For the next leg of our Isla de Ometepe journey, we took the bus from Moyogalpa to Altagracia. There we changed buses, not sure where to go but deciding to catch a bus going vaguely in the direction of our hostel. Then, at Santa Cruz, we got off and instead of waiting over three hours for the next bus, we decided to walk to our hostel. This walk not only brought blood flow back to my legs which had been jammed tightly into a seat made for American school children, but also meant we could take in some of views. It was beautiful, passing through the fertile farmland that lie on the flanks of the Maderas volcano, after around 6km we reached Hacienda Merida which would be our home for the next three nights.
Hacienda Merida was a collection of a few buildings right next to the lake, with a concrete jetty and kayaks available to rent. Our dorm room turned out to be a double bed with a bunk bed and an en-suite, with no one else joining us during our stay. Luxury. The hostel was next to a school which we got a tour of and we often saw the children around the place. Obviously, there were some hammocks too, no Central American hostel is complete without these magnificent inventions and they were looking out to the lake which was perfect.
Note: the hostel’s food was decent if a bit expensive so we went out to one of the local “restaurants” (more of a house with some chairs and table outside) next to the dirt road and the food was very nice and so was the price.
The best aspect of the hostel was the jetty. During the evenings, we would perch ourselves on the warm concrete, legs swinging over the gently lapping brown water and stare out to the volcanic behemoth across the isthmus. Light and heat would drain from the air as the sun sank from its zenith, but what it lost in power it gained in beauty. Golden light surged through the sky, pushing out the clear blues and emblazoning each cloud with a jagged halo of chrome.
The River
Does Rio Istian really exist?
At the start of the day we had no doubts that the answer to this question was yes.
Our kayaking trip was on the cards for a while. Brendan had never set foot in a kayak before so we set off with some trepidation in a double kayak. The river, according to the omniscient Google Maps, lies at the middle of the two volcanoes in the centre of the island and has a huge variety of wildlife. The highlight? The caimans, because who doesn’t like pocket sized crocodiles?
The kayaking started with a stretch down along the shore but then we decided to take a shortcut across more open water which was a little bumpy due to the wind, but after about an hour we arrived at the isthmus. We went up and down the stretch of land, no river in sight. We were travelling in the rainy season so the lack of river couldn’t be attributed to the climate. After floating around for a while looking at the birds on the bank, we came to the conclusion we had executed one of the worst navigational failures of the decade and sullenly began our kayak back.
Back at the hostel, after 3 hours of kayaking our arms were aching, Brendan had sunburnt his shins and we were a bit miffed to say the least. I checked the map and as it turned out we had gone the right way so the only explanation was that the river isn’t real. Yes, you heard me correctly. The only explanation. The many websites claiming the presence of Rio Istian and its navigable waters had been some sort of sick coordinated joke intended only to cause kayakers anguish. Maybe this the sort of anecdotal ammo (based on the hazy first hand accounts of two people, one of whom is famously terrible at finding things and the other who needs glasses but refuses to wear them) is what is needed to disassemble the multinational corporation that is Google. So watch out, I’m coming for you, one brightly coloured letter at a time.
The Waterfall
Another day another adventure.
Both of us love a walk. A walk up to a big waterfall in the cloud forest of a volcano was irresistible.
As with most places there was an option of a tour of some sort but this has never appealed to me. I’ve never really liked being told what to look at and what to do, so instead we got up early while the day was still fairly cool and started down the road. The walk to the Biological Station (where you pay a few dollars entry) was about 4km and from there it was uphill along a small concrete road winding through fruit plantations. The views of the lake were beautiful. After this section of about 2km, the concrete gave way to a track through the rainforest, following the river. After a kilometre or so the cloud forest gave way to a clearing where the 60-metre waterfall of San Ramon stood.
Feeling hot and sweaty we did the compulsory photos of us with the waterfall behind and then went for a dip. The water was cold and the bottom was a precarious mix of sharp rocks and sticks, but the sadistic plunge pool couldn’t stop us from cooling off.
The walk back down revealed the joys of getting up early as we had the waterfall to ourselves whereas everyone else was walking up closely packed together. Also, the heat at this point didn’t make for fun climbing so we were fairly smug. Walking back along the road was a fun mix of being very thirsty and being very aware of my previous and only sunburn experience. The sunburn had happened about a week prior to this in Hostel Paradiso and at this point I was shedding my skin like some sort of humanoid snake.
The People
We met some amazing people through our travels and Isla Ometepe was no different. In Hacienda Merida we met a couple who were really friendly. We got chatting and it turns out the guy, Toby, had a strange story about Wonga loans. Interest rates with these companies are notoriously high and they aren’t usually the most trustworthy or understanding. He told us how he had just come out of a 2-year legal battle with them. Now I’m sure this has happened before, people take out substantial sums of money with loan companies and when it comes to monetary disputes legal battles are inevitable. However, this was only concerning a loan of £24. We thought this was an almost unheard of dedication and stubbornness over such a small sum of money, I didn’t want to imagine what splitting the bill at a restaurant would be like with such a man.
Final thoughts
You can’t trust the internet, you can’t trust Wonga loans but you can trust me when I say Isla de Ometepe is worth every second.
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