Street scene in Catarina
What is the attraction to Catarina? For me, it is a nice sized village where I can readily immerse myself in Nicaraguan rural culture. Walking down a street, one might see a pick up truck, a golf-cart sized 2-4 seater, a horse- or ox-drawn cart, a rider on horseback or bicycle, or (mostly) people on foot.
There are a number of small food stores and bakeries, fruit stands, souvenir shops, garden shops, and furniture makers. There are several churches, including a large Catholic church at the town center, adjacent to the town square.
One of many plant nurseries in Catarina.
A Catarina furniture maker shows off his rocking chair. We managed to get one of these (in pieces) checked through on our return flight, although we had to do some fast talking since the package still exceeded airline limits.
This photo from the furniture maker's house gives the term "free range poultry" a whole new meaning.
I spotted this pair of monkeys on an afternoon walk on the trail down towards Laguna de Apoyo.
A stroll up hill from the town square takes you to the Mirador, the overlook to Laguna de Apoyo. Parkland skirts the overlook for quite some distance, making for an enjoyable hike. If you are a bit more adventurous, you can head down a path that slowly descends towards the lake. A variety of butterflies and flowers can be spotted. If you timing is right, you can both see and hear the howler monkeys. While it is possible to hike all the way down to the lake, I have never done so. A road snakes down there (about a half hour drive). There is an upscale resort on the shore, but for a fairly affordable daily use fee, you can have access to their beach and the pristine lake water.
A ten to fifteen minute walk from Catarina takes you to the village of San Juan de Oriente. For reasons not clear to me, most of the best pottery makers in Nicaragua live here. You can browse shop after shop of very beautiful and very affordable pottery. Often, the shop owners are happy to take you back to their workshop so you can see how and where their pottery is made. These pottery makers attract the attention not only of Nicaraguans, but also of stores and distributors in the international market place.
Marshall
The work area behind one of many pottery shops in San Juan de Oriente.
One of the many pieces of pottery we bought in San Juan de Oriente.
