Ometepe, an island with two mountains

28.02.17-03.03.17

After two great weeks in San Juan del Sur, I need a little change. Melanie feels the same way and today we are going together for three days on Isla de Ometepe. The island is located in Lake Nicaragua, consists of two volcanoes, and is the largest volcanic island in the world in a lake. The Concepción volcano is the higher one, reaching approximately 1,600 meters, and is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. The Maderas volcano has a height of approximately 1,400 meters and has been extinct for a long time.

Alex, who is leaving for Granada today, and I pack our backpacks in the morning. Nobody in the house believes that I'm leaving today. It's a running joke because I have said several times that I need to move on and then stayed. But today, after breakfast, Alex and I leave for the bus, where we meet Mela. At 12:30 PM, we hop on the Chickenbus to Rivas, and luckily we still get seats on the amazing faux leather seats, which, if you're traveling in shorts, you swim on after a short time. Yes, it is very hot today. The bus gets fuller and fuller because school is just over and more and more school children are squeezing in. After about ten minutes of driving, I realize that I really need to go to the bathroom. That's awful, the ride will surely take another three quarters of an hour. Now it's time to stay calm. But it really doesn't make any progress. The first five kilometers or so, we go up the mountain from San Juan and with the estimated 20 horsepower the old American school bus has, we drive maybe 5 km/h. In addition, there are no regular bus stops, but it stops when someone wants to get off. It feels like it's happening every ten meters. My fidgeting is already getting on the girls' nerves, and I'm already considering just getting off and somehow catching up. But hey, with a lot of self-encouragement, I actually make it to Rivas and look for a bathroom there. When I come back, Alex has already disappeared on the bus to Granada and we couldn't say goodbye anymore.

Rivas is a completely untouristic, bustling place that consists entirely of a street market around the bus terminal. A lot of fresh vegetables and fruits are sold. I can't help but wonder who is going to eat all of this, as the local cuisine consists only of rice with beans, plantains, and a dry piece of meat. I won't find out this secret during my stay in Nicaragua. From Rivas, we have to go a little further to Sant Jorge, from where the ferry goes to Ometepe. An internet blog warned us not to let the taxi drivers talk us into taking a taxi because the next bus there only leaves in three hours. A group of backpackers gathers, who have probably read the same blog and definitely don't want to be ripped off. Locals tell us where the bus allegedly departs, namely not at the terminal but in the street right next to it. Hm, doesn't really look like it. We wait, but gradually a few others give up, take taxis, and only a small group remains, all Germans... The blog was in German. Coincidence?

After 20 minutes, the bus actually arrives and takes us directly to the ferry port. The blog also said that there is a boat and a ferry for the crossing and if you get easily seasick, you should take the ferry. We catch the boat and soon understand what was meant. I have never experienced a lake with so much turbulence. I didn't mention in my post about San Juan that it was always extremely windy. So it is here on Lake Nicaragua as well. Until we come into the wind and wave shadow of the island, it is quite rocking, but I like that. In addition, the boat is incredibly slow, and so it takes us almost an hour for the relatively short distance. Once we arrive at Ometepe, the usual resisting of taxi drivers and accommodation providers starts, but we already know where we want to stay and easily walk there. According to TripAdvisor, Hospedaje Central is the most popular backpacker accommodation and the only place where something is still going on in the evening. There we get a private room with a private bathroom for a total of 20 dollars per night. Really cheap and we instantly like the hostel.

On Ometepe, you can of course climb both volcanoes. I seriously consider attempting the higher one, Concepción. However, its summit was completely covered in clouds today. That would be really annoying, so I postpone the decision on whether I want to do it until tomorrow. We have two full days, so it would still be possible the day after tomorrow as well. Later we eat at the hostel, which has a bar and restaurant attached. I choose rice with vegetables. Super cheap and really delicious. Not a single bean has sneaked into the vegetables in the rice. Great! That's what I'm going to eat for the next few days. After dinner, we relax a bit on the couch, and Ben joins us, a German who Melanie knows from somewhere else, I don't know where exactly. He still has a small bottle of rum, we buy cola and drink together. Unfortunately, after a short conversation, it becomes clear that he is an idiot. While he speaks with the hostel manager in creepy English with a German accent, Melanie and I exchange gossiping WhatsApp messages. I know, it's mean, but we couldn't stand it otherwise. When we want to go through the town again later to see if there's anything going on somewhere else, we can't get rid of him and he comes along. The whole Moyogalpa is dead this Tuesday, but probably always, and the only place where something is still happening a bit is actually our hostel. On the way back, Melanie chats up three guys from the United States who are traveling through Nicaragua on motorcycles and are really funny. They also come to the bar of our hostel and we all chat and drink beer, rum, and tequila until half past three. Ben really gets on my nerves.

