Isla de Ometepe - active volcano, hiking, waterfalls

Volcan Concepcion
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Wednesday 19th September – San Jose – Isla de Ometepe

As we had an early start we had organised a wake up call, so at 4.30am we received a polite knock on the door so quickly got ready and jumped into the taxi. To our surprise the bus departed right on time and we began the journey. The bus trip itself was no problem as the seats were comfortable, but it entailed 2 border crossing's - the first was our departure from Costa Rica and then onto the Nicaraguan border. We arrived at the Costa Rican border at around 11.00am and were hopeful that the 8hr expected journey time was an exaggeration. Thankfully we jumped off ahead of the passengers and got a good place in line. As usual with borders there is your usual group of currency traders. As soon as we stepped off the bus, we were ambushed by men trying to buy and sell, all holding enormous wads of currency and trying their best to tell you that you cannot change money from this point etc. We must have a no nonsense look as they all seemed to get the idea early that we were not going to fall for their tricks and ended up leaving us alone. We got our passports stamped about 45 minutes after joining the queue and then re-boarded to travel a short distance to the Nicaraguan border. At this point we all had to jump off the bus and collect our baggage. From there we formed a queue down a very long wooden bench and waited for our bags to be checked. Again no problems and we handed our baggage back to the bus staff (the bus company was really good and you stay on the same bus the entire time). Then we had to wait while the bus attendant who took $8US and our passports got them processed. At least 1.5 hours later at that stop and after 1pm before we got going again. It was a long hot wait and we chatted with a couple from the states and a girl from NZ. It was only a short journey to Rivas from the border so were relieved to get there early in the afternoon. Our next task was to get to an ATM to get out some cash and then head to the port. We hailed a great taxi driver who took us to the bank and all the way down to the port for $3! We did though have a few problems with all the ATM's rejecting our cards and having to get a cash advance on our Credit Card. We eventually got to the port and our cabbie was stoked as we tipped him a packet of biscuits! After a very informative chat to the lady in the information booth at the port, we made our way onto the ferry.

Jo absolutely drenched during the hike
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The trip was very slow with Jo keeping an eye out for the fresh water sharks in the Lake. On the way we experienced the most strangest piece of cargo. Just before we left they passed a coffin through the window and laid it right next to our bags. We were unsure if it was empty and were rather shocked to learn it wasn't! The casket had a flap door at the top and it seemed everybody could have a look! As we docked we had hoped to be overrun with hoteliers but we weren't so had to find our own place. We went with a recommendation from the lady at the information booth and checked into quiet possibly the worst room we have had! We dropped our bags off and had a little wander around the town before being approached by a young local boy called Nain. He offered to guide us up the Volcano the following day, which was what we wanted to do. So he took us back to the hostel he operated from and tried selling us a room. He told us about the trip up the volcano and we agreed to go with him, we had a greed to change hotel as the rooms were slightly better, that was until we explained to our hostel manager that we were leaving and his face dropped. He was so sad that made us feel so bad we ended up staying with him. We told Nain and organised a meeting time for the following morning at 7am. We went back to to the hotel and enjoyed dinner and a few drinks with an Australian couple who were going through all the places we had just been in South America. Obviously we could not resist asking if they played 500. One of them did so we sparked up a game. After they headed to bed we went to the internet and believe it or not got caught in another massive downpour which made the short walk home very tricky! The town had 1 main street which is rather steep so it was not long before it was a fast flowing river. We managed to cross it and avoid being swept down into the lake and got home again very wet!

On our decent down the Volcan we were greeted by a large herd
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Thursday 20th September – Isla de Ometepe

