Life in the Laguna: Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua

For the past 35 days Apoyo Lodge & Camp in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve has been the place Gord and I have called home. To view some photos of Apoyo Lodge and area click here.

Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve consists of a volcanic crater lake and tropical forest that houses an unfathomable number of flora, fauna, bird, butterfly and animal species.

In the lake there are six species of fish that are only found here in the waters of the laguna. To catch a glimpse of what they look like check out our video below.

We moved to Laguan de Apoyo because our friend Shamus needed someone to take care of his place (and his pets) while he spent a month in Canada.  Life here has been very different from life in Granada.  For starters we are responsible for 3 dogs, 2 cats and 1 goat.

Since all of our food is purchased in Granada meal planning has to happen in advance, instead of one or two hours before we want to eat. When we lived in city we walked everywhere, but with the lodge sitting on the waters edge at the end of a road – that could be described as a trail – we need to drive everywhere. 

Prior to our move we thought we’d be bored in the laguna and to be honest we were a bit apprehensive about living in seclusion. To our pleasant surprise living at Apoyo Lodge has been much, much better than we could have imagined. 

Our kitchen, living room and dining room are open to the outside. We love going to sleep at night with all the doors and windows in our suite open.  Waking up to a view of the laguna and the calls of howler monkeys in the distance has been as great as it sounds. We’ve both enjoyed swimming in the lake and hanging out in the rancho.

We’ve also enjoyed the wide open spaces, especially when it comes to the kitchen. Experimenting with the wood oven has been great fun. Providing rides to local families and school children on our way out of the park has helped us feel, in some small way, part of the community.

“Living in the Laguna has been a memorable experience that has taught us a lot.”  

We’ve learned how to de-skunk a dog, what to do when a goat cracks its horn, who to call when the power goes down, how to safely remove ticks and how to care for a young parrot. We’ve also learned to live with many different and interesting critters of the Nicaraguan jungle.

Gord has learned where all the major bumps and obstacles are on the road and I’ve learned that I need to start using my macro lens more often.

When we visited Apoyo Lodge for the first time 5 months ago we never imagined we’d be taking care of the place one day. We are so glad that we were able to help our friends out and so very grateful for this time we’ve had experiencing life in the laguna.

To view more photos that capture Life in the Laguna click here.