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On Tuesday we made our way from Managua to the Island of Ometepe. The island is formed by 2 extinct volcanos and is surrounded by the Lago de Nicaragua. The lake was originally joined to the sea but was closed off due to volcanic activity, resulting in sea fish being trapped in the lake. As a result the Lago de Nicaragua is one of the few places in the world which has freshwater sharks.
We arrived on the island and jumped on the last bus which runs around the island, luckily there was quite a group of gringo's on the bus so we teamed up and all decided to stay at the Finca Magdelena, this is an old coffee plantation which is is still in use to this day. The bus dropped us off in the dark and the driver informed us that we needed to walk up a very dark pathway for about 20 minutes... he forgot to mention that this was a very steep pathway so we were exhausted by the time we reached to top and very thankful that we had reached here at night whilst it was quite cool.
The aim of going to the
island was to do some horseriding but on the first night some guys we had met on the bus asked if we wanted to climb the Volcan Maderas. We thought this was a good idea until the morning when Kirstine flaked out in favour of a bike ride and Laura already committed, decided to continue.
Kirstine, Sarah and Hannah rented bikes and headed to Santa Domingo in search of the beach. The roads were very rocky and bumpy so it took quite a bit of time, especially when they realised that there were a lot of hills, Kirstine only had one peddle and the brakes didn't really work. Sarahs actually fell off her bike halfway down one hill. We finally made it to the beach and headed into the water to cool off. The sand was black and volcanic but fine and the lake was murky and choppy but warm and refreshing. After lunch we started the long and slow ride back to the hostel, stopping several times for essentials like chocolate Snickers to be specific), ice cream and new flip flops for Sarah.
Laura (or I as I will refer to myself) started the long hike up
The group we were in Ometepe with
Left to right- Sarah, Kirstine, Hannah, Sash, Alex, Vish, Laura, Brian, Stephanie the Volcano without Kirstine by my side. The group I was with included two English Dentists (Vish and Sash), a Crazy French Guy (Alex), an Aussie who would be one of our companions for the next few days (Brian) and The Swede (Stephanie). Thankfully I was not the only person who found this a very difficult and physically challenging hike. Alex was the first to drop, he actually looked terrible but between the group we managed to motivate him to keep going until the next lookout where our guide could aid the decision whether he should turn back. Our guide was fantastic, he has been climbing the volcano for around 2 years, sometimes up to 4 times a week, he was very patient and knowledgeable pointing out wildlife and sites of interest along the way. The climb up was 4hrs long, the terrain was very steep, muddy and wet in places and the weather was changeable depending on our height. After a 3hrs we reached the highest point on the volcano, amazed that I had made it this far and very very tired we started our descent into the crater.There is a freshwater lake that has formed in the crater
Mental Sarah
She can detect if a dog has rabies by looking at its ears which we were able to swim in and a couple of the guys did however my first and only priority was eating my lunch to provide me with the energy to get back down the volcano again. Descend we did, our guide thought that because of the very muddy and slippery conditions it would take us 3 hours to get back down but we did it a lot faster, with very wobbily muddy legs we returned to the hostel in one piece, very proud and very tired.
The next day we spent the day relaxing in hammocks so decided to stay an extra day and do some horseriding. We moved hostels and organised a 2 hour hack for the afternoon. At 2.30pm our horses turned up, 3 horses and a foal who was following his mum and learning the ropes. Unfortunately we had neglected to ask for a guide so they just expected us to take the horses and head out. As none of us are exactly experienced riders we didn't want the added responsibility of the foal so quickly arranged for the owners son to come with us on his bike. What we didn't know was that the
horses didn't really need a guide as we were just following the road alongside the lake. It was really nice though and once we got used to having a rope attached to a bit as reigns we managed a quick trot. It was lovely to see a different view of the Volcano Maderas as well as some more of the islands wildlife. Kirstine and Hannah's horses were a little lazy but thankfully my horse, with foal was happy to trot on ahead so that I could take some suitably amusing pictures of the others.
On returning to the hostel we showered and prepared for dinner only to find that the hammocks that we had prepared to sleep in for the evening were also taking a shower... looks like we will be sleeping in the rain tonight.
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Jane
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Happy birthday Kirstine!
Just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY K! Glad you are having such a lovely time, well done for keeping such a good blog. Missing you lots hun, there'll be a belated birthday present waiting for you when you get home! Jane xx