An early start again today coupled with an almost sleepless night. There were what seemed like rats in the walls (but soon learned that they were lizards) and there being only 1 possible hook for the mosquito net, meant Jo slept under it on the grottiest bed ever while Leigh had a slightly better bed with no protection...oh how far away Miami is! We were meeting our guide “Nain” at 7am to hike up the very active Volcano (Concepcion) today. So we wandered up to the meeting point and were glad to see 3 other people were also doing the tour, which makes it cheaper of course! We got a few supplies then caught the bus (aka the old US school bus) along an unpaved road for about 20 minutes to the starting point of our hike. Just as we arrived at the starting point it began to drizzle and every few minutes the rain started to get harder and harder. Anyway we walked along a flat wide track for about 30 minutes before we came to the start of the uphill. It wasn't too steep but what was difficult was the terrain and the lack of a path. As the rain got harder the track got more and more slippery. It was really good as we got talking to the 2 girls and 1 guy we were with who were from Israel. It is interesting to understand what their country is really like and if the unrest portrayed in the media is an accurate representation on what really goes on. We learnt that it is compulsory for them to work in the army for a minimum of 2 years, which sounded both dangerous and hard work with little pay.

Leigh in the water at Ojos de Agua
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Anyway about an hour into the walk we were all absolutely drenched. The rain was just belting down. We could tell that as the rain started there wasn't any point reaching into our bags to pull out our jackets. It was better to leave the jackets in the bag to protect the camera etc. It was a really exciting walk as every few hundred metres you could hear the howler monkey's making a very deep scary groan. It was quite exciting and there was so much wildlife around. The Israeli's where getting more and more frustrated with the weather as it became apparent that when we reached the 1000m viewing platform we weren't going to be able to see much due to the rain and cloud cover. So about every 100m they had a discussion with each other to decide if they would go down or not. They were really slow and we were getting frustrated so we ended up telling our 19 year old guide that we were going to head off in front as we were just in it for the hike. Eventually it got to the point that the trail was not safe as the rain was just so heavy the trail was like a small river. With the Israeli's looking more and more miserable, we decided that we would give them the opportunity to turn around and that we would come down too. We asked our guide what the chance was of the rain stopping and clearing but he was unsure and said it could be like this all day. As it was torrential rain and we were all getting cold we began our decent only 600m up the volcano of the 1000m trek. The volcano is still active and has frequent explosions with the last big eruption being only 2 years ago. The guide advised that there have been no predictions on when the next one would occur.

Jo at the waterfall at the top of the hike
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We slid down the trail much of the way, falling over a few times but having so much fun, with mud everywhere and we were absolutely dripping! We got to where the trail started to plateau and to our dismay the rain slowly stopped. Eventually reaching the bottom at around 11am we got even more angry as not only had the rain stopped but the skies had cleared, the sun was out and it was roasting! If the Israeli's hadn't been there we wouldn't have turned around in the first place as it was fun walking through the jungle in pouring rain with all the surrounding wildlife. Anyway the decision was made so we began our walk back to town as the bus's only run every couple of hours. By the time we got back to our hostel we were almost dry and decided to pick up our bags then jump on the next bus around to the other part of the island where there is a beautiful beach named Playa Santo Domingo, with apparently the most plushest accommodation on the island. Two buses later and driving through beautiful lush plantations for over an hour, we reached the very empty little settlement of Santo Domingo. We checked out a hotel first which wasn't that great so went to the hotel which is the nicest one here and found the room was ok, still rampant with wildlife i.e. Bats fly around the dinning area, mosquitos and gecko's in the bedrooms and the cost was pretty steep at $21 with no a/c.

Storm brewing over the lush tropics
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We decided to check in and then walk up to the Ojo de Agua (Eye of the water). It was only a couple of km's from our hotel so we wandered along the road saying “buenos” to everyone we passed. It was a lovely walk as you really feel amongst the lush tropics. We got to the entrance and were told that we had to go to another entrance which was 500m away, so on we walked. On arrival again we got ripped off as the enterance was suppose to be $1 but we got charged 20 Cordobas, which is a few Cordobas too much! We went in and were impressed at how beautiful the landscape and layout was but we were kinda grossed out by how unclean the natural pools were. We decided to hop into the cold water, which was actually quite clear just rampant with wildlife like everything (tadpoles etc), but it was very refreshing and nice standing on the sandy bottom. The water was not fast flowing by any means so we were reluctant to put our head under the water. We swam around and watched massive lizards climb trees, branches dangerously breaking off and crashing onto the ground and a couple of hippies who obviously lived there cooking there very organic dinner – we worked out their carbon footprint must be nothing!

