Next stop is our current home, Isla Ometepe, which came into being when two volcanoes appeared in the middle of the freshwater Lake Nicaragua. The volcanoes were joined by an isthmus and our hotel is situated on this, giving us views of each volcano, but unfortunately not together.
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| You can just about see both volcanoes in this photo - taken from the ferry on the way over |
To get here we had an hours drive to San Jorge and then boarded a ferry for the one hour crossing. Our guide told us that the ferry was brought from Holland six years ago and was clearly not built for the tropical climate. It had sealed windows and heating instead of air conditioning. William advised us to sit nead to sit near the open door to avoid being cooked.
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| The ferry to Isla Ometepe |
Our tour of the island started on arrival. We visited Playa Punta Jesus Maria a small, narrow strip of sand which provided good photo opportunities.
Next was a real contrast, and our first museum, when we stopped at Museos el Ceibo where we learned about the history of the Nicaraguan currency (the Cordoba) and saw pre-Colombian ceramics and pottery. After lunch at our hotel Villa Paraiso, where RM was presented with a dessert with a birthday candle, we walked around an atmospheric lagoon at Charco Verde before cooling off in large pool formed by water from a crystalline spring.
We also called in to Altogracia, one of the main towns and the home of our guide, to look around both the new and old church. Our final stop was to Finca Albergue Ecologico where we wandered around their gardens and saw the best of the islands Petroglyphs.
Our full day was completed with sangria and sun down.
Bit a problem when the tide comes in on that beach Playa Punta Jesus Maria.
ReplyDeleteRumour has it the great sky goddess Untequilademasiados after falling out of the sky having had one too many tequilas splashed down in Lake Nicaragua. You can just see bits of her peeking above the waters.