D154: Hospedaje Buena Vista @ Santo Domingo, Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua

I cannot believe it has been already five months since I hit the road. As one of my friends would say time flies when you are having fun.

The last three days I have spent on the peaceful and tranquil Ometepe Island. The word ometepe in the indigenous Nahuatl language means two (ome) mountains (tepe). Like its name already suggest, this island was formed by two volcanoes Volcano Concepcion and Volcano Maderas. Everywhere you look you can see either or both depending where you are. Most tourists come here mainly to hike up either or both of these difficult to climb volcanoes. I decided to skip this and I try to relax and explore the rest of the island’s sights of interest.

On D152 I arrived at Hospedaje Buena Vista (my planned base) in Santo Domingo at around lunch time, after taking the boat from the mainland San Jorge to Moyogalpa, Ometepe and sharing a minibus with other tourists from Moyogalpa to Santo Domingo. This guesthouse is situated just beside the beach of the Lake Nicaragua. To my surprise I managed to negotiate a room with a private bathroom (FINALLY after 8 days) just beside the beach for a fair price. My negotiation skills are getting better and better! The only thing I craved for was to read my book in a hammock and lie on the beach then have some local food. That is exactly what I did.

The next day (D153) I was ready to explore the surrounding sight so I walked to the nearby Ojo de Agua, a natural spring swimming hole with cool, crystal clear green water. The path that leads to this oasis takes you through banana and rice plantation with various birds chirping in the background. Later in the afternoon some small and naughty ants come out and they do their best to bite you everywhere. So after a while you just cannot take it anymore and you give up the fight against them and leave.

This morning I woke up bright and early and rented a bicycle to discover some of the  pre-Columbian petroglyphs (rock engravings) on the west of the island. The island is famous for these rocks which are spread all over the island especially on the more remote western part.

My first stop was Finca Magdalena around 8km from Santo Domingo. This is a coffee farm, guesthouse and a starting point to visit the nearby petroglyphs, the hike the Volcan Maderas and visit coffee plantations. The rock engravings are spread around the path in a forest rich of fauna and flora. Walking alone through this peaceful but in the same time very active forest was fascinating and some point a bit scary. The birds were chirping, the howler monkeys were howling in the distance, the ants were busy as always.

I have been wanting for a while to see howler monkeys as to put a face to these horrible sounds that I have been hearing for the last two days. So I was walking and looking up the trees when I spotted a family of four relaxing on a branch just above some petroglyphs. I was so happy to see them that I had not noticed that a farmer with a machete and a dog was passing behind me and when I turned I just freaked out. The howler monkeys did not freak me out but the two legged monkey did scared the sh*t out of me. But luckily he was just a friendly local who was passing by. Further down the path I spotted more monkeys but they were too far to be photographed. These creatures seem so peaceful and cute but when they get angry or provoked they can howl like crazy.

After this expedition I was hoping to see more petroglyphs further up the main road but I was told that they are difficult to reach so I returned as the ride was no longer enjoyable on the rocky dirt roads.

Before I reached Santo Domingo I stopped at the Finca EL Porvenir where Ivan a local guide showed me more petroglyphs. I was hoping that he would be able to tell me the meaning of these engravings but he could only interpret them. A bit disappointing but at least he had a good knowledge of the benefits of the local plants for example the organic bitter coffee helps if one is bitten by some poisonous snakes. Good to know as they are a few snakes around.

Once I arrived back to the room I needed a swim in the lake. The temperature of the lake was warmer than the cold shower in my room. Swimming in the lake it felt like having a lukewarm bath.

Tomorrow I am ready to move on to Altagracia from where I will be getting the overnight boat trip to the isolated San Carlos.