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Published: July 29th 2009
Ometepe volcano and beach
One of the two volcanos that make up Ometepe island and the beachA giant frog looking up from the toilet bowl, several frogs on the ledge overhead watching you pee, the other stall full of moths and when you flush the toilet a mass swarm of 20 moths quickly flutter from under their hiding spots of the toilet bowl and scatter to the walls. That was our bathroom in La Cruz, Costa Rica where we met our other traveling companions. In the morning, we took a bus to Nicaragua where we are pretty sure we got conned out of money where we didn’t have to pay. The man working stamped half of us as leaving Nicaragua, when we told him we were entering, then he got so flustered at his mistakes, he just walked away from us.
Nicaragua is much more different than Costa Rica, you can tell many of the people are poorer here and live more in poverty than many of their neighbours. At the bus terminal, the stalls were crafted together old bits of wood, dilapidated structures they were selling snacks and sodas in. We went from the “nicer” charter-type buses in Costa Rica or mini buses (old vans) to retired US school buses in Nicaragua. The buses are
Mirador over La Cruz
Costa Rican hillside then painted up and decorated inside and out, covered in religious stickers, hanging lights that synchronize with the bus braking or the beats of the music. The chairs are still uncomfortable, overhead luggage racks are usually installed, and they still insist on cramming more people than the bus has capacity for.
The taxi drivers are more persistent and harassing here; they will gather around by the dozen and as you are stepping off the bus, they all holler at you “taxi? Taxi? Where you going?”. Or as you are walking down the street they will pull up beside you and ask, they don’t understand if we wanted a taxi we would stand and wave one down. They are much more desperate to get you a ride. There were also guys who attached carriages to the front of their bikes and were giving rides that way.
We went to a bank being guarded by an armed guard (as all the banks here have at least one armed guard at the door at all times) and while Step and I were inside exchanging traveler’s cheques, Steve and Helenka said they saw a one-legged homeless man get into a fight with
the armed guard who threatened to throw a cone at the man for harassing the tourists (Steve and Helenka). They were sitting in the middle of the guard with a cone in one hand and a homeless man ready to throw a rock back. Finally the man threw the rock at some bikes and hobbled off.
We then took a “lancha”, a smaller, worse version of a ferry boat, in rough seas to the island of Ometepe since the ferry engine was broke and being repaired. Ometepe is very touristy, but pretty island where two volcanoes emerged from the lake and are connected in between. We walked to a few beaches which were hyped up more than they are worth. They are pretty polluted and not very impressive anyway. Many people we talked to (and even Lonely Planet) went on about how wonderful and fairy-tale Ometepe is, how it is one of the World’s Greatest Wonders but we weren’t too impressed by it. It’s a nice place to visit for a few days but not something to rave about. The geographic island itself (the formation of it anyway) is definitely interesting, but the island as a whole, as a
place to visit, is definitely not a World Wonder (in my opinion) but go see it for yourself…
Although, to give it credit, we did hike up one of the volcanoes, the active Volcán Concepción that is 1600m but we were allowed to climb 1000m. It ended up being a six hour hike up and back again, very exhausting but well worth it. Our energetic guide, Luis, pointed out plants and their medicinal uses and a few birds we saw. We spotted a few troops of howler monkeys and ‘spoke’ with them, howling to them, causing them to hoot back at us. We also saw a white-faced capuchin in the trees. On the way up we stopped frequently to rest and at about 950m up we had a wonderful view of the island around us (luckily it was clear out!). On top of the volcano we had lunch and a quick rest, admiring the wonderful view and leaning over the cliff into the strong wind that held us up. Once we got to the bottom, we got to watch a herd of cattle walking down the road, approaching a few tourists sitting, causing them to get up and move
or get trampled.
Our last day in Ometepe was worth mentioning, we went to a small swimming hole, “Ojo de Agua” which cost $2 to go swim in clear beautiful pool of water from a volcano, filled with minerals and elements, but unlike what many think that the water will be warm from the volcano, it is actually very cool and refreshing.
We then went to Granada, Nicaragua the following day to look at the contrast of the bustling, crowded, and busy market street to the quiet historical street where many cathedrals and buildings were. Most people rode the bus which snaked it’s way squeezing between crowded vendors or they wove in and out of traffic on their bicycles. I usually hate major cities but in a place like Grenada, it’s very interesting to see so many people, so many vendors and just to watch life go by. Although crowded streets are more dangerous for pick-pockets, I prefer the atmosphere here. Leaving soon though, to Matagalpa. Until then,
^Út Í Óvissuna^
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