We woke bright and early to make our way to an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua called Ometepe. After a fun chicken bus ride (with more people on board the bus than seemed physically possible) we switched to the ferry which took us across the lake and on to the island.

The guide books describe this island as something out of a fantasy novel or fairy tales as the island was formed by two volcanoes rising separately out of the lake side by side. As they erupted over the years the two volcanos were joined in the middle to form one big island.

Once on fantasy island we made our way to the land between the two volcanoes and found a clean and comfortable hotel with waterfront views for next to nothing as it was low season here. We soon found out why it was low season as we walked down to check out the "so called" beach! The water was extremely choppy and high which meant that there was no beach to speak of at all!

Apart from the beach, the other sights to check out here are hiking up either of the two volcanoes (6 hours or 10 hours depending on your choice of volcano!), a 35m waterfall which also required a half day hike to its base or a natural spring. Given that we had already hiked two volcanoes previously (and quite frankly just couldn't be arsed...hehe) we decided to check out the natural spring. This also meant that we needn't stick around for our planned two nights and so we stayed for only one instead.

Early the next morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to the natural spring called Ojo de Agua (Eye of Water). Walking towards the spring we had pictured a rough and natural looking pool of water in the middle of nowhere. We were correct except that it also looked like a pool from a 5star hotel in Cancun! Deck chairs line the pool's edge, the edge has been cemented and shaped, there was a basic restaurant and bar on the pool's edge also. It was definately not as we expected, but it still held a natural charm that we fell in love with. We found a tree swing that swung us into the pool and kept us entertained for quite a while also! It was a great morning and well worth the trip over to the island. As for the other sights, we cannot really say, but as a destination Ometepe did not live up to our expectations as a "fantasy island".

We caught the ferry back to the mainland and with stunning weather on the return trip we had an amazing view looking back on the two volcanoes rising out of the lake. It was a really cool sight, definately not something you see everyday!