Isla de Ometepe: Altagracia to Merida

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Waking up in a town that you arrived in at night is always a treat in the morning. It's like Christmas. What did we get?!? The total population of Isla Ometepe is 35,000 which isn't much since it is the biggest island in Nicaragua & has 2 very large volcanos on it. One on each end. It's really beautiful. All the pueblos on the island are very small.

At breakfast this morning we met Justin & Karen from Seattle! We're all heading to Merida this morning together. We caught the local schoolbus & began the 1.5 hour, only 12km distance, ride. The roads on the island are really the worst we've seen. Reminiscent of the road to Punta Allen, Mexico. Big rocks, big potholes, really bumpy, slow ride. (I just heard a donkey make his hee haw sound while typing, ha ha ha, too funny. That is mixed in with the nonstop roosters doodling, the birds chirping, the geckos calling, the ocassional dog barking & the nonstop Cicadas singing. Love it!). We arrived in Merida & it's tiny. Right on the lake super cute. We were met by Clara who told us all about a new little hostel that we had to stay in for $10 a night. Sold! It's called Rancho Merida & it's clearly set up on this familys property with chickens, goats, pigs, donkeys & our little hostel. Clean shared bathrooms, excellent!

The dueno (manager), Osbaldo, gave us the rundown on tours & hikes & we all decided to get some lunch & head out to see the waterfall. We ordered lunch at our hostel & waited for over an hour for the food. It was worth the wait though. Probably the best lunch we've had in a really really long time. Curry grilled chicken, gallo pinto, chicken tacos (more like taquitos) & the best salad we've had since home. Cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, bell pepper, cabbage & lettuce with homemade Italian style dressing. OMG! But because it took so long for lunch we decided to scrap the hike, it takes at least 4 hours & it's already after 2. It'll be very dark on the way back & that's a little scary. So, change of plans! Off to the dock next door to enjoy the lake & the sun. A little swim, a little sitting, a little chatting, a little reading. Lovely.

We then went on a walk through the village in search of rum. We checked out a couple of the little stores (still basically the front room of the persons house or porch) & were sent around the pueblo. We finally found one of the mini-supers that sold rum. Justin & Karen bought a couple mini-bottle of super lite rum (that's what it's called) & we headed back to the dock. This town is teeny tiny, a little farming community. Everyone seems very friendly & not bothered by the tourists at all.

Back to the dock for the sunset. J&K showed up with some juice in a bag. Our first! Everyone in Central America sells homemade juices that they serve to you in a plastic bag with a straw. Cheaper bottling process I guess. But it's our first & we're pretty excited! Apparently it is a pineapple/rice juice. A little thick & funky, but when mixed with rum, not bad. 😉 Pre-sunset we went & bought some coke & lime juice to properly enjoy the rum & the sunset. It was super windy on the lake this evening but another beautiful sunset over the mountains surrounding Granada & the mainland. Beautiful! Especially because from the dock we are looking straight at Volcan Concepcion (still active, last erupted in 1957, 1610 meters tall). There are "ruta de evacuacion" signs all over the island that point in a variety of directions so we're not really sure where to go if it decides to blow. I guess we'll follow the locals? Just too pretty.

After sunset we headed back to our hostel & enjoyed dinner at our little restaurant. Seriously incredible food. So fresh & everything is homemade. We had a whole fried fish & pesto pasta. Geoff & Justin wandered off at one point & returned with another bottle of rum. It's a party! We ended up spending the rest of the evening with a local guy, Yuri, who we shared our rum with him (after he brought us over a big bowl of ice, which is such a rare treat) & who told us all about the Island. He's also a diver & we spent some quality time talking about diving. I was asking him all kinds of questions about politics & the process they have to go through to travel to the US. All very interesting. It was fun. Of course, we were all ready for bed by 9:30. Apparently Justin & Karen are on our sleeping schedule. 😉 Before we headed off to bed we made a plan for an early morning departure to the waterfall & we ordered breakfast. The food is really good but made to order & definitely not fast. We are ready for tomorrow already!

On our way to our room one of the local guys saw us climbing on the bus parked next to our hostel & asked us (in Spanish) if we liked buses & trucks. Of course, we said yes! So he opened the truck up & told Geoff to get in & I took pictures. It was pretty funny. I think they were laughing at us a bit because we were a bit intoxicated. It was so cute though, do you like trucks? 😊

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Photos

The town of Altagracia.
Busy busy.

There are handpainted maps of Ometepe all over.
This one said it is the "biggest island in the world!" Not quite but it is really big.

Just another ordinary transport service...
That's what the side of the bus says.

This is the actual road for many many kilometers.
No wonder it was slow going & bouncy.

Walking through town.
To check things out & find rum.

Piggies all over town.
This one made a lot of funny snorting noises. He was loving that garbage.

Restaubrante!
The "b" is not required in the standard spelling. We walked by this daily & all had a good chuckle.

This was probably the 3rd pig that Geoff petted on our walk.
This guy practically called us over, he was making sooo much noise for such a little pig.

Our first juice bag.
It was good, after you got used to it (& after we added rum to it...). We got a juice with rice in it which was a bit different.

On the dock watching the sunset.
With Geoff, Karen & Justin.

We are not having any fun, obviously.
We've only shared 2 bottles of rum....

Geoff & his bus adventure..
He sat on top of it alone watching the stars for awhile. This is just a re-enactment.

Do you like trucks?
Do we! Let's take pictures!