Moyogalpa and Omotepe island

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Moyogalpa on the island of Omotepe was a great place to base ourselves for a few days. Our transfer from Granada took us straight to the port so we didn't have the hassle of the taxi drivers in Rivas who apparently use a minefield of rip-off tactics that you have to negotiate. We paid $1 foreigner tax each to enter the port and then bought tickets for a ferry. Apparently you could just buy on board but we felt better with tickets in advance. Then we waited for the time to come when we could get on board. The wind was strong and the water looked pretty rough, but in the end it wasn't so bad and we had the most amazing views of both Omotepe's volcanoes as we made the one hour crossing. Russ regrets not getting his camera out as we never again saw them without some covering of cloud at their peaks.

We made the mistake of choosing Hotel Nicaraús Omotepe. Our mistake was not its location, slightly out of town, but trusting the pictures on Hotels.com. On arrival it's as though we were just a massive inconvenience to them which continued through two breakfasts and the knock on the door at 10am sharp to get us out on the day of departure. We were ready to go but that's not the point! Oh, and the swimming pool is about 2 foot deep with no warning signs not to jump, dive or swim - very dangerous indeed. It's not just that though. It seems that the owners are new and are currently renovating the whole place so it was like being on a building site with deconstructed wooden benches on the floor and air conditioning units all over the place as they were changing them in most rooms. Ours had clearly already been done. There is potential for this to be a great place but they need to learn about customer service and perhaps close for a few weeks while they get everything done. We ended up walking further out of town to Hospedaje Hefziba and really wished we had stayed there from the start. Although breakfast was not included, we had full access to kitchen facilities and the family managing the property were super friendly and helpful. It shows it can be done.

Omotepe is an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua and it consists of two volcanoes, a little bit of land around each of them, and a small spit of land connecting the two. Some people take excursions to climb one or other of the peaks, but those days are probably behind us now! We heard reports of almost everyone suffering at least one fall on every climb or descent. Instead we are happy observers and tend to look more for the wildlife than the adrenaline rush. We had intended on getting the bus down to Charco Verde but a private taxi turned out to be much cheaper than we had expected so we took that option rather than waiting in the sun and dust by the roadside. It cost $5 each to get into the park and there was a tatty but interesting butterfly park at the entrance. There were a few different butterflies to see but for us, it was the trails in the park that were to provide us with our real entertainment. The easy path takes you around the lagoon and we didn't see much there but once we reached the lakeside we were lucky enough to see a kingfisher amongst others that we have seen before. One path is "closed" but we were told that we could still use it. Essentially it is closed because they haven't cleared the piles of leaves and broken trees from it which made it tricky in places. It was a nice climb up to a vantage point where, if only they cut some of the trees back, you would be able to see both volcanoes and the mainland! We didn't see any monkeys or snakes, but friends who went a few days later did. We then had a refreshing drink at the nearby hotel before arranging with our driver to come and pick us up.

The day that we moved accommodation, we wandered down to the port and then along a track alongside the lake. It was very interesting to see the local life pretty much uninterrupted by tourism. The men at work were more interested in having their photos taken than being men at work, and we saw several women washing piles of clothes in the waters of the lake. The trail took us past some dense forest and we saw some amazing birdlife, especially the flock of white ibis. Our aim had been to get to a small lagoon along the coast but when we got there it turned out to be inaccessible private land now. That was a shame but at least it had given a purpose to our walk.

For our last day we rented a quad bike from Dinarte . They were superb both in explaining everything about the bike and delivering it to our hostal so we could begin our explorations from there. We highly recommend them. We did want to circumnavigate the island but we didn't quite have enough time. First of all we set out past Charco Verde and alongside the small spit of land that connects the two volcanoes. At the end of that we went down towards Balgue where we left the quad by the main road as the track we needed to go down looked a bit dodgy for an inexperienced rider! Our destination was The Chocolate Paradise of El Pital. With a name like that we were worried they were talking themselves up a bit, but it is fully justified. What an amazing location and what amazing chocolate. Hot chocolate in the heat seems a strange combination but we loved it. It's just a shame there were no tours on the day we visited but it was a great place just to sit, admire the view, and let your tastebuds go on the ride of their life!

From there we wanted to go clockwise around that side of the island but once the road gave way to a dirt track we decided against it and retraced our steps. Anticlockwise we made our way to and through the tiny town of Merida where the road once again became a dusty track. Our destination was The Jungle! Now, it's not a real jungle but it is a lovely place high above the road surrounded by a jungle of trees and huge plants. We were the only customers and it really was so good they deserve a lot more business. We had a freshly cooked vegetable curry which was delicious. All too soon we were on our way as time ticks by so quickly when you are not doing a lot and we had a deadline for returning the quad bike and another place to visit before it began to get dark.

Punta Jesús Maria is a spit of sand jutting out into the lake just a few kilometres south of Moyogalpa. It's a popular place for sunset but we were too early for that. Even so, the views were spectacular looking back towards the volcanoes as the width of the spit got narrower and narrower. We sat in the shade with a fresh coconut each admiring the view before heading back to return the quad bike. On the way we stopped on the runway of the currently disused airfield so Russ could get a picture of the control tower! It had been a tiring and exhilarating day.

Having visited other places on the island, we were pleased to have chosen Moyogalpa as our base. That meant we had a wide choice of bars and restaurants. The food was excellent and the beer was always very cold!

Travelling back to the mainland we took the 11am Che Guevara ferry which was great. It was slightly bigger and therefore presumably more stable than the one we had crossed on before. At the other end, the bus drivers refused to take anyone to Rivas. They wanted fares to Managua, clearly in league with the taxi drivers. We were surprised by the low price asked of us to go all the way to San Juan del Sur, so maybe things have changed. We travelled in relative comfort all the way!

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