Day 18 - La Isla de Ometepe

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We had our last breakfast in Las Peñitas and sais goodbye to the owner of the place. Even Youppi wanted to say bye to his 2 friends but Maya didn't want to let him go.

Once I had Youppi back and we were ready to leave, we took a shuttle van from there to Granada and then to San Jorge. We got there right on time for the 2:30 ferry to Moyogalpa, on Ometepe island. 

La Isla de Ometepe, which has the shape of a big peanut of 276 square kilometers, was formed by 2 volcanoes, the phenomenal Volcán Concepción, which is still active and its little brother Volcán Maderas, which is, just like the Volcán Mombacho that we hiked at the beginning of our trip, has a cloud forest. 

The island is on the Nicaragua lake, which is the biggest lake of Central America and is located in the middle of the country. To get to the island, we have to take a ferry. The distance is only about 20 km but the boat is so slow that it takes an hour. But it doesn't really matter because we can sit and enjoy the view and the sun so it's part of the journey and we enjoyed it.

On the island, we had to stop to the ATM in Moyogalpa because it's the only city on the island with ATMs and so far, we always had to pay cash everywhere. Fortunately, there is more than one in the city because the first one didn't work. We walked to another one and withdrew money for our 4 days on the island.

We stopped by the scooter rental place and got 2 scooters. It's more expensive than in Asia but much cheaper than taxis on the island! Because they know you are on an island and it's too big to walk, they know your options are limited so they rise the prices and just to get rides from the port to our homestay and then, to our other 2 hostels the following days and back to the port would have cost at least $100. For 2 scooters, for 72 hours, it was $50 each and we were free to go wherever we wanted. And it's always cool to ride a scooter!

We had a quick bite before leaving the city of Moyogalpa, put our backpacks on our scooters and left for our first homestay. 

Unfortunately, I had started a cold the night before. Nothing big but I was not in super shape. So when we got to our room, I just went to bed while Steve had dinner to the restaurant attached to our homestay and watched a hockey game on his cellphone. 

Day 17 - Nothing!!!

Today, we had no plans… for real this time!!!

We had breakfast and basically spent the entire day in hammocks and in the swimming pool. Do nothing!!! One of my favorite activities!!!

After this amazing afternoon, we went out for dinner at the same place than the day before, came back and went to bed!

What a nice and relaxing day!!! Not very interesting for my blog but so good for my mind and my body!

Day 16 - Good company and no plan!

The plan for today… wait a minute… there is no plan for today. Or, the plan is: Do whatever you want to do as long as it's fun, relaxing and not considered as a physical activity. At least, this was my plan. 

We started with a good breakfast, moved our bums to a chair by the pool, sat and relaxed. It was a perfect activity, totally aligned with my plan for the day. And then Steve said "We have access to free bicycles, let's go and explore the village!" Damn! This didn't fit in my plan for the day! But when Steve wants to do something, he can get very insistent. So we took the 2 bicycles they had at the hostel. One was not bad and the other one was way too small! Who got the small one you think?! Of course, it was me! It's really not easy to pedal with your knees in your face! And it definitely didn't qualify as an activity that fitted within the definition of my plan for the day! But I did it! This is how much I love my Steve! And he loves me so much that he silently endured all my complaints throughout our gateway. 

We came back to our hostel, sweatier than ever, and spent the rest of the day alternating between our chair and the swimming pool… oh, and the bar to order beers and chatting with Mariette and Vanessa. It was cool to learn about the differences between their countries and ours. We had very interesting conversations and we also made fun of each other's accent or weird words. Did you know that, in Switzerland, instead of saying soixante-dix, quatre-vingt and quatre-vingt-dix like every other french speaking countries, they were saying septante, huitante and nonante?! Weird hein?! But when you think about it, it makes so much more sense! (Vanessa, if you read that post, sorry, I had to say it!) I even showed them how to swear in Québécois!

At around 5 o'clock, the time of the day where the burning dark sand was becoming tolerable under our feet and before the sun disappears, we went to the sea to swim in the waves and enjoy the beach.

We had such a good time and the day went by so quickly that I didn't even take any pictures and the first thing I knew was that it was already dinner time.

The owner of the hostel was playing with her 2 dogs on the beach and she came to us. We asked her for a good fish and seafood restaurant and she recommended a place nearby that was accessible either by the beach or the street. So we went back to our rooms, showered and got changed. We met by the pool and left by the beach.

