Finca Playa Venecia Isla de Ometepe

We've heard more than one person sigh nostalgically and call Ometepe a magical place. Indeed, there is a sort of Tolkein-esque aura about the island, what with the twin volcanic peaks rising from the depths of a misty lake large enough for locals to affectionately refer to it as Cocibolca, or 'Sweet Sea.' Our adventure here, however, does not involve hobbits or dwarf forests, but rather a Kayak 125 beast with a loose handlebar bolt and a round of food poisoning that nearly does us in...well, ...

We got up at a decent hour and only had to walk a block from our hostel to catch the bus to San Jorge, where the boats leave for the Isla de Ometepe (an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua). Before the bus came, a taxi came by and offered to take us there for the same price as bus fare. Sounded good to us. We got to San Jorge and bought tickets for the ferry to the island(60 córdoba, about $3 US). Just 50 ft. inside the gate a guy said we could go on his boat for half ...

Now on the island of Ometepe in Lago de Nicaragua. The island is made up of 2 volcanoes linked by a strip of land formed by lava flows. On our first night we had to stay in an expensive room at the Charco Verde Inn but moved yesterday to Finca Venecia. Had a walk in the Charco Verde reserve where we saw loads of lizards and birds and some great views of the volcanoes. Later we also saw about 10 howler monkeys clearly visible in the trees. I got up at 7 next morning to watch them again. Finca ...

Friday April 27th to Monday April 30th The middle of the universe, really! In the middle of the Western Hemisphere lies Central America. In the middle of Central America lies Nicaragua. In the middle of Nicaragua lies Lake Cocibolca (aka Lake Nicaragua). In the middle of Lake Cocibolca lies Isla Ometepe. So our next adventure finally took us to the middle of the universe! Lake Cocibolca is a huge lake in the middle of Nicaragua (we covered that already, right?). Also referred to as Lake Nicar...

Well, after a final day at San Juan with no water available in the whole town (digging up the road - a commeon practice everywhere we´ve been), we moved on. Catching an early bus to Rivas, we made the 10:30 ferry to Isla de Ometepe. Another local bus south, and we found the start of a track leading to Hotel Charcoverde, which we reached after a lengthy walk in the hot sun. Only 25buck cabanas left, so we had to take one and sat down to a cold Toña beer. A bit later, we entered the reserve clo...