Bikeriding on Ometepe Island

To keep myself active when I came back to sleep in Hostel Central in Moyogalpa (or Indio Viejo), I rented a bike one day to explore the island. You can rent one from the "old indian" himself for $6 a day, or from others for $5. You always have to check the brakes, or else you may get a nasty surprise. The day wI decided to do so I met Scot from UK who was also after a bike for the day. I decided to bike to Balgue on the other side of the island, and stop a few places on the way. The first stop was at Punta Jesus Maria, the locals call the Whales back because there is a small strip of land going out into the lake, however the lake is now so full of water that it was not possible to see the strip of land called the Whales back. The picture above is a picture of the road down there. It is 1 /2 km. from the main road. The picture below is as far as I got.

The picture below is from Laguna Chaco Verde, and it is also a bit away from the main road. it is possible also to sleep in a hotel near this lagoon, called Chaco Verde. By the entrance to Chaco Verde, the main road (from Moyogalpa on the Conception part of the island, to Altagracia on the Maderas side, the only paved road on the island) start to go up hill, so you might want to either take the bus to the junction that connects the two parts of the island, or you can stop and take a refreshing bath here before continuing, under an unmerciful sun, to take a bath. It is really quiet and beautiful, no people around when I was there, and you can see /hear howler monkeys and see both Conception and Maderas from there. The water is clear and refreshing. m o this was my 2nd stop on the way to Balgue, some 20 or more km. from Moyogalpa (for the record, I do not know how far it is, but when I came back i  was told that I had been bkiking more than 40 km. (not including my stops)). The 2 pictures below are from the lagoon Chaco Verde.

From Chaco Verde I had a really hard time getting up several km. up hill with my bike. I had to get up and walk some. The sun makes it really hard since there are no trees to give any shade. It is not a steep hill, but it
is hard (on the way back it is fun though!). After climbing all those km. the road went slightly down hill toward the junction where I would take off towards Balgue. Right after the junction there is a very steep down hill, and at the bottom is the entrance for Ojo de Agua, a source of water that is, thought by the natives, to be healing water. I went past it because the hill was steep and I had good speed on my bike. I was really grateful that it is hardly any traffic on the island, because the roads are small and narrow. I went on to Balgue, the road was a bit easier, until you get to the unpaved road part. The Maderas side of the island is less developed than the Conception side, so the roads are awful and bumpy, and the only reason why buses take forever to travel a few km. I stopped to drink a juice in Balgue and started back, determined to stop at Ojo de Agua on the way back. I was tired when I came there because I had to bike up hill a lot, so it was just beautiful to lie down in the rather cold water. Ojo de Agua (eye of water) is caused by rainwater that was stuck underground in the soft volcanic sediments being pressed up again to the surface. During the rainy season the water seeps down in the hollows in the rocky ground and in the end there is too much water, so it presses up again where it can find a way out, and it makes the pool on the pictures (below), and a river running in to the lake from it. Because it has been trapped before inside volcanic ground full of minerals, the water is crystal clear and sparkling clean, and full of minerals. That is why it is healing water, and it is said that a bath in the water makes you 5 years younger. So while I was there, I jumped in 3 times, and I made jokes to a man and a woman I met that I am 15 years younger, since I jumped in 3 times. I ate some food by the pool, and swam in it in between. It is not very deep, and compared to Lake Nicaragua, the water is very cold, but in the heat you will appreciate it. After almost 2 hours, I considered going back because it gets dark so early, and even if there is little traffic, I did not want to bike in the dark. To get back was first very, very hard. I was tired from all the up hill climbing that I had done, and I am not a champion on bike. When the up hills started by Chaco Verde, Scot left me (he was on a day trip to the island, and was going to go back to the mainland on the 17:00 boat), and I met him on the way back when I was nearing Balgue, we said goodbye and he went back before me. I had my battle with all the up hill until I came to the point where it all went down for several km., and it was tons of fun. Just sitting on the bike, not having to nothing was a blessing, my princess ass was hurting from an uncomfortable seat, so I was in heaven for a while. After all the down hill, I joined locals, that travel by bike all the time here, but have all the time in the world biking lazily away. I, also, biked lazily away. After something that seems like forever with my sore ass, I finally got back home. The 2 pictures below are from Ojo de Agua.

I managed to stay on Isla de Ometepe for 2 weeks. It was difficult to leave, and more than one person said; the island does that to you! And now it is experiencing its 3rd. invasion. The 1st. invasion was the aztec invasion, the 2nd. the conquistadors from Spain, and the 3rd is the Europeans and the USA. On this small island, the foreign population is growing. I met many, f.ex. one young couple from UK running the Cornerhouse Cafe. They make the most delicious Eggs Benedict you can find in the whole wide world! And the cold latte and carrot cake is also to die for. I made the place my regular place the week I spend in Moyogalpa, sitting there whole days sometimes to catch up on my blog, eating breakfast (Egg Benedict) together with one of the refreshing smoothies with starfruit or passion fruit together with mango and papaya, mango and banana, or banana and papaya, or some other fruits. Then have a iced latte and a carrot cake or an organic vegetarian sandwich. I met other Europeans and people from US in the cafe who either lived there or had just bought a property there. The reason to leave their countries where very interesting, so I had some very meaningful conversations with some of them. In general they do not have a "mainstream" philosophy of life. The locals on the island are so beautiful that I could almost cry looking at them. But I guess it is easy to be beautiful when you live a stress free, simple life and have clean air and surrounded by green nature and animals. Me and Rei-Han (from Taipei) had a conversation about that, and she said that the people are so beautiful because they are so pure in their hearts. She also said something interesting about happiness that gave me an idea, because I want to do a blog about happiness, so I have been thinking for a while about how to dig deeper into the theme. What I have noticed is that people in general seem happy in Central-America, not for lack of suffering, but maybe because of it, they take every moment as a chance of happiness. A friend said that they can not waste the time on unhappiness because they never know what will happen to them, and they live in countries with violence. What is happiness to them, is not the same as happiness is for us in the safe privileged world, but it works in the same way.I have long ago figured out that the way to true happiness is to grateful. And I am truly grateful for meeting all the people I have met, and to have come here to learn.