The restaurant was very quiet, just like almost every other restaurant we had seen so far but it was a nice and cozy place.

We ordered a few plates and shared everything. Food was really good and, thanks to Mariette and Vanessa, this dinner and our day was another highlight of our trip… until karaoke started! It was so bad! I think my ears actually bled! But don't worry, nobody on our group contributed to this painful torture.

We left before our ears voluntarily decided to become deaf and walked back to our hostel by the street.  Before calling it a night, since it was the girls' last night, I asked if they would accept to take a picture with Youppi. Earlier today, Youppi told me he liked Mariette and Vanessa and would like a photo as a souvenir. They gently accepted….

And we said goodbye to the girls in case we would not see them in the morning. 

Day 15 - Sunrise on a volcano to sunset on the ocean

It's 1:30AM. I should be sleeping but a loud but adorable tractor, lying right next to me in the tent, woke me up with sporadic powerful engine sounds. This not unusual melody was then followed by a sound of something heavy, hitting the ground. And since we were in a crater and the ground is not super thick as it's technically a gigantic hole, it echoed pretty loudly. And it was followed by another one… Ok, am I crazy? Am I dreaming? Am I imagining things? Maybe it's the volcano! Or maybe the thin ground under us was collapsing!

I sat in the tent, looked outside and saw… what?! A horse?! I must be dreaming or my eyes are playing tricks on me. I went back to bed and heard the same thing again. I sat in the tent again and looked outside again… and this time, it was very clear. It was a gorgeous white horse and was grazing on the few blades of grass it found here and there, at a few meters from our tent. I was ecstatic! After a stunning evening, I was so blessed!

I checked to see if Steve was awake because the loud engine sound had stopped but he was sleeping. So I just remained there, in silence, watching this magnificent white horse in the dark night, with, in the background, a large majestic tree and a sky illuminated with infinite stars. All I would hear was the sound of the horse eating and the vibration of its legs hitting the ground. And when I thought it couldn't be more magical, I saw a shooting star.

I know it sounds too good to be true and it's the exact reason why I thanked like for this unique opportunity I had.

Not long after, Steve woke up too so I showed him the horse and we quickly realized that there were at least 2 more horses. But we didn't see them.

After this incredible moment, we went back to bed and I was able to get a few hours of sleep.

We all woke up at 5AM, quickly took down and packed our tents, sleeping bags and all our stuff and left. We did the same shorter hike than the night before, to the active crater, but this time, we were carrying our backpacks because we were not coming back.

Oh, I must say that I brought my bandana, my headlamp and my vest again with me and this time, I used everything, including my vest. 

Once there, we stopped and sat on rocks but today, we were facing East; and from the obscure night sky, we started seeing, very timidly at first, different shades, starting with a dark grey. And, just as if we were watching an invisible but very talented painter adding colors and textures to the initially black canvas, we saw the grey growing  and rising higher in the sky, a touch of yellow appearing just above the volcanoes and transforming the sketch, and eventually, a few nuances of orange.

From the top of this volcano, we were witnessing the creation of this new day, that would be nothing like yesterday and no more than an inspiration for tomorrow. This was priceless!

Not long after 6 o'clock, the sun was high enough to surpass the big volcano chain and we could already feel the warm sunrays.

We had bananas and cookies and continued our hike down the volcano. It was a different path and was much shorter. By 7:30, we were in the truck, on our way back to the tour shop in León.

Once there, we had breakfast, which was included in our tour, and got back to our hostel at around 9:30.

I forgot to mention that we ended up even dirtier than when we did the volcano boarding so let me tell you that we really needed to shower! Fortunately, even if we didn't sleep at our hostel the night before, they accepted that we use the showers. Their showers, just like almost everywhere else, had no pressure and no hot water but who cares! It was my best shower ever! Sunscreen and black volcanic sand is the perfect mix for a very tenacious everlasting body mask! But the advantage is that after my shower, my skin was very soft!

We still had maybe half-an-hour before the arrival of our shuttle to Las Peñitas, our next destination, so we made research and booked a place to stay for 3 nights. 

We got there at lunchtime, unpacked our dirty stuff from our hike, I put sunscreen on, because Steve doesn't do that of course, we put our swimsuits on and left our room. 

