Ometepe

Still with Emma & Blake we jumped on the tiny ferry over to the island of Ometepe. Parking the van on the small deck was an exercise in complete trust as they directed me to within an inch of the walls, trucks and people! It was a short journey across to the amazing double volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua (the largest in Central America).

As we drove out of the small port town we ended up on the runway, with awesome views of the towering Volcano Concepción. Rather than tackling the 10 hour hike we headed to the more leisurely Ojos de Agua (Eyes of Water), where we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing around the glorious spring fed swimming holes. It cleared out when the last bus went passed at half 4 and we had the place to ourselves, along with a troop of capuchin monkeys (white face) and howler monkeys, for a very peaceful night.

In the morning we hiked the other side of the island up Volcano Maderas. It was a tough and muddy 6+ hour walk, and we weren't rewarded with the views of Concepción we were hoping for, but some more close encounters with monkeys made it worthwhile.

We were feeling justifiably lazy the next day and ended up back at the swimming hole as a respite from the 35+ C heat, and bumped into some people from our hike a few weeks earlier. That evening we had a few beers watching an incredible sunset followed by a pretty authentic Italian with Blake & Emma, before the heavens opened and we barely made it home without squashing any of the hundreds of large frogs that had covered the road.

In the morning we dropped our friends at the bus station back on the mainland to continue their journey south as we headed back to León, via the only Walmart on the country to get some much needed western treats.Read more