Story and photos by Bridget O´Brian
Hidden beneath the surface of a small lake in Northern Nicaragua lives a king. His underwater kingdom may not be huge, but it boasts beautiful gardens and a wide range of fruit trees. Once a year, the king rises to the surface with seven fair maidens and leaves a branch of flowers floating in the middle of the lake to prove to us land-dwellers he exists.
Ask a local about the Laguna de Miraflor and that’s the story you’ll probably get first. Other legends about the lake involve a giant serpent, underwater passageways to the nearby Laguna de Lodo, and possible volcanic activity.
The Laguna de Miraflor (whose name translates to “flower view”) is part of the 206-square-kilometer Miraflor Reserve and is not nearly as impressive as the rest of what the reserve has to offer.
