Ometepe Island is one of those places I had never heard of, but it was included in the itinerary of my trip. Upon my online investigation, I discovered what an truly unique place it is. Rising out of Lake Nicaragua, this island is the shape of an hour glass, with an volcano on each end. In fact, the name Ometepe comes from the Aztec word "ome" meaning two and "tepetl" meaning mountain.
The only way to really get to this island is by ferry boat, which we boarded in the Nicaraguan town of Rivas. Upon arrival to the small-but-busy port, and there were two small ferries docked. When I say small ferries, I mean SMALL, maybe the size of a tugboat, but definitely not the size of your average ferry. One ferry had about 100 mattresses stacked on the top deck. Thankfully we were taking the other ferry, which looked like it could spring a leak and sink at any moment. We boarded with our luggage, which workers placed on the second floor. It was fascinating to watch - one man on the first floor would lift one of our heavy bags or suitcases above his head to the man on the second floor, which is where he carefully placed them until the end of our hour-plus long journey to the Ometepe town of Altagracia at the Port of Grace (which they then had to do the reverse and hand our luggage down to the first floor for disembarkment).
There are a few other islands in Lake Nicaragua, but Ometepe is, by far, the largest. The two volcanoes are Volcán Concepción, which is still active, and Volcán Maderas, which Is dormant. Maderas is smaller, standing at 1,394 meters (or 4,573 feet), while Concepción towers above the island at 1,600 meters (or 5,249 feet). Both volcanos can be hiked but the stipulation is that you need to hire a local guide - that is a non-negotiable.
Our choices for volcanic hikes were:
1. Hike to the top of Volcán Concepción, which is a 16km hike, and apparently the last part of it if extremely steep and rocky.
2. Hike to the top of Volcán Maderas, which is easier, but gets steep and muddy. At the top, however, is a crater lake, which is supposed to be beautiful.
3. Hike to the viewpoint of Volcán Maderas, which will still be a challenge but not nearly as difficult as the other two hiking choices. If we chose this one, we would have time to go to lunch by the beach and then to the cold springs.
Can you guess which one we chose?
We chose just to hike to the viewpoint of Maderas for many reasons, but mostly it was a slightly shorter hike and then we could go to the cold springs and lunch afterwards (doing either of the full hikes would have taken over 8 hours and that would be all we'd have time for). I also didn't want to be worn out after one of the longer hikes and wanted to spare the stress on my knees coming down. I am an occasional hiker and those full-day volcano hikes seemed to be better for an expert to climb!
We were picked up via SUV the morning of the hike by a driver and our hiking guide. Our hiking guide was Luis 2, and he told us he was called "Luis 2" because there are six Luis' at the tour company and he was the second Luis hired. We chatted with him the entire way to the volcano - he was a wealth of information and you could tell he has a lot of passion for Ometepe Island, where he grew up. He told us he left Ometepe for a few years to go live in Granada, but didn't like it so much and returned home. He seems to love being a guide as well and is an expert hiker. One time, he lived on Maderas for over a week for some sort of survival challenge, so I knew we were in good hands.
One question I asked was about the farm animals that were all along the side of the road (this question was looming in my mind). Those animals looked to me like strays, but he assured me they belong to farms in the area and that they leave early in the morning to go find food and return home around mid-afternoon. Glad I got an answer to that!
Upon arrival to Maderas Volcano, we were able to use the restroom before hiking. The restroom was very clean, and the surrounding area looked like we were in the middle of someone's flower garden. Now it was time to begin the hike. The trail starts flat and steady, with slight elevation here and there, but nothing drastic yet. We stopped by some banana trees growing, and Luis 2 educated us about the banana trees (and he knew quite a bit since he sometimes helped pick bananas when it's time). We also stumbled across a termite nest that was on a fence by the banana trees. Luis 2 told us that people can eat termites and they are good protein. Then he asked if any of us wanted to try. I was going to, but I tend to feel bad killing anything, let alone an ant or even a termite. But one of the women in our group gave it a go. She swallowed the first one whole and was told to try again, this time biting into it and then to let us all know how it tasted. She bit into the second termite and told us it tasted a bit like basil. Interesting. I still was not in the mood to try.
