When my husband's work as a coffee trader brought us to live in Granada, Nicaragua for seven months, I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a wildly inspiring, quasi-magical realist town on the banks of a massive lake that's dotted with 365 islands filled with monkeys and parrots. The houses and churches (there was one every few blocks) are the colors of fruit sorbets, and there are as many bicycles and horse-drawn carriages in the streets as there are cars. It was such a stimulating setting that I completed the first draft of my novel, The Ladies of Managua, while living there. The book also gave me the perfect excuse to travel the country for research. Below are some of my favorite spots, along with a recommendation of where to stay there. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you'd rather watch baby sea turtles hatching, swim in the Pacific, or "surf" down mountains of volcanic ash, you can do that, too. Head for Nicaragua and make your own list of favorites.

The archipelago of Solentiname in Lake Cocibolca has no cars and isn't wired for electricity, but it's chock full of artists, pre-Colombian petroglyphs, and exotic birds from parrots to peacocks.
We stayed at Hotel Mancarron, which has an impressive collection of the balsa wood sculpture crafted on the island.

Solentiname
 

Ometepe, an island formed by two volcanoes linked by hardened lava flow, is paradise for hikers. But you can also kayak, horseback ride, and swim in the natural spring El Ojo del Agua. Villas Paraiso has a great in-house restaurant and private cabins overlooking the water.

Ometepe
 

Off Nicaragua's less-traveled Caribbean coast, Corn Island and Little Corn Island have miles of white sand beaches and a handful of places to stay, ranging from the more casual beachfront Paraiso Beach Hotel to Little Corn's more luxurious Yemaya. 

In Lake Cocibolca, off the coast of the lovely colonial city of Granada, Jicaro Eco-Lodge is a private island resort committed to sustainability and beloved for its yoga classes and excellent kitchen.

Lake Cocibolca

A writer with an ongoing fascination with folklore, Eleni Gage is the author of the travel memoir North of Ithaka, which describes her experience living in Lia, the small Greek village where her father was born, and her first novel Other Waters, about an Indian-American psychiatrist who thinks that her family has been cursed. It was only after having finished both manuscripts that Eleni realized the pomegranate–a folkloric symbol of abundance–plays a significant role in each book, which is why she chose to incorporate the symbol into this site. Her latest book, The Ladies of Managua, is lacking in pomegranates; if it had a symbol, it would be the fuchsia Nicaraguan dragonfruit known as the pitaya. Read more about it here:
http://www.elenigage.com/books/the-ladies-of-managua/

and our interview here: The Ladies of Managua

All photos courtesy and copyright Eleni Gage