Exploring Ometepe Island and Laguna Ojo on mopeds

Mikkel wasn't feeling too well this morning so while the others headed out to explore the island ,he stayed in bed. Frederik and Berit decided to explore the island on foot, Matilde, Malene and Michael cruised around on mopeds most of the day.

We rented mopeds through the hostel for a fixed price and they were dropped off by some local guys at 8 in the morning. No problem with them all day. They seemed new and well maintained.

You can easily spend a whole day going around the island looking for a beach to hang out, go to Laguna Ojo for a nice and refreshing swim or just enjoy the laid back feeling of Ometepe in general. There are nice views along the way of the two volcanoes, Maderas and Concepcion, and of the lake and you can also cross the runway of the local airport. After a couple of hours we stopped at a small place to have fresh juices. Great entertainment while we were there; some women came down to wash clothes and dogs. The dogs were carried out in the water and were washed on the small platforms. A group of oxes and some horses also came down to the lake to drink some water.

Coming back to our hostel in Balgue we made sure that the mopeds were refilled with gas but the guys picking up the mopeds claimed that one of them was not completely full and wanted more money. Its a classic scam in Nicagarua and fairly common that somebody suddenly wants more money. Also on Ometepe. Since they had our passports there wasn't much negotiation but try to include the hostel owner in the discussion if he or she is around. It wasn't a lot of money but it is more the principle of not being hustled for dollars here and there - and also being able to trust the local when you make a deal with them.

Anyway, it was not enough to spoil the day. It was wonderful to go around the island, see and smell the nature and just feeling free to go where ever we wanted.

We went to the Argentinian steak restaurant in town in the evening and just managed to get there before power failed in the town. So we ordered food and were happy to have chosen a place with a charcoal fired barbeque this evening. It was so good.

Having a fun time in Laguna Ojo

Tree with big spikes

Moped view

Backseat driver selfie

Maderas volcano in the back ground

Matilde and Michael in front of Concepcion

Local women washing clothes and dogs

Oxes and horses come down to the lake to drink water

Volcano Concepcion

Matilde

Crossing the local airport

BBQ black out - luckily the BBQ was charcoal fired

Heading for Isla Ometepe and Lazy Crab Hostel

Everything comes to an end - eventually. Also our stay at Magnific rock. We really enjoyed it and the others arriving from Denmark looked like they also liked it a lot. Laid back and quiet and with the beach just down the road - and those Pacific sunsets.

On the other hand we were all happy to cram into the way too small minivan that was going to take us to Rivas and the ferry. Just one hour or so of driving. Nicaragua is a wonderfully small country to travel in. After our trip through South America everything seems to be right "around the corner" here.

So off we went, just having to make a technical break in Rivas town to get cash at the ATMs in town not really sure whether there were ATM's on Ometepe. Maybe there would be, maybe they would work. No really worth taking the risk.

We arrived at the ferry just 10 minutes or so before it was leaving. It was really busy but they kept loading people and cars onto this small ferry, Eventually there could not be more people on the boat and we left for a very slow, very windy and very nice crossing of the lake Nicaragua with big waves splashing over the side of the ship. This is where you cannot help to think of those news stories from "somewhere" in the world where this boat has capsized on some odd lake and 400 people have drowned.

Anyway, we made it to the other side of the lake, the captain did some very slow manoeuvres to dock the ship and a tidal wave of tourist headed for the taxis - including us. We had to pass through a big crowd of people waiting to go back to the mainland and there in the middle of a lot of people we bumped into Bridie and Claire from Bocas. It's a small country. We managed to give some new years hugs and then they had to board the ferry and we had to find a taxi and off we went. 30 minutes later we were dropped off in front of our hostel and got the keys to our room.

We went straight for some late lunch at a local cafe and realised that this was the Nicaraguan country side. Laid back, friendly and a bit slow. Eventually we got food and hung out for a few extra beers before heading back to the hostel.

In the evening we headed down the main road and found a place for more cold beers. The town was celebrating something so they had a mini-festival organised on a small field complete with beer, food and bull-fighting. It turned out to be ox-fighting with the local jumping around trying their best to annoy some very lazy oxen. Back to the hostel for some sleep and packing for our hike to the top of the volcano tomorrow.

Last morning at Magnific Rock

No, Michael is not a giant, its just a very small van

Order to go

6 of us - and driver in a small van

Heading to Isla Ometepe

Late afternoon beers, sunshine and local market

Everything packed for our hike tomorrow - almost