To break up my time in Granada, I rode to Ometepe Island.
Wikipedia Ometepe
This is what Wikipedia says about Ometepe:
Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome (two) and tepetl (mountain), meaning “two mountains”. It is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua. The two volcanoes (known as Volcán Concepción and Volcán Maderas) are joined by a low isthmus to form one island in the shape of an hourglass, dumbbell or peanut. . . . The island first became inhabited during the Dinarte phase (c. 2000 BC – 500 BC), although evidence is questionable. The first known inhabitants were speakers of Macro-Chibchan languages. Traces of this past can still be found in petroglyphs and stone idols on the northern slopes of the Maderas volcano. The oldest date from 300 BC. Several centuries later, Chorotega natives created statues on Ometepe carved from basalt rock. After the Spaniards conquered the Central American region in the 16th century, pirates began prowling Lake Nicaragua. They came in from the Caribbean Sea via the San Juan River. The inhabitants of Ometepe were hard hit. The pirates kidnapped women, stole the inhabitants’ animals, possessions, and harvest, and erected settlements on the shore, making it their refuge. This made the local population move to higher grounds on the volcanoes in search of shelter. The island was finally settled by the Spanish conquistadors at the end of the 16th century.
Pretty Cool.
The Ride to Ometepe
It isn’t a long ride to Ometepe. However, there is a ferry, and the afternoon rains to consider.
I got to the ferry terminal and went to the ticket booth. They said I needed to go to another booth. What?! I went there and paid 25 Cordobas. Nothing. Then it was just waiting.
One ferry was loading but not taking vehicles.
Unlike the ferries I’m use to where you ride on and ride off the opposite end, this one you had to back on.
This made the loading take a long time.
Finally on our way.
On the way a person came around to collect our tickets. I gave him mine and he said that that was just the tax for my motorcycle. Tax?! So I had to pay another 150 Cordobas. I thought it was pretty cheap.
It is a hour and a half ferry ride. I passed the time talking to a nice lady from the Netherlands who was exploring Nicaragua on her own. She wished she had a motorcycle as she found it quite the pain to figure out buses to take. She was planning on spending 3 nights on Ometepe and doing a hike. After a year of riding and having a hernia operation I am in much too poor of shape to do a big hike 🙁 I did a short hour long one at Lanquin and I was hurting afterwards.
As we arrived it started to drizzle.
Ometepe Hotel
I stayed at the Hotel Villa Paraiso in Santo Domingo. I got a pretty cool little cabin.
It is right on the beach so I went exploring.
Weird looking bird … but beautiful.
Heading Back to Granada
Yes, it was a short trip to Ometepe. Before heading back to the ferry I explored a bit of the small island.
If it had been a nice day I may have stayed longer. But it wasn’t.
Getting back to the terminal was a bit confusing for some reason. There are 2 entrances into it. Of course I took the one just for passengers. There I saw another couple that I met in Leon.
Eventually, after opposite instructions from people around me, I made it to the vehicle entrance. The ferry was just about to leave but they waited for me and rushed me through the ticketing process.
Back on the ferry to head to Granada.
My Route for July 31 and August 1, 2017