Las Peñitas is a very small fishing village on the Pacific Ocean and is the perfect place to chill out and recharge for a few days. And our hostel had a nice courtyard, on the beach, with a swimming pool, good snacks and beer. Exactly what we needed!

First thing first… Food! We had the best guacamole I ever had and a very good croque-monsieur. I know, a croque-monsieur is nowhere near Nicaraguan food but the owners are Belgian so we assumed it would be good, and it was… basic but good.

We spoke with Silvana who owns this place for 5 years now and she explained how hard it was since the political crisis of 2018. Before that, tourism was quickly growing and business was good. Since 2018, tourism almost completely stopped. She said that it was not the end of the world for her because even though it's not always easy, she can always sell her place and go back to Belgium. She still has family and friends over there that would help her. But she was more concerned about her employees. If she has no clients, she has to let them go because she cannot pay them and they don't have anything else.

Since we started traveling, we never saw such desolation. The potential is amazing there, I mean, it's an entire beachfront village! But at least half of the properties are deserted and destroyed. A few years ago, when tourism was good and growing fast, people invested their lifetime savings to buy lands or properties to transform them into hostels, restaurants or surfing schools for tourists. And in 2018, it stopped very suddenly. So they lost everything and had to give up their project. Today, some buildings are still half constructed or you can see the beginning of a foundation…

And because of countries like Canada which, still today, stays very cautious by strongly warning people wanting to travel to Nicaragua, and so, by all means, continues to feed the idea that this country is dangerous, tourism is very slow to grow back. It's too bad because in the past 15 days, we have always felt safe and we keep getting the same comments from the other tourists that we meet. The only thing I would say is that, unlike Asian countries, I would not travel alone or with a girlfriend to Nicaragua or other Latin countries. Not necessarily because it's more dangerous but the culture is different and men do not necessarily treat women with respect when you walk alone on the streets.

So, back to our day now… after lunch, we did something incredibly necessary! We brought our clothes to the reception for cleaning! I don't think I ever been so happy to see a laundry service in a hostel!

We then sat by the swimming pool and relaxed. Not long after, I went back to our room to get my charger for my cellphone and, on my way back, I saw familiar faces at the reception. It was the 2 Frenchwomen we met on the bus to Managua about 10 days ago! We chatted a little, they went to their room and I went back to the pool.

They joined us not long after and we spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between the swimming pool and our chairs. I have to mention, now that we actually got to know the girls better, they are not both from France. Mariette is but Vanessa is from Switzerland. And, just like Steve and I, Mariette lives right by the border, in France, because it's cheaper and she works in Switzerland. We had a cool and cozy afternoon!

At around 4 o'clock, Steve and I left as we had already planned to meet the folks who did Telica with us in a nearby hostel in Las Peñitas. Because when you book a tour with this company, it also gives you free access to a shuttle that leaves León at 4pm everyday and you get to spend a few hours at the beach. Since we were already going to Las Peñitas on our own, we didn't take the shuttle but we said we would meet them there. It was maybe a 1.5-km walk.

We had 2 beers with them and again, we saw 2 familiar faces. It was the couple from Quebec city. We grabbed a table at the bar right on the beach, introduced ourselves properly this time and we had a few drinks. We quickly realized that Christine and Philippe had a lot in common with us. Our values and personality were similar on a lot of things. We even got to see another gorgeous sunset, on the ocean this time.

Beer was good but after a few drinks, we had to eat! So we walked to a restaurant that was a few steps away. We had a great night! Food was good, we were the first table right on the beach, there was a really good live band and we were in good company. We laughed, shared opinions, learned from them, sang and danced. It was a very fun night!

We said goodbye because it was their last day in Nicaragua and they had their flight to catch the following day. Thank you Christine and Philippe!

Today started with a serene and unforgettable sunrise above the Nicaraguan volcano chain and ended with a festive and beautiful sunset on the endless Pacific Ocean!

Day 14 - Camping in a crater on top of an active volcano... Why not?!

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This was another exciting day! The plan was to hike Telica, another of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua with an elevation of 1,060 meters, and carry our tent, sleeping bag, water and everything we needed and camp in the former crater right by the now very active newer crater on top of the volcano. And we were lucky because the previous night, the group that hiked the volcano could not sleep there because the volcano was too unstable and it was dangerous so they slept in a nearby village. 

