for an afternoon at Laguna de Apoyo a twenty minute drive away. Lots of activity in our house this week, with the new closet being built in the bedroom.. a saga in and of itself . See picture for unique Nica style delivery of woodwork. The carpenter was using the bedroom as his workshop which resulted of course in massive amounts of dust. As a result we have been sleeping in the sala for the past week on the blow up mattress, under the ceiling fans. Pretty comfortable.
Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake, formed by a massive volcanic explosion 23,000 years ago. It is the lowest point in Central America and the waters which contain sulphur, are said to have mysterious healing powers. At any rate the water is clean, perfect temperature and calming. 
The crater is surrounded by thick vegetation and has a rich habitat of birds and monkeys.
Fresh fish for lunch, Financial Times and Time magazine in hand thanks to Jacqueline (Ben’s mom) who sends her copies on to us in weekly installments. 
Refreshed and rested we headed back to the town of Masaya to pick up our hammock style chairs and hammock. Fatima, head of her family hammock business told us delightedly that our custom design had created a demand for five more of the same. We tell her our design recommendation – two colors per item, as opposed to five or six.
So what is the blue hammack for?
For the upstairs patio to replace the one that was stolen a long time ago.. there is such a nice breeze there in the late afternoon and its a great place for star gazing at night.