Bugalicious and amazing Isla Ometepe!

It's not as bad as it sounds. There were bugs, a lot of them, mainly gnats. But they did not bite! Yay! A bit of respite for me!

Arriving at Ometepe on the 'Ferry Che Guevara'

Ometepe has been top banter! It's an island on Lake Nicaragua, formed by two volcanoes whose lowlands are joined by a narrow isthmus. Looking onto the lake it was hard to believe that it was a lake we were looking at, with waves lapping up against the shore.

We were walking through Moyogalpa town, after getting off the ferry and who should pull up next to us but Alicia and Susan, with two other people they'd met on the ferry crossing, Emily and Javi (short for Javier). We were thinking of staying at Finca Magdalena but had no idea how to get there for cheap, that late in the day, so we jumped in their minibus and ended up heading to Little Morgan's with them. Bugs were abound that night and it was impossible to have a beer without having to pick out 4 or 5 gnats each time you took a sip. But I did love our dorm double bed with mozzie net hanging over it.

The dorm at Little Morgan's

The next day Emily and Javi were renting a motorbike to go and explore the island. Ciaran and I didn't feel safe enough carrying each other on a motorbike, so with Susie and Alicia we rented bicycles and rode off to the Ojo de Agua, a water hole filled with water full of minerals and apparently with healing properties! Healing properties or not, it was one hot bike ride with the sun beating down on us, so it was so nice to plunge into the cold water!

The Ojo de Agua

Monkey feeding time!

On the way back we saw the local monkeys, who pass along the main road at 3pm every day, on their way home for the evening. Javi and Emily came and joined us for dinner in Balgue later on, where I had the most delicious fresh pasta!

Emily wasn't feeling too well the next day, so the five of us walked the 45 minutes to Balgue and up the hill to Finca Magdalena. It sounded like a nice place to eat and do a coffee tour... Well, it was ok. The food was alright (at that point we were all so hungry we would have eaten anything) and Ciaran and I did the coffee tour, and although the guide was really nice it's not the best $6 we've spent so far! Mainly because we're out of the harvesting season, so there wasn't much to see, but hey, we got to practice our Spanish!

After a refresco back at Cafe Campestre, myself Javi and Ciaran walked back to Little Morgan's as we wanted to go horseriding on the beach! Susan came back just in time and we all went cantering down the beach. It was so cool! As we mounted the horses I had this thought of 'shit, I haven't ridden for years!' But it was fine once I was on! The stirrups were quite uncomfortable though, so Ciaran and I are now sporting big welts where they were rubbing away at our shins. We cooled down afterwards with a dip in the lake. It was the most amazing sunset!

The most amazing sunset, behind Volcan Concepcion

Ometepe has been exercise time! What with the bikes, the horses and all the walking! Last night we headed back to Cafe Campestre in Balgue (the fourth time we've walked there!), as they had told us that they would have chicken liver pate that night! Actual luxury! This was followed by the biggest salad ever! 

The wind came up and the bugs went away, luckily! Even with the bugs and the stifling heat, and the extra effort required to get anywhere and do anything (I.e. having to walk miles or cycle to everything), Ometepe was awesome. Good times with awesome people!

We are sticking together and are now en route to San Juan del Sur, hopefully for some more surfing!