Ometepe

Hello!

On the day after the volcano hike (12.04.24) there was nothing going on, I treated myself to a big pizza and relaxed in the hammock for a while.

On 13.04.24, it was another travel day, and this time to the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. The bus to the port was in no hurry, I waited for a solid 1.5 hours on the bus because the bus driver didn't want to leave with half the capacity. Just before the city, we were practically kicked out and told to get on another bus that went directly to the ferry instead of just to the town with the port. So, okay, another 15 minutes on the other bus and then we were at the port. There, I had to pay 1€ to enter the port as a tourist?! What nonsense... but only about 1.25€ for the one-hour ferry ride. I was surprised to find such high waves on a lake, but it was a fun crossing.

Ometepe is a nearly 40-50km long and up to 10km wide island, but the special thing about the island are the volcanoes. The shape of the island resembles an 8, and there is a volcano in each 'circle.' The inactive volcano Maderas, with a height of ~1300m, has a crater lake. The Concepción volcano, at almost 1600m, is still active.

The main port on Ometepe is located in Moyogalpa, where I spent the first 2 nights. I had a very cool hostel with an incredible view of both volcanoes and the lake.

On 14.04.24, I rented a bike to ride around the Concepción volcano, about 45km. However, the evening before, the couple I had last chatted with in Léon arrived. Since they are cycling through Central America, they decided to accompany me for a bit and then cycle to their next accommodation halfway. The ride was fun, but finding food was harder than expected since it was Sunday. Around 2:00 PM, we finally found a comedor that was becoming more and more suspicious, but okay. The food was also twice as expensive as in all other comedores, but they didn't negotiate, so we were glad to be back on the bike. We said goodbye, and I continued cycling around the volcano. Around 4:30 PM, I arrived at a beach famous for its sunset. So, I treated myself to a beer and waited for the sunset. It was indeed very beautiful.

On 15.04.24, I headed to the next town, Santa Cruz. It is located approximately in the middle of the island and has a beautiful beach. I took a walk to a food truck that offers falafel pita. It was very good to be able to eat something similar to kebab after such a long time😋 On the way back, I made a stop at a cafe that had delicious cinnamon buns.

The next morning (16.04.24), I packed my things again and decided to walk to the next town. Balgüe is only 5km away, and buses here are very irregular, but I knew I had time, so I had a coffee at the cafe from the day before. Unfortunately, the cinnamon buns were not ready yet... A few minutes later, I met a couple from France with whom I had hiked in Guatemala at Lake Atitlán. It's always fascinating when you meet someone somewhere again after such a long time. We chatted a bit, and maybe we'll see each other again in Colombia, as we will both be there in June. Then, unfortunately, I continued without a break, which resulted in a good sweat. Oh well. I arrived at Finca Magdalena around noon and checked into my private room for 4€ per night (probably a mistake by the reception, but I kept quiet; I should have slept in a 10-bed dormitory😁). The finca itself is huge and is located on the slope of the Maderas volcano, where cocoa, coffee, bananas, and much more are grown. A beautiful place.

On 17.04.24, I had made plans to climb the Maderas volcano with the two cyclists. They arrived here at 09:15 (they still had to take the bus around the volcano), and we set off. It is a 5km hike and 1000m uphill to the viewpoint. It was sweaty. And the higher we got, the more jungle-like it became, the path became muddier and narrower. It was more like a muddy climbing trip, but it was fun. The crater was also beautiful to look at, potentially you can descend the 100m and swim in the crater lake. But since it is currently the dry season, it more resembles a pond. Since it was easier for the two of them to catch the bus, we decided to take a different descent to Santa Cruz instead of going back to the finca. Why did I decide to take this +7km detour? Good question. At least I could get the cinnamon buns again (although I suspect they sent me to the toilet several times that night). Then I wanted to hitchhike, but no car passed by, only scooters, which I didn't want to get on. So, I enjoyed a nice walk in the afternoon sun... When I fell asleep in the hammock around 9:00 PM, I went to bed.

Today, I don't feel particularly fit, the hike was more strenuous than I thought, and then there was the constant waking up at night. But well, I had nothing planned, so I spent the whole day being lazy and planning my trip a bit further.

During the rainy season, there is a ferry from Ometepe to San Carlos (where I want to go next), but currently, it's not running. So now I have to cruise around the entire lake in chicken buses, yay. But I think it will be worth it, not for San Carlos but for El Castillo, a place on the Rio San Juan where hopefully the jungle begins😋 I'm very excited.