Respiro is perched just opposite the Mombacho volcano and is beautifully designed and constructed. Our room had double doors open to the mountain view, with the lake and Granada off to the east. The European owners, Roman and Aimee, have a 50-acre hillside property with papaya, mango, bananas, chickens and ducks, bees, and 6000 teak trees they planted last year.
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| The log contains a hive of non-stinging bees |
Our room had a beautiful view of Mombacho. Every morning we woke to wind, birdsong, and the rasping roar of howler monkeys.
On the first full day there, we hiked to see some local coffee and cacao farms. Coffee and cacao do well in the same climate and one farm will grow both. Cacao can be harvested throughout the year, while coffee ripens just once a year during February-May.
Roman split open a cacao pod to show the beans and pulp that surrounds them. The pulp is tart and tasty but apparently isn't used for anything.
One farmhouse is owned by a Nicaraguan general who was given the property for his service in the war against the Contras. It's neatly manicured but he's seldom there.
Another house, with a worn-out tennis court, is a remnant of the "coffee boom" that went for decades into the 1940s. It's been abandoned for years, but the family owning it does a bit of maintenance to keep it standing.
Guanacaste trees are the giants of the forest and make beautiful furniture such as the 15-foot table we ate at.
On the following day, we toured the Mombacho volcano, which is thickly carpeted by the forest. It has four craters, one of which is still active. Fumaroles vent sulfur-scented steam; this wild begonia loves it.
A giant crack in the earth, called the Tunnel, separates two of the craters.
Mombacho tops out at around 4000 feet and offers a spectacular view of the lake, the islets where we stayed, Granada, and surrounding countryside.
Orchids can be seen all over the mountain.
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| "plano espanola" orchid |
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| "un dia" orchid lasts 24 hours |
Our guide showed us a sleepy two-toed sloth in a tree near the trail. There were a few howler monkeys too.
It's the highlight of one of the country's national parks and visitors are allowed to peer down at heaving lava in the crater at night. It was a primordial experience.
We rose at 6 a.m. the next morning for a drive to Montibelli, a private reserve that's a prime bird watching location.
We explored the forest for three hours and weren't disappointed.
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| The turquoise-billed mot-mot is the national bird |
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| This is not a just a broken branch, but the head and beak of the northern poutoo, a master of camouflage. |
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| hooded warbler |
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| collared aricari |
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| A howler monkey mom. They're usually hidden in the leaves or jumping from tree to tree. |
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| white-throated magpie-jay |
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| black-headed trogan |
Even more birds! On our last full day at Respiro, the casita below us was vacant so we sat on the porch there and watched birds come to a small pond.
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| rufous-naped wrens |
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| kiskadee |
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| scarlet tanager female |
We went into Granada for a massage ($30 for hour and a half) and visited the San Francisco Convent museum. The museum houses some large pre-Columbian statues found on Zapatero Island in the lake.
The last stop was the Granada cemetery to see some impressive statuary. There are some very wealthy families here that made it big in the heyday of coffee exporting.
It's hard to say goodbye to this idyllic retreat, but there's one more volcanic destination before heading home.
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