Leigh hoping to get a ride with a taxi on our walk to Ojos de Agua
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The sky began to change colour and our instincts told us what this means, we quickly got out of the pool and headed to the road through a muddy path. It began to spit and we could tell the heavens would open so we began to hope that someone would drive past soon and we could jump on the back of their truck. We walked for a km or so and still no one passed us, but eventually a van came our way and we jumped in (don't worry Mum it was kind of a taxi). He dropped us right outside our hotel and Leigh slipped him 50 cents. After a nice cold shower (as there are no hot showers here) we went downstairs for dinner, as there are no other restaurants in the area. Although quite expensive for the island, it was an amazing meal – Jo had fish which was a really meaty and very tasty while Leigh had a cottage pie, which was great but he was eyeing up Jo's dinner all night. We finished up and headed off to bed to watch a new DVD Leigh had purchased at a bus stop for a dollar.

One of the many cute birds about the island
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Friday 21st September – Isla de Ometepe

As we have had a couple of early starts and the bus didn't leave until 11am, we slept in and got up in time to catch our bus around the island to the waterfall. We jumped on it bang on time and took the slow 45 minute journey to San Ramon, which is where the entrance is. En-route at a bus stop that was taking too long, Leigh jumped off and picked up some breakfast. He grabbed some kind of sweet bread from a lady's kitchen window for all of about 5p. It was really unique and gave us the energy for the coming walk. We were shocked to hear the entrance fee was 50 Cordobas (around $3 each), but had no option so paid the price and set off. The Lonely Planet guide said it would take 2 hours to reach the top, which meant we had to move quickly as there was only one bus back in a few hours time. After a quick pit stop to get some water we began the accent. A big sign at the end of the complex leading to the path made it clear that the track was 3km. It was a steep climb and the first 2k's were on a farm track, very wide which made for good hiking. We were surrounded by very lush trees forming a canopy along some of the trail. At the 2km mark the track turned and we entered into the heart of the jungle. The track narrowed and was very wet and we were under a permanent canopy of trees. We thought that there was only 1km left so were enjoying the jungle trail (which did say at the start enter at your own risk!) We were kept in good company by the howler monky's, butterfly's, ant colonies etc.

The walk went on and on until we got a little bit worried that we had taken the wrong turn. After some time a Danish chap who we had met the night before said we still had a further 700m to go, even though we thought it should be about 100m. We soon figured out that this track was nearer to 4kms and the 3km sign was infact wrong! We had a laugh about it before he headed down. The track continued to go on and on and then we eventually bumped into an American chap who we had met on the bus in the morning. He too agreed that the Nicaraguan measurement system needed some work and maybe the advertisement of 3km was only to attract tourists to complete the short hike. He left and we carried on our way. After a few more minutes of rather intense hill climbing we made it! We had the whole fall to ourselves and it was spectacular. The water was really fine and fell more like rain than a water fall. As soon as we reached the foot of the fall we began to cool down and after being so hot it was so refreshing. We were going to have a shower underneath it until we threw stones in and could not judge the depth.

Having not much time to catch the last bus back to Santo Domingo at 3.15pm, we had about an hour to make it to the bottom. Unfortunately the speedy descent we were making lead to Jo toppling down at rather slippery slope. With a nice big cut on her hand and a few banged elbows (and a sad face) we took a few minutes rest and pushed on. We popped out of the jungle onto the track and passed another couple. They seemed rather rude so we did not let them know the full length of the walk! We got to the bottom and purchased some more water and headed to the bus stop. With a few minutes to burn we walked along to a tiny village and bought a snack and caught up with the Danish chap. We yarned with him and 20 mins late the bus arrived. We cruised back with the locals on the rather bumpy road and got to the hotel around 4.30pm. Caked in mud we showered up and headed for dinner. Leigh was so jealous of Jo's dinner the night before we both ordered what we thought it was. To our devastation we were served up two whole fishes, not the beautiful fillet Jo had the night before. Not to worry we enjoyed it all the same. We finished and packed our bags for tomorrows travel day. With our bags becoming very smelly we knew our first stop was going to be the laundromat!