Last weekend we traveled to the Island of Ometepe. This island is one of Nicaragua's main tourist attractions intriguing visitors with it's two volcanoes and its unique history, which is largely separate from that of the rest of Nicaragua. Juaquin, one of the local school teachers from Una Escuelita accompanied us on the trip. We thought that bringing a "local" would help us to navigate the weekend. As we learned, however, he was just as much as a "tourist" as we were. People from Limon Dos rarely have the time or money to travel. Regardless, it was interesting to have his perspective on the island and to get to know him better.
To get to Ometepe, we took a two hour bus to Rivas, a twenty minute cab ride to the port of San Jorge, an hour and a half tumultuous boat ride and another three hour bus to our final destination, Finca Magdalena. (Keep in mind the public buses in all of Nicaragua are former American school buses.)
Finca Magdalena has been a famous destination for backpackers since the early 90s. It is a coffee
cooperative owned by several Nicaraguan families; by staying there one is directly giving back to the local community. Although an interesting and laudable idea, we found the "hippy, coffee snob" vibe coming from the other guests a bit off putting. We went to bed soon after we arrived around nine in preparation of our big hike up Volcan Maderas the next morning.The hike was decidedly more difficult than we were expecting. Picture the hardest terrain you can think up, multiplied by at least three, straight up hill. Upon approaching the top we entered a cloud rainforest which worsened the already damp and muddy trail. It also meant that there was not a view when we reached the summit. Needless to say, we had plenty of falls and aching muscles when we finished...seven and a half hours later.
That night we decided to head to the second largest city on the island, Altagracia. Although the guidebook and other travelers hadn't highlighted much in this town we found it to be a surprisingly fun place. For starters, we found a welcoming hostel which accepted credit cards. Considering the rest of Ometepe's lack of financial infrastructure this was like striking gold! Despite it's flourishing tourist industry the island has only one ATM several hours from where we were staying. To make the night even more exciting there was a local block party just around the corner from our hostel. Quinn, in particular, greatly enjoyed practicing his dance skills with the locals. On our trip we experienced several of these parties and learned that they were being thrown by local politicians as a way to garner support for the upcoming elections.
On Sunday we rented bicycles and rode to a natural, fresh water spring known as Oja de Agua. We were pleasantly surprised by the beauty and tranquility of this spot. While at Oja de Agua we ran
into several of the other tourists that we had met throughout our trip. This turned out to be a common occurrence as tourists are constantly going to the same attractions. That night we walked around the market where Jane learned the basic techniques of fire dancing. While looking for a place to eat we came across a group of people on the side of the street grilling. They said we could eat there for under two dollars and we ventured to try it. As it turned out, their carne asado (grilled steak) was the best meal we had on the trip!
After a quick stop in Rivas to pick up more supplies for our house, we returned to the school on Tuesday. The following day was Quinn's last day at the school. The kids were very sad to see him go (as were we) and they requested many photographs with him. We hope he has gotten back to the States safe and sound and is prepared for knee surgery.
We are now experiencing a host of new trials at the school. Now that Quinn is gone, Jane will take over English lessons with the children who get tutored upstairs. Initially, this left the downstairs in a chaotic state. We have since met with the teachers downstairs to discuss a more effective approach to the daily schedule. Furthermore, A began Spanish lessons with Chico this week which will hopefully help to close the language barrier.
The weather in Nicaragua is beginning to change over to Summer which brings in a cooling wind and many tourists. The Surf Sanctuary is hosting its first group of guests this week, livening things up. We cooked a fabulously seasoned chicken in our new oven earlier this week and are still eating the leftovers. There aren't any pressing plans for the weekend so we are going to go relax by the pool.
Hasta luego,
Jane and A
No comments:
Post a Comment