Day 85-86 Isla de Ometepe - Merida

After another few bus rides we caught the ferry over to Isla de Ometepe which is an island that was formed by 2 volcanoes rising out of a lake, Volcan Concepcion (1610m) and Volcan Maderas (1394m). We caught a bus to our hostel which was situated on the lake close to Volcan Maderas, which we hoped to climb the next day, in a little town called Merida.

The hostel was surrounded by jungle and had great views over the lake where you could see the other volcano . We found our way to the restaurant where they did a mean veggie burger including plantain fries (looks like a banana but closer to a potato and sweet potato combined in flavour), really nice though. We then ordered one of the most amazing smoothies we have ever had. They brought out a HUGE bowl like glass which had a mango and banana smoothie made with frozen fruit that was so thick they gave it to you with a spoon. We were in heaven.

So after our awesome lunch we planned what activities we were going to do for the next few days and hoped the weather might clear up for us. We told the owner of the hostel that we would like to climb Volcan Maderas the next day, an 8 hr round trip where you were required to take a guide or you were sent to the police. His first reaction was to make sure we had read the information booklet, 'yes we have' we politely replied, then he went on to tell us that only 50% of people succeed in making the top, 'ok thanks for that tip but we would still like to climb it' and then he went on even further to suggest we stay a few days more so we can train and walk some other trails to see if we feel up to it. All of this positive talk was not helping to psych us up for the 8hr journey up and back but it was something we wanted to do so we told him in a super optimistic manner that we would like to go and we feel we can make it all the way so can we please hire a guide.

The next morning after a breakfast for champions, brown bread with scrambled eggs and galo pinto, we started the walk. Our guide was a kid all of 20 years but he had lived in the area all his life. He spoke enough English and we spoke enough bad Spanish to get by. We started the walk through some of the farmers land, passing corn and rice and other mystery crops before we got deeper and deeper into the thick jungle and cloud forest. The track was wet and very muddy from the previous days rain but the sun was out for us and we were hoping it would stay that way. We continued passed a few streams and rivers, into even thicker jungle where we saw monkeys, very large spiders and many enormous bugs and beetles all sporting a new brilliant colour. The track got thinner, more slippery and wet and the jungle got thicker. Before we knew it we were climbing up tree roots and holding onto vines to scramble up the side of this volcano. We reached a point just before the cloud line where the view was amazing. We could see the other volcano across the island and down into the various bays of the lake. Then we climbed above the cloud line and the view was gone, that was the last we ever saw of it. Three and a half hours later we made it to the top, very sweaty but happy to be there. We looked around and saw nothing but white. The cloud was so thick we couldn't even see down into the crater of the volcano. Awesome. We sat down and caught our breath, high fived at completing the walk and being in the top 50%, ate our sandwich and then realised there was nothing more to really see up there so started the gruelling and slippery walk down.

Around 7 and a bit hours later we got back to the hostel, muddy but pretty content as we had had a tough and challenging day but it was pretty cool at the same time. We had a very long shower and then ordered another smoothie, this time with some coconut.

That night we had yet another awesome sunset down on the lake, sitting on the jetty with Volcan Concepcion overlooking it all. We shared a few Tona beers, a great Nicaraguan brew, and thought about our next stop, Costa Rica.