Cocibolca - the sweet wather

After my stay in Posto Rojo I went directly to Isla de Ometepe. I jumped on a bus at a road conjunction where busses came from Managua heading south to Rivas. It was an good old Bluebird (the chickenbus), and it cost less than $2 to get to Rivas. From there I had to get a taxi to the ferry dock, and crossed over to Moyogalpa in 1 hour. It is a beautiful crossing with the view toward the island where 2 volcanos are looming. The twin volcanos are enough to capture anyones imagination, rising up from the massive (8 264 km2, a little smaler than Titicaca in Peru /Bolivia and the 9th largest in America) lake in Nicaragua. The original name of Lake Nicaragua is Cocibolca - sweet wather. Among the admireres of the island is Mark Twain, who described it lyrically in his book Travels with Mr. Brown. The fertile volcanic soil, wide beaches, the wildlife population, archaelogical sites and dramatic profile have landet the island on a shortlist for new Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It is certainly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen; two volcanos rising up from a huge lake, it is not only spectacular from the ferry, it is equally spectacular on the island itself. I departed from San Jorge with this little car ferry. I am not an expert of logistics, but it I do not have to be a genius to see that the way they first put the big truck in the middle and then there where 3 small vans more to get inside. The ferry left the dock heavier on one side, but they can get away with it here, the one hour ferry ride was on a calm lake, but the lake is only 26 meters at its deepest, so I if the winds are really strong the waves can be quite high. In fact I have heard that people do get seasick on the 4 hour ferry ride from Granada, and I thought about the ferry ride on Pirihueico many years ago when I traveled in South-America with huge waves crashing OVER the ferry. I remember sitting on the sundeck on top of the ferry, feeling seasick and getting splashed by wather, so I had to go downstairs where the waves did not feel that high. In Patagonia the winds are so strong, all the time, that it wips up the lake in a fury 24 hours. The lake is in the 7 lake district in Patagonia. To go to Ometepe you can either take a ferry; Ferry 1, Ferry 2 or Che Guevara for 60 cordoba or take one of the "pangas" (40 cordobas) on the picture below (I think they are very slow and overfilled). They arrive on the island either in Moyogalpa or in San Jose del Sur. I had no idea where I would arrive, because I forgot to check it before I left, but I was quite sure that I would land in Moyogalpa, and I did. In Moyogalpa I found the Hostal Central or Indio Viejo as it is also called, owned by an old man who claims he is born in a tribe of this island. I do not believe him; he is fluent in French and English, but not in Spanish, and his children and staff all speak French, bad Spanish and NO English. They listen to French music and only speak French among them. The lake drains to the Caribbean Sea by the river San Juan, makeing Granada an important Atlantic port. It was suggested that a canal would be made at the narrow isthmus at Rivas, but in stead the Panama Canal was buildt. In fact the lake presses the land into such a narrow belt that it barely separates the lake from the Pacific Ocean and geological evidence suggest that there was no separation between the lake and the ocean in distant past. The isthmus of Rivas is replete with history. Although known as the land of Nicarao, the area was first inhabited by the Kiribisis tribe, whom the more powerful Chorotegas pushed aside. The Nicaraos came afterward, and by the time the Spanish “discovered” the region, it had been residents here for at least seven generations.

Main land.

































It’s hard to compete with La Isla de Ometepe for attention. The magnificent twin-peaked Ometepe rises like a crown from the center of Lake Cocibolca. An intensely volcanic island steeped in tradition and mystery, Ometepe was the ancestral home of the Nahuatl people and today is an alluring destination for travelers, with its sandy beaches, swimming holes, hiking trails, and of course, two breathtaking volcanoes: one hot, one cold (the former remains quite active).