Isla Ometepe - Lake Nicaragua

Local fishermen on lake Nigaragua
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After an early start we caught a 9am bus (1.5 hrs) to the border with Nicaragua (Penas Blancas). Crossing the border was easy and did not cost us a thing. Coyotes (money changers) were plentiful and we needed to crack our brains to change the Colones and some of the US dollars we had left into Nicaraguan money: Cordoba. In two days we have been paying with US dollars, Pesos (Colombia), Colones (Costa Rica) and now Cordobas, so it was quite confusing!!

After the formalities in Costa Rica we had to walk 5 minutes to the Nicaraguan border. Interesting to see so many American lorries (with Central American license plates) queueing. The influence of the USA is obvious. In Nicaragua we had to pay USD 8 p/p to enter and also here did we manage to get through quickly.

Volcano Concepcion
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There were many express buses waiting to take us to the next village, but they were relatively expensive, so we decided to take a local bus to Rivas, from where we would need another bus to San Jorge, from where we would take a ferry to Isla Ometepe on Lake Nicaragua. At the bus station a taxi driver tried to convince us that we needed to take a taxi in order to catch the ferry in time (which would set us back USD 10), but we decided to give it a try by local bus.

The local buses here are old, yellow American school buses. Quite comfortable and they play english music (Toto, E.L.O. and Goldies Oldies - another difference with South America). The views along the way were pretty: a lush green country side with the odd ranch (with many horses and cows) and the view of Lake Nicaragua. People on the bus seemed happy and gay and we really enjoyed the bus ride. They dropped us off in Rivas and from there we caught another school bus to San Jorge. Here the 12:30 boat was ready to leave and we managed to get on just. As there were no spaces left in the boat, we found a spot on deck for ourselves and our rucksacks. The journey took an hour or so and was not very pleasant. The sea was very rocky and we on some occasions feared that our ruck sacks would fall over board..

Local fisherman proud of his catch!!!
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But we did make it to Moyagalpa in the end, one of the main villages on the isla Ometepe, Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is a freshwater lake full of saltwater fish which have swum up the Rio San Juan from the sea and adapted to the fresh water. These fish exist in no other lake in the world, like the Sawtooth fish and the rare member of the bull shark family (Terrapins). The lake has three major archipelagos (over 400 islands) as well as the largest freshwater island in the world: Isla Ometepe. Isla Ometepe has two volcanoes. One of them, Concepcion, a perfect cone rising to 1,610m and the other, Volcan Maderas, rises to 1,394m.

Local transport
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We found a local restaurant (chicken, chicks and dogs walking around) and ordered a local dish (comida corriente). Instead of serving side dishes such as rice and lettuce/tomatoes in South America, they serve you rice and kidney beans/cabbage as well as cassave.

After lunch we took a bus to the other main village on the island: Altagracia. Here we checked into Hotel Central, a very nice hotel with a flowery patio and a nice room with bath (for only USD 10). We found out that cold showers are common in Nicaragua (at least at the hotels that we are staying at), but it is actually quite pleasant as the weather is clammy and humid (apparently Nicaragua has humidity levels varying between 90 and 100%!).

Boat to Isla Ometepe
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We had the option of climbing one of the two volcanoes the next day, but that meant that we had to get up at 4am, so we passed.. There really is nothing else to do in  Altagracia (the only internet connection is in Hotel Castillo, but there connections was down), so we chilled.

The next day we caught the bus back to Moyogalpa, from where we took a ferry (not the boat) back to San Jorge. We thought about the option of taking a ferry from Altagracia directly to Granada, but the ferry would not arrive until midnight and it meant that we would arrive into Granada at 4 am in the morning.