The Peace and The Trauma

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Isla de Ometepe is a beautiful, tranquil island. We stayed in Hospedaje Buena Vista in the tiny village of Santo Domingo. The guesthouse sat right on the waters edge, where weeks could be passed swaying in hammocks watching the sun go down. The village of Santo Domingo consisted of one dirt road upon which sat about 4 guesthouses, a school, a tiny tienda (shop) and one restaurant. Either side of the village lay miles and miles of green fields full of horses, cattle, pigs and poultry. Needless to say our 5 days on the island were 5 of the most peaceful days we´ve had in our lives.
One beautiful morning we made our way along the dirt road to a natural swimming spot that the locals had been frequenting for decades. As we were walking along a local suggested a short cut for us. With the sun beaming down and with us being the lazy lumps that we are, we were grateful for the tip, so off we set down a small dirt path. What the local had neglected to tell us was that the dirt path soons turns to a mud path, and then to a swamp. It quickly became increasingly difficult to walk the path in our flip flops and every step was a struggle. Eventually my foot got stuck in the mud and images of sinking in quick sand instantly sprung to mind. Even in Ireland I have always had a riduculous fear of sinking in quick sand. I don´t even know if such a thing exists or if it was something my mother told me just to keep me away from ditches. I still get a lump in my throat when I remember the poor horse in The Neverending Story who lost his innocent life after sinking into a swamp. I was too young when I watched that film and I think it has scarred me for life.
Anyway, I have gone a little off the point there. As I was saying, my foot became stuck in the mud and in my desperation I summoned all my strength (which didn´t take much summoning!) and kicked myself free. My delight soon turned to despair when I realised that I had broken my flip flop in the process. Clare once again took great enjoyment out of my misfortune. I am beginning to wonder if she actually loves me.
We eventually reached the swimming hole. While the "shortcut" was technically a shorter distance, it probably added about twenty minutes to our journey. We had so much mud on us that when we jumped into the water, the colour changed from torquoise to a musty brown colour.
On our last night on the island we sat in the hammocks over looking the lake. We were treated to the most incredible thunder storm that we have ever seen. For 4 straight hours the sky was brightened by constant flashes of lightning and the almost deafening sound of thunder. Midway through the storm I wandered back the room for a toilet break. As I entered the room I left the main light off and continued to the bathroom where I turned on the light. It took about 2 seconds before the light actually came on and when it did, did I get a surprise or what. On the wall, no more than 6 inches from my face lay a 2 inch scorpion. I was quite fortunate that my scream coincided with a boom of thunder as I am sure it would have been heard on the mainland.
When I composed myself, the warm sensation running down my legs informed me that I no longer needed the bathroom, maybe just a shower. I looked at the scorpion and decided to do what most men would do....I ran out to Clare roaring and bawling about the scorpion and asked to to get rid of it. Surprisingly Clare was not up to getting rid of it either, she can be such a coward sometimes!!
In the end we had to get the owner of the guesthouse to remove the creature, although his manner of removal was to squash the scorpion to a pulp against the wall and then remove it bit by bit. Nevertheless we were grateful for his help.
That night we slept for a combined 20 minutes.

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Photos

One for the girls
Girls, if this photo does it for you, you are in a bad way!!!!!