The little Island that Packs a Wallop

After the cloud forest we decided to go up to the North West corner of Costa Rica where another active volcano lay. But since we were so close to Nicaragua we thought we should first pop in to have a look. Imagine our pleasant surprise to find that not far from the border was the largest lake in Central America and in the middle of this lake was an island and on this island were TWO VOLCANOES!

So no need to ask us twice and we skipped the touristy beach and made our way straight to the island of volcanoes! We took a variety of transport to Ometepe, including taxis, shuttle buses and a ferry. Once arrived at the hotel we enquired about the possibility of climbing one of the volcanoes and were put on a tour for the next day.

Volcan Concepcion is an active pristine volcano at 1,610m. It was heavy going, straight up with fairly dense bush for four hours got us to 1,000m and the main lookout spot. We stopped for lunch and discussed going further. Even though the young-uns had left us behind we decided to keep going until we met them coming back down and see how far we could get. The second section was steeper and sparser and there was a third section that you need to do on your hands and knees. We got to 1,250m before the clouds started coming in and we decided it was getting too dodgy and we would not have enough time to get to the top. So we went back down to the lookout and had a lunch of chips and nuts. The young-uns soon rejoined us and we headed back down. A relaxing dinner at the hotel was what the doctor ordered and we took it easy playing with the hotel’s supposedly stray kitten and taking a pleasant walk through the town.

The Lookout

The next day required some recovery time so we settled on a private tour of the island with Oscar the taxi driver, starting with the Chaco Verde nature park. This place was a nature paradise and we saw many water birds, wandering horses, howling monkeys, vibrant colourful flowers and the fantastic enclosure with the brilliant blue Morpheus butterflies. Next to the natural mineral springs of Ojos de Agua to soothe those tired legs, lunch and then finish the day at the famous sunset spot of Puenta Jesus Mana beach.

About where Elizabeth bonked her head

This was a stretch of beach that protruded out from the mainland coming to a point. This also concentrated the people into a tiny area that had a surprisingly large number of bars along the sandy outcrop. We got there a bit early for the sunset so Elizabeth decided to use her time picking up the ample amounts of rubbish dropped by the mostly bar patrons. Me? I decided just to watch the sun come down, not being as altruistic as Elizabeth. Soon I heard a commotion behind and turned around to see a group of men frantic around Elizabeth. Rushing back I discovered that Elizabeth had bonked her head on a tree branch while bending to pick up rubbish. No good deed goes unpunished. We struggled with trying to remember the word for ice (hielo) and were directed to a bartender who generously provided a few handfuls. After that ordeal I was able to convince Elizabeth to keep still for 10 minutes and enjoy the sunset with me.

The Hostel Restaurant

The next day was a complete rest day lounging around the hotel pool and talking to other tourists about their experiences, and discovering a surprisingly cheap and colourful hostel restaurant to eat dinner in, complete with begging ginger cat.

Finally the day of my birthday arrived, and there is only one true way to celebrate my birthday while travelling, hike up another volcano! The trek up the Maderas volcano was not as challenging as Concepcion but was still a decent two hour trip up degenerating to walking on boulders on a dry river bed to the La Cascada San Ramon waterfall. Well worth the effort as this was an impressively long waterfall and we stripped down to our bathers and got into the pool to feel the splashing waterfall on our backs. Many other people arrived doing the same and there was a fabulous atmosphere and feeling of camaraderie. A perfect birthday and a perfect end to our side trip to Nicaragua.