Mojitos, Mombacho and Monkeys
Every day seems more busy than the last on a Spark Ventures partnership trip. It is always fun to relax at the end of each day to reflect on experiences and get to know other travelers. On this recent trip to Nicaragua, we would typically meet in the hotel lobby/bar for a drink before heading to dinner. And sometimes after dinner as well.
Among the lessons learned and discussed during these sessions, one thing became clear: our group really loved their mojitos. At the hotels where we stayed, these delicious beverages were made from scratch and individually – sometimes taking 30 minutes to get a group of 11 all of their drinks. But ask anyone – they were the best mojitos ever.
We ended the trip by enjoying some of the beautiful scenery that Nicaragua has to offer. We spent two nights in Grenada at the Hotel Plaza Colon, a Trip Advisor 2014 Travelers’ Choice winner. I actually heard one of our group members saying, “I want to live here.” On Saturday, we headed to Mombacho, an inactive volcano, which had spectacular views of the city and Lake Nicaragua. The volcano is connected underground to two other active volcanoes, so there are places during our hike where you can see, smell and feel the sulfur steam coming up from the ground.
Mombacho erupted about 20,000 years ago creating 360 small islands in the lake, which we toured by boat in the afternoon. Monkey island is one of the favorites, where we saw two spider monkeys and one white-faced monkey (who is usually very shy). We also saw incredibly beautiful birds, trees and flowers prior to arriving at our private island dinner destination where we enjoyed one last meal together.
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| Wish you were here! |
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| The sun sets on another successful partnership trip |
I know there are still some spots for our August trip and we are looking for interested people to confirm a November trip as well, so if these tales from Nicaragua have convinced you to join us – reach out to Stephanie soon for more details!