Island of Ometepe

This month we had the chance of going to visit Ometepe Island, which is really not far at all from Tola. In fact, from some parts of town one can see the principal volcano on the island, Volcan Concepcion.

Jean and I along with my sister and her family went together, cramming 6 of us in a small car. Our trip started early in the morning as we left from Tola for the port of San Jorge near Rivas. I was really surprised to see how different the transportation systems are here on the Pacific than on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, and felt a bit sad for the people on Corn Island and what they have to put up with.

To get to Ometepe, one can take a ferry from San Jorge. There are several different boats run by different businesses that travel several times every day, usually once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The boats are very large and also comfortable and well maintained. You can also take your car, so we hopped out just before my brother in law drove onto the ship, where he was told to cram it into the corner so tightly the doors wouldn't open, so he had to get out of the passengers side door.

El Rey

Deck 4

The boat we went on was called "El Rey" or "The King" in English, which we read in some places was the nicer of the boats, and it certainly was a nice one. There are 4 decks, the top being open air with benches, and the other floors having more comfortable padded seats and tables, but being closed in by windows. The lower deck also had a small store selling phone credit as well as snacks. The trip to the Island takes about one hour, and is generally very calm as it is across a lake rather than the ocean.

Deck 3

The trip costed about 50 Cordobas per person, and as we came into view of Ometepe we had some breathtaking views of the two volcanoes that make up the island.

Jean giving me attitude

What stood out about the Island the moment we arrived was how lush and green it is. It is the rainy season, and its true that all of Nicaragua is relatively lush and green. But something about Ometepe takes it to another level. Not only are there a lot of trees but they are also huge. Perhaps it is due to the local government's strict rules on protecting the islands ecology, or maybe because of the rich volcanic soil. Whatever the case, this place is intensely green, and everywhere you go you are overwhelmed by the majestic view of the enormous volcanoes. I really had no idea of how big they were until we got closer. For perspective, the larger volcano was even visible from our balcony in Jinotepe.

Jean has always been a bit nervous about volcanoes, talking about stories she always heard about Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. I kept reassuring her that although Concepcion (the bigger one) is indeed active, its not "that kind of volcano". To reassure her further that it was safe I did some research on volcanoes, different types, and the history of concepcion. To my surprise, Concepcion IS in fact "that kind" of volcano. According to wikipedia it is a "stratovolcano", some famous stratovolcanoes are Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Vesuvius... And Concepcion's last major lava spewing eruption was in 2015...

Anyways... Ometepe is pretty. We stayed at a hotel on the eastern coast of the Island, between the two volcanoes. On one of the days of our trip we went to visit a really amazing place called "Ojo de Agua" which means "Eye of water". It is a naturally occurring spring reinforced into a swimming area in the middle of the jungle. Despite being a popular tourist destination it was very quite and peaceful. There is a well equipped restaurant up the hill and vendors by the water serving rum inside coconuts.

Another highlight of the trip was when we went horseback riding up to a waterfall on Volcan Maderas, which is definitely not "that kind" of volcano. It is in fact, extinct and has a lake in the crater. For our horseback tour we went down the town of Merida on the south west side of the Island. Along the way we met some of the witnesses who were out in the ministry, completely at random as they were walking along the dirt road in the forest, Coincidentally we knew one of the couples as they were old friends of Jean's from Bluefields. There are 6 congregations on the Island of Ometepe despite its relatively low population.

We understood that it would be a 2 hour ride on horseback to a waterfall. We weren't sure if we were going up the volcano very far, we imagined not because it would be a really long distance. As it turned out we were confused, the ride was 5 hours and we were climbing the volcano on horseback. The waterfall was right at the point where the volcano pokes into the clouds. 1 hour in we were already feeling sore, none of us having any experience with horses. Once we started to climb the views were spectacular. The road narrowed into a rocky path through the rainforests which blanket the bottom of the Maderas Volcano. As we got higher the bush became more and more dense, we heard and saw howler monkeys and many other exotic animals and birds. According to the information we had, at certain altitudes Maderas changes from rainforest to cloud forest. What this means is that because of the extreme humidity and cooler temperatures brought by the clouds the plant species in the area are completely different. By the time we reached this point we were a little light headed, and it was time to get off the horses and climb the rest of the way. The plants were absolutely enormous. There were ferns with branches the size of a house hanging from cliff sides overhead. the white haze of the lower fringes of the clouds drifted across the pathway. despite exhaustion and some dizzyness we made it to the waterfall. Words really can't describe the place, but the cool mist spraying off the fall was very refreshing.