We packed our backpacks to store them in the laundry room at our hostel, prepared smaller bags with everything we needed to bring with us, had breakfast and headed to the same tour place than the day before. We transferred the stuff we had into the 60-liters backpacks they provided and that already contained a floor mattress, a sleeping bag and Steve also had a tent for 2 people. Also, since there is no source of water at all on the volcano, we had to carry 6 liters of water each, which resulted in quite heavy backpacks for a tough hike. But we were very determined.

We had booked a tour in English but it ended up being mostly in French because we were 4 that were doing the overnight stay and another couple was doing the same hike but was coming back on the same day and the 4 of them were French, so was our guide.

It was cool to be a relatively small group. We were 6 and had 3 guides with us. Louis, the French guide and Julio, the local expert  would both spend the night with us and Dan, a British guide, was going back on the same day with the couple.

The hike was quite challenging. With our big and heavy backpacks, the pretty constant ascent, the intense heat and the very little shade, we cannot say it was easy. But I really enjoyed it. It was very rewarding to push ourselves like that. Because I have to mention that the 4 tourists and the 3 guides were all the age of Steve's sons!

Dan, the British guide, was super cool with us. We were a bit slower than the group and he spent almost the entire time with us, talking about anything and everything, encouraging us when it was harder, singing, dancing… this kid had so much energy! He was very refreshing!

On our way, we stopped once for a quick break and had bananas.

Later, we stopped for wood for our campfire and everybody went into the wood, grabbed tree branches, tied them to our backpacks and continued.

We finally made it to the first crater, which would be our campsite for the night. We were so happy and proud!!! And freakin' relieved! It was about 3:30pm and we were hungry. Let's say that our very solicited muscles had made good use of every little calorie from our breakfast and it was time to refuel. We made good sandwiches from fresh baguettes, cheese dip and vegetables and had a beer. 

A big highlight of this volcano was the magnificent sunsets and sunrises from the still active and smoky crater with the view of all the other volcanoes around. Of course, we didn't want to miss that but we had to hurry a little bit because obviously, if we were going to see the sunset, it also meant that we would come back in the dark. So we had to set up our tent and get everything ready for when we would go to bed. We also had a small 20-minute hike to the crater and another 10-minute walk around it to be well positioned to see the sunset.

Someone asked if it was possible to sleep under the stars, with no tent and our guide said there were a lot of scorpions and tarantulas so it was too dangerous. He said that a few days earlier, someone didn't close their tent properly and had been bitten during the night and it was very bad.

So she didn't insist and we all set up our tents. 

Before leaving, I grabbed our headlamp and my cellphone to have lights on our way back even though Steve said it was not necessary, as well as a bandana and a vest as recommended by our guides, even though Steve said it was not necessary, and we left with the group. 

I felt so light without this heavy backpack! This second shortest hike seemed like a simple walk in the park!

The crater was very impressive and I was super happy to have my bandana because the smoke, sometimes, was getting very dense and strong and it burned my throat and my nose. But with my bandana, it was perfect.

We took a few pictures at the crater and kept walking around it to have a good view of the sun that was slowly going down behind the surrounding volcanoes.

No matter where we are on Earth, the sun is always the same sun and everyday, it sets and rises. But we never get tired of admiring it and it's never the same. Our surroundings, the vibe, the clouds, the people, every little things make every sunset a different and unforgettable one. And this one was exceptionally memorable.

And, to pay tribute to his daddy, Steve put ashes at the bottom of an inuksuk that was right at the top of the volcano. I'm sure he would have liked it here!

We spent maybe half-an-hour there, said goodbye to the couple and Dan who were going back down the volcano by a different and much shorter path and we walked back to our tents. It was becoming darker and darker so I turned on the headlamp and, in fact, Steve ended up being very glad I had it. He didn't admit it of course but he couldn't have returned in one piece without it.

(When I read my post to Steve before publishing it, he complained about my lack of good faith and strongly suggested that I mention that he was right for the vest since I didn't need it.)

Back to the camp, Steve went to our tent, took off his shoes and socks and put on his flip flops. Yep! It was pitch black and our guide warned us about scorpions and tarantulas but my dear lovely husband was wearing flip flops. And on top of that, about 10 minutes after, Louis, our guide, actually saw a tarantula and showed it to us. Believe me, it was not a fake one! I touched it with a long stick and it started running. But what can I do… Steve is 45 and will never learn! At least, he has a good life insurance!

