Nicaragua’s proximity to the equator means that even though we visited in February, the temperature was . . . balmy. Well, to be fair, more than balmy. Who are we kidding? It was damn hot. And truly, that’s fine and part of the adventure, until it’s too hot to sleep well and every time your baby rolls toward you, you really just want to hide. Now, it was nothing like the heat we experienced in Madagascar, but nothing should be like that. Still, it was hot. So we were ever so grateful to head toward the coast to a place that came highly recommended to us: Morgan’s Rock.

We began the pleasant drive from Granada around 10 am, stopping here and there to take photos, to spend time gazing at Ometepe Island and the birds gathered along the edge of Lake Nicaragua, and generally relaxing and talking about what we’d already seen and done so far. It was a terrific start to what we hoped would be a relaxing portion of the journey.
Our driver took some time to show us a bit about Nicaragua’s history–pointing out statues like this one created to celebrate the gold rush–and its future as we saw many, MANY windmills along the coast of the lake.

 

Turning off the main route, however, we suddenly entered Jeff’s version of hell.

The asphalt road gave way to dirt and then to rock and then to straight out awful. We seriously considered turning around and I made a frantic call to figure out if there was a way to get us out without having to go back the way we came. There wasn’t. So Jeff sucked it up and we continued. For possibly the longest hour of our lives.

And it.was.worth.it.

Please know, if you are on the road leading to Morgan’s Rock and you think you want to give up and turn around, don’t. Because when you get there you will never want to leave.

Morgan’s Rock is actually a rock, but it’s really a complete experience packaged as an Eco Lodge. Our experiences with eco-anything have been mixed. There are a lot of different interpretations of what “eco” means, and the result is sometimes the toilet doesn’t really process the way you’d expect, sometimes you wonder how they have the gall to even use the word eco with a straight face. Morgan’s Rock seems to be a nice balance of the two extremes. They grow or source their food locally, they work to avoid light pollution, they’ve built within and around the local habitat, they teach their visitors about the local flora and fauna, and they have an ingenious approach to AC: it’s on the bed!

 

 

Winslow fell asleep immediately–it was a wonderful surprise and a welcome, refreshing place to regroup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food was great, much of it from their farm and the local area.

 

The views fabulous. The breeze from the ocean kept it cool enough you were able to enjoy everywhere you went.

Do wear long pants because there are bugs. Do bring a swimsuit so you can go in the pool and the ocean. And do plan to stay a few days so you can do everything they offer and really cherish your time in such a relaxing location.