Boats and taxis half broken

Together with the US-Canadian couple Simon & Liz I went together by chicken bus first to Rivas and from there we took a taxi, which partly fell apart, to the harbour of the town where the ferry took us to the island of Ometepe on the huge Lake Nicaragua. The island on the largest lake of Central America was formed by the two volcanoes Concecpion and Maderas. No wonder that the name means "two mountains" in the native language. The boat that brought us to the island was a very old wooden boat where a seaman had to pump water from the engine room all the time.

Liz had booked a nice Airbnb apartment for the three of us in the village of Moyogalpa. A local had a big house with a nice yard and had provided a guest room for us. It was just great! In the evening we just chilled out and we could witness to small lizards having sex on the wall next to us.

Splitting the water

On our first day on the island we went on a bike trip and drove to Punta Jesus Maria on a small spit of land, where the waves crash in from both sides. When I put up my arms, I felt like Moses in the Bible when he split the Red Sea haha
Simon and I later jumped into the water here too, although we felt a little uneasy about it, because Lake Nicaragua sometimes has bull sharks, which, along with the great white shark, are responsible for most of the deadly attacks on humans.

a very challenging volcano hike

For the next day I organized a guide via our Airbnb host so that I could climb the volcano Concepcion. You are not allowed to climb this volcano alone, because there have already been several deaths of careless tourists. For a long time, the hike was in doubt, because the guide could not find any other person who wanted to join the hike. In the end, a Dutch woman declared herself ready for it and the next morning we started early.

By Tuk-Tuk we drove to the starting point of the hike. It should be the most difficult hike I have ever done in my life. The tall Dutch woman threw in the towel after only 1 hour of hiking because the terrain was too steep and the weather too hot. The guide asked me the question whether we should continue the hike just the two of us, the Dutch woman would have to walk back alone. Yes yes! I wanted to climb this volcano!

Clounds on the top

In the beginning the way led through tropical rain forest. The further we came up, the more the vegetation thinned out and the worse the path became. Until finally there was no more way at all, but only loose stones and earth, on which you had to pull yourself up with all fours. After about 4 hours we both reached the summit, which rises 1600 meters above sea level. I could not see much from up there. Even the view to the crater was blocked by a cloud. But well - the path is the goal! Besides, I could see many strange and colorful insects at the top of the crater.

We both finally made our way back and the panorama that opened up in front of us was simply beautiful! While walking down, the local guide told me macho jokes the whole time.

A whole 8 hours and 3000 altitude meters later we arrived back down at the starting point. And we walked fast - without big breaks! Extremely exhausted, but also extremely happy about the ascent of the volcano, I finally arrived back at my accommodation. There I defeated the host in a game of FIFA and afterwards I finished off an XL pizza at dinner with Liz and Simon, who had rented a motorbike that day.

The next morning I headed for the next and last stop in Nicaragua: San Juan del Sur