Two days hike around Laguna de Apoyo

Laguna de Apoyo as seen from the Catarina mirador. Photo by Sandra Wallace.

Story by Xaver Schenk, a student of Apoyo Spanish School.

Some people would wonder why I would do a two days hike around the lake which would also be possible to manage in one day. I actually did the hike in one day, two weeks ago with a friendly American I met here. It took us 8 hours to get around the lake and we literally marched through the forest. So there wasn’t any time to really take a close look at the fantastic nature of this forest. That’s why I decided to do it again in two days which has given me the possibility to really enjoy all its facilities.

Simba and Xaver. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

I started right after dinner with my fully packed backpack and Simba, one of the dogs of the station who is tied up too much of his day, so he would love to have a little trip to the forest. So I headed north east on the road, passed a cute little church and several houses. I think I went a little early to the shore because when I continued I had to cross several

Laguna de Apoyo hiking. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

properties which is actually no problem but with Simba I had a lot of fun with the guarding dogs of those properties. We had to make our way over several barbed wire fences but Simba seemed to know the parts where there were holes in it so that it was no big problem. As I continued I passed some ruins of stone terraces. Walking on I, recognized the forest getting cleaner and it was really good to feel the absence of human beings. That’s where I started to see toucans and other tropical birds.

I recognized that I might have a little too much stuff in my backpack because I was sweating and my legs felt kind of weird. At midday I looked for a good place for me to have lunch. I probably should have looked a little better. Because when I took off my shoes and started to get ready for lunch I recognized hundreds of small ants raping my food, so I had to look for another place which was actually pretty easy.

Wild areas along the shore of Lake Apoyo. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

Around four o'clock, I came to a place where the beach was broad enough to build up a tent and it actually was a really beautiful place. So, I decided to set up my camp and try to get a few fishes out of the lake for dinner. I tried to catch some cichlids with what they here call “pescado falso” a plastic fish with hooks. I saw a local the other day catching a lot of fishes with one of those but I had no luck this day.

Photo by Xaver Schenk.

But actually I really enjoyed fishing with my improvised fishing root which was a plastic bottle I wrapped the fishing line on. I was glad that I had some rice with beans in my backpack so I wouldn’t had to go to bed hungry. After dinner I lit a fire and played some songs on my blues harp and just enjoyed being in nature.

Laguna de Apoyo at night. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

Simba guards the tent at Laguna de Apoyo. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

I had Simba tied to my tent and he woke me up once or twice just to show me a rabbit or a goody he had spotted. I went in at dusk and had a nice swim in the lake which is at this time totally calm. After eating some more rice and beans I went back on the track. Now the forest changed because huge rocks from a prehistoric eruption where all over the place. A lot of geckos where hiding beneath the rocks when Simba and I climbed over the rocks.

Gonatodes albogularis in Laguna de Apoyo. Photo by Xaver Schenk.

It was actually pretty hard to get over those rocks with my backpack but it was actually worth it because when I sat down for a break on one of those rocks some howler monkeys started a party over my head shouting at each other. When I finally hit the road one of my shoes lost its soles and I arrived kind of funny walking at the station and fell into a hammock. It really was a great hike. I would recommend it to everyone who is looking for some outdoor trip in Nicaragua.

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