After the green of Costa Rica, we headed north into the heat of Nicaragua. We had an interesting time crossing the border (everybody had to walk across with their backpacks through numerous checkpoints) and then it was a hot taxi ride and a long boat ride to the island of Ometepe. Lake Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America and Ometepe is the largest island in it. Ometepe is formed by two volcanoes, Volcan Concepcion and Volcan Maderas, and its name means 'two mountains'. We stayed in the port town of Moyogalpa in the friendly oasis of Hotel Nicaraus. We felt right at home in our hotel especially since we were able to receive plenty of helpful advice about how to best enjoy the island. It was fascinating each day to wander through the town of Moyogalpa and observe how the locals live a simple but happy life with a real sense of community. We especially enjoyed watching cattle being herded through the streets each day right past our hotel. Moyogalpa was a wonderful location from which to travel around the rest of the island.
We rented scooters and set out to explore the island. A real highlight was driving around Volcan Concepcion through many small villages that were right along the road. We felt like we were driving through people's daily lives with chickens, pigs, cows, and horses sharing the road with us. From the endless sandy beach of Santo Domingo to the spring fed pool of Ojo de Agua to the howler monkeys and beautiful butterflies of Charco Verde, there was plenty to see on this lush green island. We ended our stay being invited to a poolside feast with the hotel owner Ian Coronel who shared many stories of his Sandinista past as well as insights into the history of this unique island. Again we were struck by how the relationships we had developed in only a few days on Ometepe had made our stay such a rich and rewarding one.
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