Ometepe

On the way to Ometepe

After indulging in the gorgeous Pacific beaches of San Juan del Sur, Julio and I went to the famous Isla de Ometepe, an island located East of San Juan in the Lake of Nicaragua and home to the ancient petroglyphs. The crossing to the island reminded me of one of my favourite places I have visited on my travels, Lago Atitlan in Guatemala. Ometepe Island was just astonishingly bigger.

Upon arrival to the Island at Moyogalpa we had to take another bus all the way to the other side of the island to a small village called Balgue where we had chosen to stay for a particular coffee plantation located there. The coffee plantation, Finca Magdalena had extended its capabilities to accommodate backpackers and was popular for its extensive panoramic view over Lago Nicaragua. An arduous, rocky, seriously vomit-inducing bus journey followed by a 1.5km uphill hike later and we had found our way to the finca hostel. And indeed, we discovered that the whispers were true and the lofty finca had stunning views of the island's two volcanoes, Maderas and Concepcion.

Coffee plantation where we stayed

Whilst in Ometepe, Julio climbed the difficult Maderas whilst I chose to explore the flatter parts of the island and bussed across Ometepe, venturing in to other villages. Altagracia is Ometepe's second most important town (the first being messy Moyogalpa) and here I walked about absolutely gawped at by the locals as it is not a frequently-visited tourist spot. It is a small, quiet place with church, square, clinic and school but not much more. The people are astonishingly smiley and this was the first place in Nicaragua that I believe I was paying Nica prices for food, transport and internet. Santo Domingo, a town on Ometepe is one of the more popular places on the island for backpackers and tourists. It possesses the most beautiful beaches of the island with black sand and eerily still freshwater. An intensely magnificent and meditative place to relax, I exploited my afternoon there thoroughly and experienced a very refreshing clarity of mind.

View of Lago Nicaragua

Although my visit to Ometepe was brief, I loved the island! The people were humble and friendly, the nature wild and colourful and the still quiet mystical.

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San Juan del Sur

So after Granada I was only going to spend a few days at the Nicaraguan Pacific coast, a particular beach called San Juan del Sur. However, as is usually the case with me and beaches I was massively sucked in and ended up being there over a week. I stayed in a little hut, high up above the ocean where I could hear the waves (and the rainy season´s plummeting rain) crashing all over us. It was gorgeous. If a little pee-inducing.

Each day myself and Julio would relax on the main beach there... that is, until a dirt spill rendered the ocean brown, unswimmable and pretty frickin' gross. Then we took to making the trek a half hour North to a deserted few beaches called Maderas where it was completely unspoilt and seriously virgin. Nearly our own beach. We spent our time being flung about in the violent waves like children, escaping the sea every so often with enough salt water swallowed to spit out our own little ocean. Getting in touch with my inner child is so liberating and it felt incredibly self-revolutionary to discover that I still knew how to "play." On one of my favourite days we went on a fishing trip at sunset and I loved it so much. Very therapeutic and meditative and rocking gently on the waves felt so calming and natural. With my beginner´s luck, I caught six tasty fish! Was only able to keep two red snappers, which we then had cooked up for us and ate for one of the most delicious meals I´ve ever been fortunate enough to consume.

San Juan is quite ¨gringo¨, ridden with bars, shops and restaurants with dollar prices (but a bit cheaper) and american tastes. It is a lot of fun though and not as touristy as I had expected... Locals abound everywhere and mix well with the foreigners. Good community vibe as I saw in Granada. More foreigners there than usual as SURVIVOR are filming their 22nd season on one of the nearby beaches and with their 300-strong film crew, the place spilled with crew members getting drunk on their days off.

Loved San Juan, happy happy days
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