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A fairytale land created when two volcanoes rose out of Largo de Nicaragua and joined together to form the world's largest freshwater island, that is how Isla de Ometepe had been described to me by countless people and books. Jodie, Liann and I had to check it out.
The perfect cone shape of Volcan Conception grew closer and more dominant on the landscape during the scenic four hour ferry from Granada across Largo de Nicaragua to Ometepe. We arrived at Altagracia (Ometepe's second largest town) at night fall to a crimson sunset with a volcanic back drop. A local on the ferry had been trying to sell us on his hotel, Hotel Kencho but we had heared mixed reviews. He assured us that now under new ownership it was much nicer and a room for the three of us would only cost $10 plus he would give us a free lift into town saving us an overpriced 2Km taxi fare. Bargain. To be fair to him that room was fine, basic but clean and with a private bathroom and as we were only staying one night it suited us just fine.
We were only able to stay on the island for three nights so as to not eat any further into our Costa Rica time. This only gave us one full day there. Having climbed a smaller volcano in Leon we decided against the 8 hour hike in scorching heat and knee deep mud to scale Comception and instead decided to just travel around and stay in a different town each night. The local bus from Altagracia to Sant Cruz passed Ojo de Agua, a slightly less natural than I had hoped swimming hole. The two manmade 'lagoons' are supplied with crystal clear fresh water from the top of Ometepe's smaller volcano, Volcan Madera. We stayed here for a few hours chilling in the pools and escaping the midday heat before catching the next bus to Santa Cruz to visit a hostel/organic farm/yoga retreat/hippie hide-away called El Zopilote.
El Zopilote is set in the jungle against the steep side of Volcan Madera and a good 15 minute hike from the main road where the bus dropped us. With our heavy backpacks and the humid jungle air we were very tired and very hot by the time we reached reception and our bottles of water had long run dry. Much to our relief all the water on site is purified so any tap provided drinking water and we had arrived on stone baked pizza night! That night we sat down to a beautifully made pizza all made by volunteer staff who had been on the farm for some time and got talking to some girls who were just staying the one night like us.
After a less than perfect night's sleep in the jungle interrupted by bugs, bees, birds and the now familiar sound of howler monkeys at dawn, I decided to skip the morning yoga session in favour of exploring the expansive farm and some hammock time. I can't even touch my toes, there's no chance I'm doing yoga.
The Mirador (lookout tower) had an amazing 360 degree view of the island with Conception's summit now shrouded in cloud. Following the map and intrigued by the 'Japanese shower' I wondered around. A Japanese Shower (for those that are interested) appears to be just like any other shower except open air and communal. No thanks!
Running low on time and wanting to catch the first ferry in the morning we headed off to Moyogalpa (the largest town) via Santa Cruz's beach. Largo de Nicaragua is so large it is easy to mistake it for the sea and the black sand of Ometepe feels almost unbearably hot under foot but it was nice to cool off without getting salty.
Hotel Central in Moyogalapa was a quirky little hostel where animals from the 'rescue centre' next door roamed free around the large open air common area. We decided to take advantage of their slightly unusual kitchen arrangement. Basically your buy the supplies and then ask an old French lady to cook for you, strange!
Again the time had come to say goodbye to another friend. Liann and I had a big day of travel ahead so needed to leave early where as Jodie was able to sleep in and catch a latter ferry. So with a blurry 5 am farewell we left Jodie and Ometepe behind and headed off to our next stop, Isla de Maize (The Corn Islands)
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