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.

Hiking on Ometepe Island

 I LOVE Isla de Ometepe! After one night in Moyogalpa, where I met a lovley girl from Taipei, Taiwan, (we were room mates and decided to go to the Maderas part of the island together), I took the afternoon bus to Merida (in fact there are only 1 or 2 buses a day because of the bad roads).

I jumped into the wonderful lake as soon as we had beds for the night. This picture above is from Merida on the way to the one and only waterfall on the island. Me, and my friend Rei-Han, went hiking to this waterfall the day after we arrived at Rancho Merida, a family run place we slept at for $ 4 a night. It is possible to also go horseback riding, a good idea, since it is a though hike, and quite hot. It is a long walk from Merida to the entrance itself, and then you start climbing 3-4 km. We walked at an easy pace, and when arriving we could get into our swim suits and jump into the really cold, refreshing water. It is not really deep, waist deep, but stand underneath the waterfall and let it cool you.

It is not a big swim hole, but it is beautiful and lush, and you can hear the monkeys and see birds. We idled away 2 hours here, reading, soaking and enjoying the view. On the way back we saw a howler monkey. It is called San Ramon waterfall.
















Going back down is easier, but then we had the long way back along the dirt road from San Ramon the nearest community to the waterfall. On the way back I was tempted to jump into the lake to cool off before proceeding to el Communidad Merida and Rancho Merida. I was going to jump in on this side of the pavilion by the lake, but the wind had picked up so much that the waves were violent. I tried to get in there, but the force of the water was strong that I thought I would hurt myself on the concrete, so I went to the other side without the concrete and got in. The waves were strong, so I had to spend more energy swimming, but it was good and refreshing before continuing back home.

 

The lake was in a furry that night, boiling with big waves that kept me exercised in the water,when I jumped in again back in Merida. It was almost a little bit scary, but there were other people on the dock, and one man in the water, so I figured that I would be OK. The water in Lake Nicaragua is very

warm, despite the size of it. A little after I got out of the water a big thunderstorm blew up, lightening up the Volcano Conception (the pyramid on the picture). Every night on this side of the island lightning would make a spectacular show behind, above and around the volcano.

It gets dark really early here, around 6 O`clock, so by the time we got back we could see the beginning of the sunset on the lake, like a staircase of gold on the water. As soon as I was back home I jumped into the lake again, and stayed in the water until after pitch dark.

A wonderful sunset and the travel to Granada

First I want to present the most popular song in Nicaragua for the timebeeing. This raeggeton rythm is good to get in a good mood and in a dancemood..
Granda is considered one of the most beautiful cities in this part of the world, with its churches and colonial buildings. Yes, it is quite beautiful, but I guess I appreciate so much the more remote areas, and the rustic quality of Nicaragua rather than the cities. I have discovered that here there is more nature to indulge in. And after seeing a sunset in Jiquilillo that could be written hundreds of poems about, I find city's too full of buildings. Before I left Jiquilillo together with William and Fabienne we went kayaking which was great fun. We were out 3 hours in the afternoon, and when we came back after kayaking most of the time in a thunderstorm, the skies had cleared up and we could enjoy an awesome sunset. In the West the sky was an explosion of pink, orange, yellow and red, the colours mixing with the ocean that was throwing itself forcefully towards the beach. The colours from the sky mirrored themselves in the ocean and blended with the ragging grey foam from the ocean. In the East the sky was grey and blue, grey leftover from the thunderstorm. The beach was the colour of liquid gold, as was the wather that crashed in. It was the most beautiful sunset that I have seen by the ocean. Only a thunderstorm can create such fierce colouring of the sky and ocean. Anyway, after getting back to Leon, I slept there one night and took the bus to Granada. To get to Granada I had to pass through Managua, so I took the buss marked UCA, from there you can get connections to Granda without having to take a taxi across the city to another bus stop. UCA connects Managua to many cities and towns. I was surprised when we came into Managua. Since I have heard bad things about the city I expected to see grey, ugly fabrics and a dreary place. But coming into the capital city I saw only trees. It was like the nature has taken over the city and the only somewhat dreary thing I saw was the mud hole where the buses stop. On the way south I saw some more of the city, but not quite the center of it. I could not figure out where the center of the city might be since I saw only trees, and all the properties I saw looked like they had big gardens. Usually the trip with minivans are more comfortable than with the chickenbus. But the minivan from Managua continued to pick up people until the door could not be closed. many had to stand in an umcomfortable position.

The minibuses are the fastest way to get to Granada from Managua. You pay 20 cordobas to go, that is less than $ 1.  Granda is historically the most important city of Nicaragua, it was founded in 1524 by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba and one of the first European cities in mainland Americas. Unlike other cities who claim the same, the city of Granada was not only the settlement of the conquest, but also a city registered in official records of the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Castile in Spain. Granada is also known as La Gran Sultana, by its Moorish and Andalusian appearance, unlike its sister city of León and historical rival, which has Castilian trends, both of the Baroque time. It was named by Hernández de Córdoba after the ancient Spanish city of Granada. This was done in honor of the defeat of the last Moorish stronghold, which had been Spanish Granada, by the Catholic King and Queen of Spain. Granada, Nicaragua was historically the sister capital in Central America to Antigua, Guatemala. During the colonial period, Granada maintained a flourishing level of commerce with ports on the Atlantic Ocean, through Lake Nicaragua (original name Cocibolca) and the San Juan River. The city has been witness and victim to many of the battles with and invasions from English, French and Dutch pirates trying to take control of Nicaragua. It was also where William Walker, the American filibuster, took up residence and attempted to take control of Central America as a ruling monarch. One of Walker's generals, Charles Frederick Henningsen, set the city ablaze before escaping, destroying much of the ancient city and leaving printed the words "Here was Granada". For many years Granada disputed with León its hegemony as the major city of Nicaragua. The city of Granada was favored by the Conservatives, while Léon was favored by the Liberals. For many years there was conflict that at times became quite violent between the cities' families and political factions. In the mid-19th century a compromise site was agreed on and the capital was finally established at Managua between both cities .
 For the most part Granada avoided damage during the years of conflict in Nicaragua in the 1980s.

Maybe it has something to do with the of the year, but it seems to me that Nica towns and cities are not the most noicy kind. Gates where locked, and in the street I had to watch out for horses and bikes, not so many cars. I found my favourite cafe in the center, Cafe Euro with really good coffe, vegetarian food and great WiiFii to do some writing and research online. Hostels I can recomend are the Liberdad (it has organic pizza night every night, and the pizza is super delicious) and the Bearded Monkey across the street. Don`t let the bedbugs bite :)

Pic from the central park in Granada.