Isla de Ometepe. Volcanic beauty on lake Nicaragua. NICARAGUA.

Top tips for Isla de Ometepi

• A good hostel with good vibe is Little Morgans in Santa Cruz, near Maderas Volcano, the prettier part of the island. Try the drinking challenge there if you dare. Rooms are simple but it is right on the lake and within really nice grounds. 
• There are plenty of other options of hostel around within a short 10-15 walk.
• The ferry to get there is very cheap, $2 at time of writing (July 13). It takes around an hour. 
• Taxis are fairly expensive, we paid $5 each to get from the port to the hostel.
• There is only 2 cashpoints in the main towns on the island, far from Little Morgans, so make sure you have enough cash or you will have to get a taxi.
• Rent a motorbike, $30 for the day, but be sure to carry your licence as police pulled us over, but with a small bribe we were off. 
• Visit the waterfall, climb at least one of the volcanoes, each are the same amount of walking. We climbed Maderas but we heard Conception is better. The guide Alexis from Little Morgans hostel is excellent.
• Visit the local mineral water pool, it{s in a fantastic setting and a nice day to relax, but only if it is sunny.

Isla de Ometepi

Isla de Ometepi is stunning with two volcanoes creating the island, almost like two boobs propping themselves out of the water (sorry mom), one is active and one has been in active for thousands of years. 

And after our pool crawl in San Juan del Sur it was time to move on to do some proper sight seeing. We had met a really nice French couple Quentin and Louise so decided to share a taxi to the local port so that we could catch the local ferry to island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua.

Arriving at the port we were welcomed by a tourist guide, who by South and Central American standards was very helpful, advising us which ferry to catch and what time and where to go, without asking for the usual tip. So we head onto the ferry, which looks like it is about to sink with it having a slight lean to the left with the side just about perching over the water level.

Chilling with a slight lean to the left

The engine starts and off we head closer to the magical volcanoes. The lake itself is huge and it took around an hour to get there. As we head into the port the wind gets heavier and the boat starts to sway from side to side with a few of the locals starting to panic. We make it to land and off we go to our hostel.

The hostel is set in glorious surroundings, right on the lake and perched between the cleavage of the two volcanoes. Butterflies by the thousands roam the gardens whilst the pet pig, two dogs and cat keep everyone company. We check in and relax for the evening in the lively bar whilst we plan our next days activities.

The view from Little Morgans hostel

Pet pig sitting under instruction!

Just one of the many butterflies

Motorbikes and waterfalls!

We decide to hire motorbikes for the day, to explore a waterfall near Maderas volcano and to bomb about the island. Our bikes, 250cc dirt bikes perfect for the dirt tracks we would hit. Me and Jo on one and Quentin and Louise on the other. Off we go adorning our helmets made of paper. It takes us around an hour of rough and muddy roads to get to the bottom of the waterfalls, having never ridden in these conditions there were a few near spills with the occasional yelp from Jo on the back. Nonetheless we made it safe and sound with a half hour walk to go to get to the fall.

We hike and the further we go the more we sweat, but as we arrive at the top we{re rewarded with the sight of the fall, not quite as big as we had expected but still perfect to cool down in and have a wash! After half an hour of messing about we head back down and head off to the local town of Alta Gracia for some lunch. 

On our way we are all pulled over by a local copper who immediately demands that we provide our licence and bike registration details. Being a typical gringo we assumed these were not necessary so didn't have them with us, I kindly explain in my broken Spanish and as I do he removes the key from my bike. I say to him i have them at the hostel, give me the key back and I will nip down and get them, no he says indicating that I must walk as I will not be allowed to take the bike. Five minutes of arguing later and Quentin is allowed to take me on the back of his bike, as we start to head off i get a tap on the shoulder and I´m informed that for a small contribution of $1 we would be allowed to continue. A hand over of cash and hand shake and we are off! 

The beast

A bit of offroading

The trek up to the falls

We made it

Time to cool down!

The full fall

Natural Mineral poo

Our reward for a hard days biking and bribing coppers was a visit to the local natural mineral water pool, which on entry the local explained that just by swimming in the water it would add another ten years to your life and if you had any back pain it would disappear. 

Anyway we hop in the glorious water and immediately start to feel better, and even possibly younger! Here are some pics!

On our way home we come across some more wildlife causing havoc....

Volcano trek with a slight hangover

The alarm goes off at 6am and i turn to Jo and say I will not be doing the trek today, a slight hangover and laziness is the reason, Jo turns to say don't go then its OK dont worry in the sweetest voice. Reverse psychology at its best and I{m out of bed and ready to trek up the Maderas Volcano, a 8 hour hike all round.

We start off in green farmlands through many different types of fruit trees, helping ourselves to fruits that have dropped to the ground. It{s hot and humid but it has started to drizzle a bit which helps with keeping cool and keeps the sweat at bay. After an hour or so we start to hit the slope of the volcano where the landscape changes into dense mountain jungle, with howls and screeches coming from every side. The wetter it gets the ´more slippy and more dangerous as we climb for another 3 hours straight up. 

We get to the top and it is a bit of an anticlimax as the clouds sit directly on the level where the lake is at the top, meaning you have a very limited view of the lake and absolutely no view of surrounding island. We should have been expecting this as the whole time we were on the island both volcanoes, even in blue skies, had clouds encircling them. We have our lunch as we shiver in the cold and start to make the even slippier way back down. As we head down the sun really starts to come out and we stop off at another viewpoint where the views of the island and the other volcano Conception are majestic.

Hiking through banana and mango trees

Mango tree

Heading to the slope of the volcano

Our excellent guide Alexis, who does this trek 5 times a week!

Crab

Sweating as we climb the muddy tracks

The lake at the top, not the greatest view thanks to the fog

Having lunch at the top.

As we come down the clouds disappear, view of Conception volcano in back.

Howler monkey roaming the trees.

We arrive back at the hostel knackered and ready for a beer, but before we do we jump in the lake to wash our muddy clothes and shoes and watch the glorious sunset!

We head to the bar and the next day it is time to leave and head to Granada in Nicaragua

A tarantukla found making its way through the bar

Boat ride back from the island