Hospedaje Central Isla de Ometepe

... Stopping allows bugs &amp; ants to start crawling all over you. Heard some birds &amp; monkeys but saw none - the bats were the saving grace, roosting in the tree trunks. <br><br>Finally emerged onto the main road &amp; there were a big group of white faced monkeys.<br><br>Returned along the 2' strip of black sand they call a beach around these parts - it is apparently much bigger in dry season as lake levels drop!

... that we would do the grueling 8 hour hike up the side of the small volcano (Volcan Mederas), however that (and our impression of the island) soon changed once we arrived...<br>Getting to Isla de Ometepe was quite easy. We (Kent and I and 2 other Canadians we met) took a taxi from San Juan to San Jorge ($15) and then took a 1 hour boat ride from San Jorge to Moyogalpa (on Isla de Ometepe). The ferry to the island is quite cheap ($2), however being the gringo ...

... br>the camp the same summer as Manny, and he knew all of them! So, we were<br>both very excited and exchanged stories about Raquette Lake (Teddy) and<br>mutual friends (me). How crazy is that, though? Some Austrian kid whom<br>we met on a bus on a volcanic island in the middle of Nicaragua knows<br>where we´re from and some of the same people. Small world. We decided<br>we really liked him and invited him to come and hike the volcano with<br>us the next day. He said ...

... even mid morning yet. We reached the base of the volcano, still surrounded by jungle. Luis said that we could stop for a break every 100 meters. That sounded like a very short amount of time before a break, but after the first 100m I realised why. This bugger was steep. Really steep. We were taking big steps up at times, still clawing our way through jungle. Those 100 m felt to me like 100 miles and I couldnt wait for the next break. Another 1500 or so to go. <br><br>When we had ...

... morning we did a hike up the smaller of the two volcanoes which, despite not having much of a view of anything, was pretty great. The first two thirds is beautiful, lush cloud forest which rises into a cooler higher part, topped off with a not so swimmable crater lake. Quite a work out as well! My t-shirt was literally dripping sweat within 30 minutes, but so was everyone elses. Loved the cloud forest ...

... the hardest and most difficult sport ever... but... it is soooooo much fun!!! And in the evening the stars hit the ocean and you start feeling sooooo tiny, life becomes so small and by now i learn that every day is so precoius, every day yuo have to make your decisions new... i am free, more than i was ever in my whole life... The Ocean and the peace here gave me more than ...

... artwork project started in the sixties by the priest and poet Ernest Cardenal. The balsawooden little birds and animals are lovely and exported all over the world. Still, the archipel stays very poor. Electricity and running water is poor and latrines are still used. But all children go to school and this favourite destination of Mano Chao is fabulous.<br>We visit the Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge on the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica (lots ...