The way back was less exhausting as the horses were a bit tired and didn't feel like going so fast. Except for the part when they realized they were going home and decided to gallop at full speed. Its been about a week now and my blisters from the saddle are just starting to heal. For a couple of days all of us had problems walking, but it was worth it.

I really liked Ometepe. Too much in fact. It has made me realize that I have a problematic addiction to exploring new places. When I go to a new place, I tend to like it so much and be so excited about it that I have a burning desire to go and live there. We JUST moved to Tola and that is just not an option, and theres no really good reason to do it either. The congregation needs us here, plus it was a lot of work to move all our crap. So, definitely not moving to Ometepe. Even though part of me wants to. Being on an Island again brought back a lot of nice memories from our year on Corn Island. We're looking forward to the next time we can go back there, maybe this time I'll actually have the money to get a diving licence.

Moving again!

When I was younger I wanted to travel and never stay in one place for too long. I wanted to see and experience as many different places as possible. Now I'm tired and moving seems like more of a burden than adventure sometimes... With that in mind we are hoping to become more stable and stay in one place, and more importantly one congregation for a longer period of time. HOWEVER, before that happens we're moving again. I won't say this is the last time and I won't make any claims about how long we are going to stay in our next location because I learned that is something we can never predict. Circumstances change.

We have enjoyed our last 6 months living in Jinotepe a lot. The weather has been great and everyday life here was a lot easier than on the Atlantic Coast. We really, REALLY miss Corn Island though, and if they had reliable internet we would probably still be there. According to Claro's website they do have coverage on Corn Island, but when you go to the office to sign up you are met by three... individuals... sitting down chewing gum, who respond with phrases such as "We no have change." or "Ova there no got connekshan" or even simply "nah".

Anyways... My sister along with her husband and two children have moved down to Nicaragua and we would

like to be in the same congregation as them. They are now settled in the municipality of Tola, which is in the Rivas department. The town of Tola has a brand new congregation that still meets in a private home, and a very large and very responsive territory. After some consideration and investigation of what life would be like in Tola we have decided to move. Hopefully, this move will be more long term.

Our rent will be about half of what we are paying now, although we will have to pay the internet bill and buy furniture, but we still end up saving a lot. Thankfully, shortly after moving to Jinotepe I was able to get a job teaching English, and interestingly now make more money per hour than I ever did working in Canada. I am fairly confident that this is Jehovah's blessing and a reward for not giving up and going to Canada to work while Jean stayed behind. We still have hopes of going to Canada some day to visit if Jean is ever granted a visa, but now it won't be an emergency.

Tola is an interesting place, very different from other parts of Nicaragua in regards to landscape and climate. It is part of the area known as the "Emerald Coast" of Nicaragua. Right now in the dry season it looks very dry but has a lot of trees and large forests. The town itself is quite small, I'm not sure what the population is but its bigger than Pearl Lagoon and smaller than San Marcos. For some reason it reminds me of some small towns in Saskatchewan that we would drive through on the way to visit my grandparents when I was a kid. Maybe its the kind of trees or the way the countryside looks.

In other news, as a new feature of my blog I will now start including videos when I can. You may notice that a few older posts have had video clips added to them. On my same Youtube Channel you can find some other random videos that I have uploaded that are not related to any particular post, Some sights from Corn Island for example, and also some silly/stupid things I did for fun. (bottle rockets)

Here is a link to the channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChr_gi6q-sCFl40y8M0BWJw