Travels to Ometepe

Hi all-

I just returned from a vacation on Ometepe, Nicaragua. Ometepe is an island in Lake Nicaragua which is a huge lake spanning approximately 8,000 square kilometers. The main features of Ometepe are the 2 volcanoes, Concepcion and Maderas, that make up most of the landmass of the island and are joined by a thin isthmus in the middle.

This "lovely" fountain in Moyogalpa gives you an idea of the shape of the island and the location of the volcanoes.

Lots of tourists come from all over the world to climb one or both of these volcanoes. I decided to pass due to my leg injury, but still managed to enjoy the sights of Ometepe.

We arrived on Ometepe via a ferry from the mainland. We got a little wet from the waves on the journey, but also enjoyed the views (my coworker, Chris, pictured here)

We arrived at the town of Moyogalpa, with Concepcion looming in the background

Here is the ferry we took to and from Ometepe and the horses that liked to hang out on the beach all day.

In Moyogalpa, we biked to the beach, swam, and later enjoyed some well deserved pizza and beer (with my fellow travelers and monkey watchers, Brendan, Sara, Kristin, and Chris)

The next day we traveled down the coast to Charco Verde. At Charco Verde we hiked around the trails that led to the green lagoon and along the coastline, took some great photos, and of course found time to swim, eat, nap, and read.

The sunsets over the volcanoes were amazing!

Since I wasn't up for hiking the volcano, our group split into 3 people heading down to Merida/San Ramon to hike the Maderas volcano and 2 of us heading to Santa Cruz to hunt down petroglyphs. Ometepe is a hotspot for petroglyphs. Apparently some of these date from 300BC. Here are some of my favorites.

I like this one because it looks like a figure from a video game.

Crazy dancing man?!


Fun with spirals

Sara and the upside down monkey...at least that's what I like to think it is!

This one was really elaborate.

Finally, we all met up in Moyogalpa for our last night so that we could catch the early morning ferry. We ate some more pizza (have to get our fix before returning to Bagaces) and enjoyed the sunset over the lake.

A horse hanging out by the washing stands in the lake

The last ferry of the day coming into Moyogalpa

Hope you are all having a great week! As I write this, a hard rain is falling in Bagaces. Of course it's not supposed to rain until mid-May so this is very odd. Hopefully it will be the only rain of the month since wetness and camera equipment don't mix well.