14-18 July - Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua

We headed over the border with our english friends, and straight to Ometepe Island. It is a large island with two conical volcanoes (Concepcion and Maderas) in the middle of lake Nicaragua, and is quite spectacular. The lake is huge (cant see to the other side) and very brown with its fresh water, and it is apparenly home to the only fresh water sharks in the world (which we didn't see).

Check out (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ometepe)

Anyway the ferry was like an indonesian boatpeoples boat - probably quite functional but lacking in several safety and other features... lifejackets, gangway or side rails anyone? (gangway was a plank of wood resting on the dock on one side, and sliding about on an tyre on the boat) And we thought the boxes of beer and other stuff being loaded by being slid down planks of wood while the boat rocked was definitely worth watching. But our bags and us made the hour long crossing safely, and we found ourselves a room, and yum fish dinner, and were happy to note that things are about half the price of costa rica. Its definitely poorer too- there are dirt floors, and things are not nearly as polished or slick as costa rica.

We slept in, had a huge breakfast of pancakes and fresh fruit, and then visited Charco Verde, a lagoon and beach area. We went on a pleasant walk and spotted lots of monkeys including some very cute babies, and a group of little bats clinging to a tree pretending to be bark. Then back to town, to see their rodeo/festival. Lots of cowboys and girls riding horses down the streets in a parade accompanied by a band and noisy firecrackers. The rodeo itself was a little disturbing - one bull being harassed by about 10 guys (pulled, kicked, hit, cattle prodded) to get it all strapped up and ready for a rider and then once the guy is on, it was taunted futher with red flags. Rum and coke was flowing freely, so we ended up not watching the rodeo, but instead trying to convince a guy who befriended Kutaya that phil actually had 3 wives (me, Kutaya, and Rachel)

We made it to the other side of the island (an hour and half bumpy taxi ride) and to Finca Magdelena (a working coffee farm) which is at the bottom of Volcan Maderas, an old volcano with a crater lake. We climbed this volcano (a somewhat muddy 8 hour hike up and down), and felt the satisfaction of seeing a lake within a volcano within a lake! Pity about the cloud cover blocking our view out, but they don't call them cloud forests for nothing!

We also found out (check out Wikipedia) that the Concepcion volcano is ACTIVE! With a 6.2 richter scale eruption last September 05, spraying ash on climbers and local villages.

We came to leave this morning and found ourselves embarassingly short of cash in the right currency...had some US dollars, some cordobas but mainly colones from costa rica (we all thought everyone was carrying a bit more)... and we were either a 1 1/2 hour taxi ride or 3 hour bus trip from the nearest bank... oops. We had visions of us hocking our stuff, working for months or at least making the return trip to get the money and pay up. Negotiated getting the Finca taxi to take us to the bank and paying the driver, only to get to the bank and find it cant give cash advances with cards anyway, and wouldnt change colones either...oops again. But luckily they suggested a mini-supermarket could probably help, and yeah, after digging their card machine out of a box out of the back of the shop and charging a 10 percent fee, we were finally ok to leave the island! Moral of the stoy - need to re-instate the emergency US dollar fund tucked away in our bags somewhere!