So onwards with out hike. It was a slow and steady climb for about the first hour, with not much elevation gain. And it rained on and off during our climb. Luis 2 would occasionally stop if he saw an interesting insect or tree and tell us stories as we hiked. One story he told was utterly fascinating. A group of hikers made it to the top and saw what they thought was the devil. Turns out, it was a large snake that had eaten a deer, whose antlers were sticking out of the snake's mouth (snakes cannot digest antlers). Pretty funny story!
After an hour, we quickly started to gain elevation, but because it had rained, it was both muddy and slippery. Luis 2 helped us along if we needed it. And before we knew it, we were at the viewpoint. As we rested, we soaked in all the scenery around us. Ometepe is quite a special place. From this vantage point we could really see the hourglass shape of the island. We also had a clear shot of Concepción, which was covered by clouds at the summit. Waves were lapping along the shore, but I had to remind myself that the water below was a lake and not the sea. It was a breathtaking view!
On the way down, we stopped to take photos at this tree Luis 2 told us was referred to as the Tree of Life. I've never seen a tree like this before, with a trunk that massive and curved that it looked like it could envelope a person. Branches stretched towards the sky creating a beautiful canopy of leaves. It was gorgeous. The tree is actually a Ceiba, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas, with a straight, mostly branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can grow taller than a person. According to the Maya religion, the Ceiba is known as the tree of life because it is rooted in the underworld and the branches reach the heavens, with the middle portion existing in the human world.
Continuing our descent, I had trouble with the steep, muddy part, and Luis 2 held onto me most of the way down until we reached the flatter, less muddy part. I did slip and stumble a few times, despite his help, so making it to the less treacherous part of the path was a welcome site. We finally made it back down and hopped in the SUV which took us to see some petroglyphs on the property. Ometepe is known for its petroglyphs, which are shrouded in mystery.
Next up, lunch at a spot by the beach!
The restaurant we stopped at was La Mariscada located at Hotel Villa Paraiso and it was on the beach. It was nice to relax after a hike that lasted over four hours. Coffee and beer were definitely on the agenda. After we ordered food and drink, Luis 2 took us down to the beach. I thought I would be in the mood to swim, but was not. I'm not sure if I was just tired from the hike or if it was the dead fish I saw in the sand. Either way, swimming in Lake Nicaragua wasn't happening. The sand was lovely though! After we ate our delicious Nicaraguan food, we left for Oja de Agua.
Oja de Agua is a set of natural spring-fed pools fed by an underground river from Maderas Volcano. There was a lot of cloud cover when we arrived, making the air temperature cool. Swimming did not seem like the best idea - cold air, cold water, but I drank a Coco Loco (a rum and coconut water drink served in a coconut) to get warmed up. After drinking, my best friend and I tried out the Tarzan swing, which was essentially a rope attached to a thick stick you hold onto with your hands. We climbed up to a platform and took turns grabbing the rope and swinging into the chilly water. It was a good way to get in and so much fun! I ended up trying the swing a second time, but this time, one of my hands slipped and I landed on my back in the water. Ouch! Mind you, there's no lifeguard around either - I was just happy I didn't get hurt. For other brave souls, there's a tightrope along one of the pools to try. I didn't have the balance to make it very far. One woman in our group used all her determination, trying again and again to cross, but would fall into the cold water after a few steps.
Oja de Agua has outdoor showers which can double as change rooms. Admission wasn't too expensive either at just $5.00 USD/person (or even less expensive at $3.00 UDS if you're a Nicaraguan national). There's an enclosed restaurant/bar area as well, but we hung out by the pools the entire time. It was quite a fun experience and definitely worth a visit if you find yourself on Ometepe Island.
If you do find yourself in Nicaragua, Ometepe is a must. There's just no other place on earth like it!
Comments