Part III – The island paradise of Ometepe
Our route in Nicaragua. We didn’t make it to the Caribbean coast or the Northern highlands but that’s just a reason for a return visit.
The island of Ometepe is truly a magical place. Imagine vibrantly colored butterflies floating by on a light breeze that is carrying the sweet smell of fragrant flowers to your nose. The low, guttural sounds of howler monkeys echoing across the jungle canopy. Parrots and parakeets fluttering by in small flocks. Hawks rocking gently side to side in the thermals rising up from the lake. Off in the distance the fading sun lights up one side of a massive volcano that is wearing a perpetual white cap of clouds. Now you are in an Ometepe (Oh-ma-tep-ay) frame of mind.
Ometepe means ‘two hills’ in the native language and its twin volcanoes rise up out of massive Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua, also known as Lake Cocibolca by the locals, has a total area of 3,191 square miles – roughly the size of the state of Maryland. On the Nicaraguan mainland in the busy ferry port of San Jorge we boarded a somewhat rickety ferry for our one hour journey to Ometepe. The lake was churning with ten foot swells and the wind was whipping up whitecaps. This is big water and it seems more like an ocean than a lake.
Approaching the island of Ometepe – Volcán Concepción on the left and Volcán Maderas on the right.
We arrived at the island port of Moyogalpo and found our shuttle for the hour plus ride to our hotel. Moyogalpo has tourist infrastructure but is not where you really want to spend your time on the island – the name means “place of mosquitos” in the native language – enough said. Transportation is relatively expensive on Ometepe island but if you want a car, motorcycle, or 4 wheel ATV this is the place to get it. Moyogalpo sits at the base of the Concepcion Volcano which looms up 5000 feet and dominates the entire skyline of the island.
Volcán Concepción with its white cap of clouds.
There are less than 50,000 inhabitants on Ometepe and most of them are related in one way or another. On my shuttle ride to the airport the driver seemed to know everyone he passed – it makes for a real small town atmosphere. The island is hour-glassed shaped with a sometimes good, sometimes bad, road in a figure 8 circling the shores of the island.
A tobacco plantation at the base of Volcán Maderas.
As you might expect, the rich volcanic soil grows a wide variety of crops including plantains, beans, rice, corn, sesame seed, melons, citrus, tobacco and coffee. We drove past rural towns with small markets and an occasional school or church. As we moved into more remote areas cows, horses, oxen, pigs and chickens roamed the roadsides or the roads themselves.
One of the pretty little churches we saw on the island getting a fresh coat of paint.
We passed the occasional restaurant, eco-lodge, hostal and other signs of a burgeoning tourist infrastructure as we moved from the paved road to the bone jarring secondary road that circles the southern part of the island. The lake was high since we visited at the end of the rainy season but you could see accessible beaches as we made our way to our hotel near the little town of Mérida.
The sunset view from the Hotel Omaja.
Our hotel turned out to be a little bit more remote than I had expected mainly because the last ten miles took a half an hour to cover due to some pretty rough roads. But the hotel had a bar\restaurant, quaint little cabins with AC, a nice pool and a million dollar view of the lake and volcano.
Another sunset view over Lake Nicaragua.
As it turned out the isolation was nice. A wi-fi connection gave us all the outside stimulation we needed and the setting took care of everything else. We wandered along the main road and stopped in at some nearby Eco-lodge Properties to check them out. Just walking the grounds of these properties was liking being on a nature trail. Flowers of all varieties, an assortment of fruit trees, colorful butterflies, geckos, and an amazing array of bird life.
Flowers of Ometepe - click on image to enlarge
 |  |
 |  |
In addition to just wandering around and taking in the island atmosphere you are likely to see several offers for tourist excursions. You can take a hike (guide required) up to the top of either volcano but it is not a trivial thing and expect that you will sleep extremely well that evening. Everyone that we talked to enjoyed the six hour plus hike but reported that you should expect to get hot, dirty, and wet but that you’ll have a memorable experience.
Fauna of Ometepe - click on image to enlarge
 |  |
 |  |
The hike we conquered instead was to San Ramon Falls which took us quite a ways up on the Volcán Maderas but with a round trip time of around 3 hours including a half hour stop at the falls. The hike took us past some farms and plantations and initially started on a reasonably graded road. The road gave way to a dirt and rock trail with a few areas that were pretty steep and some spots that forced you to scramble over the rocks of a dried up riverbed. But if a semi-in-shape person with a knee replacement can make it, then most people won’t have a problem.
Looking up at San Ramon falls.
Before going we asked a couple from British Columbia how the falls were and they responded “We’re from Canada and in comparison to some of our waterfalls the San Ramon Falls aren’t all that spectacular.” And being from Portland ourselves and having dozens of spectacular falls just miles from the city we would have to agree that the water flow was a bit lacking. Still the wispy falls and the little collection pool were a sight for sore eyes when we made the final approach and could see the 100 meters plus falls cascading over the sheer moss and fern covered drop off. Splashing that cool water on my face and wading into the pool was a great way to get refreshed for the return trip.
The base of San Ramon falls.
Some of the other excursions that we didn’t take advantage of were visits to the Finca Magdelena Coffee Estate, the swimming hole at Ojo de Agua, kayaking the river Istian, and horseback riding to some of the petroglyphs left by the islands earlier inhabitants. But you can’t do everything and laying by the pool and reading a book has an appeal all its own.
And when laying by the pool includes seeing a mama monkey with its baby in the trees right on your hotel property then I am happy to relax with a Mojito in hand and take in the show. And when that 2nd Mojito includes a sunset like you see below then you can see that Ometepe can be a very relaxing place.
That concludes our three part description of our trip to Nicaragua – hope you enjoyed the show. Time to go out and make some new memories.
And in closing to quote Mark Twain being that he was a former visitor to Nicaragua always remember this – “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do… Explore. Dream. Discover.”