Las Isletas

We had 6 members of Raul's family visiting us over Semana Santa (2 of which were Isabel's cousins so you can only imagine how excited she was to see them and have someone to play with!).  While they were here we took a tour of "Las Isletas", which is a collection of around 360 islands in Lake Nicaragua (also known as Lake Cocibolca by the locals, it is the largest fresh water lake in Central America and 19th largest in the world).  Many of the Nicaraguan elite have purchased one or more islands and have built homes where they come for holidays or sometimes weekends.  There are currently several for sale, one with a small house already built for only $130,000 :-).  There are also a couple of hotels and several restaurants that you can visit.  We rented a small boat ($20 for the hour with guide) and took a tour.  Of course we had to get to the lake via horse and buggy carriages...

(note: I had some technical difficulties with the photos below--sorry!)

Isabel in the carriage on way to lake.

Isabel's aunt, uncle and cousin's on way to lake.  Are in front of Parque Xalteva, an historic park that we go hang out in the evenings to cool down and let Isabel play.

Lake Nicaragua. It is so big it looks like the ocean.  Lots of locals come here to swim though in this area it is a bit dirty.

Lake Nicaragua with Mombacho Volcano in the background.

The boats and the "pier" to get to them.

Yes, Raul and I are the only two on the boat wearing life jackets ( I was not a fan of the big waves and Raul is just safety conscious).

Andrea, Luis, Ira, Pedro, Montse and Cecy,

Our guide.

One of the island houses for sale.

One of four monkeys that live on a protected sanctuary island.

Isabel and Montse enjoying the water.

"Walking the plan" to get off the boat.