Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 6

Today we bid a fond farewell to Sr. Carlos and El Encanto. For the past few days we had been the only guests; upon our departure he had an appointment in Moyogalpa, so he drove us back there, no charge. (I insisted on paying him a tip, which he accepted on my third try.) On the way we talked politics, Nicaraguan and otherwise. Carlos pointed out that if Ortega were to lose his bid for re-election, which no one expects, government officials all the way down to elementary school principals would be replaced, causing great turmoil. Plus, the outgoing pols would steal as much as they could, followed by new thefts from the incoming pols, to the general detriment. So continuity of party in power is cheaper. From where Carlos let us off, we walked a ... read more

Sr. Carlos, the owner of El Encanto, is a polymath. He's come a long way from the farmboy in El Salvador. He moved to Vancouver BC, worked as a chef and carpenter -- there's an unusual combination that he would later combine to build a hospedaje. Then he learned programming, systems engineering, and graphic design. Moving to Washington state, he worked as a technical translator. Somewhere along the line he lived in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico for 9 years studying art. Seven years ago he bought this land and transformed it into a garden with attached hotel and restaurant. Ometepe reminds me of Pulau Pankor in Malaysia (which probably accounts for why we're here). The past is still clearly visible; tourism is nascent but not dominant. One difference: since Nicaragua's middle class is so small, there is ... read more

Walking on the (only) road around Ometepe's two volcanos, one encounters lots of livestock wandering freely: pigs, chickens, sheep. Sr. Carlos says they're not feral, they do have owners, people who give them shelter at night and sometimes feed them. A pig is like a savings account. You're saving him up for a special occasion. Your neighbors know he belongs to you. Billions live this way, of course, but we aren't used to it. I've been itching to rent a motorcycle since we got to Ometepe, wanting to re-live the great fun I've had before doing that in Malaysia and Thailand. People say motorcycles are dangerous, but that's mostly when they have to share the road with murderous cars and trucks. Here, you can wait an hour for one to come along. Sr. Carlos arranged for ... read more

Last night we paid extra for A/C, and we learned why that is not worthwhile. The electricity went off in the middle of the night for a few hours. I made another little mistake this morning: asking the lady at the front desk how much a taxi costs to Santa Cruz. She said she didn't know but would find out. I went to the room to take a shower. A few minutes later two men are knocking on our door, their minivan running on the street outside, ready to take us to Santa Cruz for $25 (with, presumably, a commission for the hotel). Melody has to answer the door (I'm dressing) which naturally makes her uncomfortable. And it's my fault. And in hindsight it's not a good price either. We got in and headed for Santa ... read more

We went from Granada to Isla Ometepe which is the largest freshwater island in the world. Ometepe was formed by two erupting volcanoes in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua. On the first night we stayed at Charco Verde in a nature reserve so there was lots of wildlife and we went for a swim in the lake aswell. After Charco verde we rented bikes and went to a natural pool on the Island for a swim and there was a rope swing so we did some funny belly flops into the water. On the second night before we left we stayed in our first hammock of the trip, it was very uncomfortable and not recommended.... read more