Eco-centric resort brings luxury to pacific jungle

BY LARRY BLEIBERG

The Dallas Morning News

RIVAS, Nicaragua - I woke to the same sound that had lulled me to sleep. The Pacific.

Even if I'd wanted to, it was impossible to silence it. My thatched suite, built with native woods and volcanic rock, didn't have a front wall. Just a screen facing west.

Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge manages the difficult balance of nature and luxury. It mixes native materials with contemporary design, making it feel a bit like Santa Fe in the jungle.

That its 15 bungalows are secluded on a 4,000-acre former Sandinista training ground only makes it more remarkable.

The hotel, a two-hour drive south of Granada, might not have been so isolated if history had turned out differently. The lodge is named for a distinctive rock that juts into the ocean. It was here that Alabama senator John Tyler Morgan proposed to build a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. Looking at a map, it still makes sense. Boat traffic could have climbed the San Juan River from the Atlantic and entered Lake Nicaragua. At the shortest point, it would have required a canal of just 20 miles to reach the Pacific.

But politics and a postage stamp did it in. U.S. congressional opponents pointed to a Nicaraguan stamp showing erupting volcanoes in the middle of the lake. The danger was obvious, they said. The canal went to Panama.

Now Morgan's Rock impresses guests with its eco-ethic. It's run by solar power and decorated with handmade furniture. Although located in the tropics, it doesn't have air-conditioning. That's not a problem in the breezy, ceiling-fan-equipped villas, but it's not the Four Seasons.

Guests can lounge at a pool or take nature excursions. I joined a group hike one morning. We drove past a troop of howler monkeys who obligingly whooped in our direction. Then we headed down a watershed, emerging at the hotel's farm, which provides some of the restaurant's food. And of course, there's the ocean.

Nicaragua has developed a reputation for surfing, and I was drawn to the water. Before dinner, I followed a path across a suspension bridge, skirted the hotel lodge and followed another path to the beach.

I strolled the empty crescent of sand, waded out to the water and was promptly slammed down by a rogue wave. Nature was much more gentle at the lodge.