The next morning, we both feel good and have breakfast at the hostel. The upper part of the Concepción volcano is covered in clouds again, and I make the decision that I don't have to do it. That would be a six-hour ascent and then you just see nothing. No! While we're still eating, a guy with a bleeding and only loosely dressed head wound suddenly comes into the hostel but then leaves again. We will meet him later and hear his story. He started the ascent of Concepción at 7 a.m., then hit his head badly on a branch halfway up, and then the whole group had to go back down because you're not allowed to hike on the volcano without a guide. He was stitched up and everything was fine again. But really annoying for the rest of the group.

We want to take it easy today and rent two scooters, which are brought to us in front of the hostel. Melanie forgot her driver's license in Germany, and I want to go back to the room to get mine, but then I don't feel like going back in. Who's going to check us here anyway. The first few hundred meters are always a bit weird when you haven't been on a scooter for a long time, but then it's really fun. The weather is great, but it's very windy, especially on very open stretches of road. The great thing about the island is that there is hardly any traffic, no intersections, no traffic lights, you can basically drive straight through. Today we want to go to the part of the island with the Maderas volcano. You can climb it halfway and get to a waterfall. The US guys from yesterday have already done that, and while the waterfall currently doesn't have much water, it's still really great. Suddenly a police checkpoint. We are stopped and we don't have our driver's licenses with us. The whole thing is supposed to cost 500 Cordoba per person in fines, and they want to confiscate our scooters and take them to the police station. Whaaat??? Well, we can already dissuade the two policemen from that, but if we pay 1000 Cordoba, we won't have any money left. After a bit of flirting and jingling, we only pay 500 Cordoba and are allowed to continue. Of course, this whole thing took some time, and I quickly calculate how long it would take if we drive to the waterfall. We wouldn't make it back to return the scooters at 6 p.m., so we decide to just continue to Playa Santo Domingo and relax there.

The beach as well as the lake are really wild, and it's very windy here too. Except for us, there might be four other people on the approximately three-kilometer-long beach. But we see horses freely roaming and grazing on the beach, as well as many vultures. During our walk on the beach, we see the fresh and still completely untouched carcass of a heron. When we go back, we see a flock of vultures feasting on the carcass, and there's hardly anything left. Natural recycling, so to speak.

As the sun is already getting lower, we start making our way back. Shortly before Moyogalpa, we make a detour to the lake. A volunteer from our hostel gave us the tip to watch the sunset at Punta Jesus Maria. We meet him there, and he didn't promise too much, the sunset is really something special here. A small strip of land, or rather sand, made of black sand runs sharply into the lake here, and the sun sets exactly at its end. After that, we quickly return to the town so that we don't have to drive in the dark and can return the scooters on time. For dinner, we order the delicious rice again and go to bed early today. We have been avoiding Ben all day.

The next morning, we are naturally awake earlier, have breakfast, and then only rent one scooter for both of us. It's cheaper and more communicative because we can chat during the ride. Today, the time is right, and we want to hike to the waterfall. We start at 10:30 a.m. towards the Maderas volcano. I drive, Melanie sits behind me, and it works wonderfully. The hostel had already told us that the last ten kilometers are unpaved roads. When it starts, we first think, well, it's okay, but it gets worse. Sometimes, especially when going downhill, the road is so washed out that Melanie has to get off and I have to cross it like in motocross. It's adventurous at times, but really fun. Perfect for the noon heat around 12:30 p.m., we reach the entrance of the trail and start the ascent. The goal of the trail, the waterfall, is located at about 600 meters above sea level. The path starts directly steep but wide, and the views down to the lake are breathtaking. After approximately half of the way, it becomes narrow and overgrown. Then a section goes through the dry and rocky riverbed. The path is strenuous but beautiful, just to my taste, and I think of the hiking trails in Tyrol.

So, the waterfall could come soon. After each bend, you hope for the refreshing destination because it is really sweaty. I haven't seen Melanie behind me for quite some time now as we both walk at our own pace. And then I finally arrive. The ascent only took an hour and a half, which is really not much, but it is steep, and it is really hot. I'm glad that I decided against the 1,600-meter one. The waterfall really doesn't have much water, it runs more down the steep rock face than falls. However, the spot is still beautiful, there are only four other people there, and you can refresh yourself wonderfully in the small natural pool at the foot of the waterfall. Melanie arrives too, and we splash around, take a break, and chat for an hour before we start the descent. I hop off again, from one rock to another, and Melanie asks me how I come down the mountain so quickly. Maybe I was a chamois in a previous life.

Once we arrive at the bottom, I prepare for the dirt road return journey. Some passages were already tough with a scooter. I manage them all, and we're glad that we made it in one piece. Since we are totally hungry and pass by a chicken BBQ around the corner from our hostel, where it smells deliciously, we go there to eat at 5 p.m. and have the vegetable rice again at the hostel at 8 p.m. But hey, we did quite a lot today.

The next morning, we return to San Juan for five days. Isla de Ometepe is really beautiful, and we really liked it. It is very relaxed, there are actually only a few backpackers around, and there are hardly any tourist shops. The only thing that is annoying here, as it was in San Juan, is the constant, sometimes quite strong wind. Otherwise, everything is great.