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¡Buenas!
We spent five nights on the magical Isla de Ometepe - a fairy-tale island in the middle of the massive Lago de Nicaragua made up two volcanoes stuck together. There are some wonderful beaches dotted around it, which we discovered are probably best enjoyed in the dry season; right now the lake is higher so the beaches are small and the water is a bit muddy and churned up. So, instead of sunbathing we concentrated on climbing those two volcanoes!
We stayed in a lovely spot called Charco Verde from which we climbed the larger, active Volcan Concepcion with our friendly guide Luis. It's the steepest volcano in Central America (or something like that) and is covered in a dry-ish forest up to the cloud line then gravely volcanic scree all the way up to the crater. We were keen to go all the way to the top (about 10 hours) but the guides weren't taking people up because of various recent rumblings and poisonous gases spontaneously belching out of the ground etc. The views are apparently epic from the top when there is no cloud, but the chances of that are pretty slim at the moment... although we did get some pics of it one night with no cloud (see pics).
So anyway we climbed 2/3 up that one then headed to the other side of the island to stay at a lovely, yet rather cold and wet, place called Finca Magdelena. From there we climbed the very wet and muddy 7 hour hike to the top of dormant Volcan Maderas and back. Once at the top we made the steep climb down into the crater where there is a very spooky mist-covered lagoon full of weird plants and creatures. I had a quick dip but it was very cold and squelchy underfoot and there were lots of big newt-like things and tadpoles swimming between my legs, so that was enough to put me off actually going for a swim!
We might have stayed longer on Isla de Ometepe if the weather was a bit nicer, but alas it was all getting a bit cold and rainy so we headed to warmer shores on the Pacific coast at San Juan del Sur.
R&M
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