer named
Jorge, who has
agreed togiveme
a tourof someof
thenearby
isletas
,
of which there
are nearly 400.
Motoringontothe
openwater of Lake
Nicaragua—which is as big as Puerto
Rico—we pass
isletas
withmansions,
isletas
with tin-roofed shacks and
isletas
withnothingon themat all.
Aswewhizalong in thedirectionof
the looming
VolcánMombacho
, Jorge
points out snowy egrets,herons and a
slender dark cormorant that dives into
the lake aswe approach.Thousands of
species live inthesewaters,butthe lake’s
mostfamous inhabitantsarethetarpons,
sawfishandCaribbeanbull sharks.
“Do those sharksmean it’s danger-
ous to swim here?” I ask Jorge, who
responds with a laugh. Apparently,
sightings are exceedingly rare, though
Jorgedoes admit that he sawone long
ago when he was in the military. “It
wasn’t that big,”he reassuresme. I’m
not convinced.
As the sun dips below the crags of
Mombacho, I look out at the glinting
waters busy with fishermen casting
their circular nets. I ask Jorge about
the$50billioncanal set toconnect the
LAVIDALOCAL
Clockwise from top left: askylineviewofGranadaatsunset; avendoratMasaya’sMercadodeArtesanias; twodinersat thecharming
caféEspressionista, inGranada
70
MARCH2015
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
Fish tacoswith tomato salsaand
cream sauce fromJicaro IslandEcolodge