We made a campfire and prepared dinner. We had fresh burritos that we would prepare with tortillas, frijoles, which consists of blended fried beans and a freshly prepared salad with avocados, peppers, corn, onions cucumbers, tomatoes and lime juice. It was very yummy and filling.

After dinner, we sat by the fire, enjoyed marshmallows, listened to the cracking of the fire, chatted and played games.

This night was out of this world! Just try to imagine the scene for a moment… We were sitting by the fire, in a crater on the top of an active volcano, with an amazing view of gazillions of stars and even the milky way, getting to know other cool people and eating the best grilled marshmallows (because Steve is the best marshmallow griller). No light other than the flames in front of us, no human life other than the 6 of us, no sound other than the sparkles from the fire…

And we went to bed at 10 and, since the zippers of the cover on top of the tent were broken, we got to continue admiring the stars from the net.

Day 13 - Volcano boarding?! Really?!!

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Today was a crazy memorable day! We hiked and slid down a volcano! I didn't even know this was possible!

Cerro Negro appeared in 1850 and is the youngest volcano in Central America and is 730 meters high. This young kid is also one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua and erupted 23 times since its birth, with the last eruption being in 1999. If you do the math, it's an average of 1 eruption every 7 years… and the last one was more than 20 years ago so chances are that it will erupt shortly. And since their seismographs is more than 30 years old, apparently, it can only predict an eruption 3 minutes in advance...

So, there were 2 ways to see things… either it was too dangerous since the volcano could decide to activate today or it was a unique opportunity since maybe tomorrow, there would be no more volcano boarding on Cerro Negro… tough decision... in fact, not really. How can we miss the opportunity to do this extreme activity when it might be our only chance!

In 2002, a French man descended this volcano on his bicycle at a speed of 172 km/h and crashed. He had multiple broken bones and was hospitalized for months. Then, in 2004, an Australian was very determined to find the best way to slide down this volcano. Apparently, he tried a door, a picnic table and the legend says he also tried with a fridge. Eventually, I don't know if it's because he was out of furnitures, he invented the first volcano toboggan, made of plywood and metal. So, Cerro Negro was THE place on Earth to try volcano boarding!

Our ride picked us up at our hostel early in the morning. We all stopped for a good coffee and we had a 45 minutes ride to the volcano.

Once there, obviously, before sliding down, we had to hike up the volcano. By the time we started climbing, it was about 11AM and it was a 45 minutes to an hour hike. And this volcano is the exact typical image that I actually had of what a volcano is… black sand and rocks, no vegetation and a steep hill. And we had to carry a small backpack with what we needed for the descent and our board. We had a guide with us and 2 boys were also there to carry the boards of people who didn't want to carry it. The guide encouraged us to hire them if we wanted because it's their livelihood. But hey, I have my ego! I can carry my own board! And I'm sure I don't need to mention that there was absolutely no way that Steve would ever show a sign of weakness by asking someone else to carry his board… so we started climbing the volcano. And found out that the wind was hysterical! Have you ever tried to hike, with a massive piece of plywood, a second pushing you down and the other second, pulling you to the side of the path? Well, I put my ego aside and accepted the offer to carry my board. I decided I wanted to fully enjoy my hike. But, of course, Steve, who was also struggling, categorically refused. So it was a cool hike for me and a quite challenging one for Steve.

But once at the top, we were both very happy. I was happy I enjoyed it and he was happy he took up this challenge and made it to the top. Youppi, for his part, decided to remain in my pocket for the hike but he still wanted to admire the view from the top!

Once there, we took a few pictures and put on our super sexy suit. 

Now was the time to slide down this crazy hill. Wow! It was pretty steep! And huge! Nobody told me it would look much worst from the top! Steve was super excited! I, on the other hand, was trying to convince myself that I was super excited! Damn! Now, I have no other option… ok, I can do it… Youppi and I took place on the board and not long after, I got the signal to go and then, heard this little voice telling me "Now! You have to do it now! Do it! They are all looking at you and waiting for you to go! You can do it! Go!". It was Youppi, encouraging me from my pocket. So I lifted my feet just a little bit and started sliding. Whoohoo! OMFG! This is so amazingly cool! I was the only person on Earth for a few seconds. Nothing else existed other than this black hill, the sound of the board on the sand, the view from the other volcanoes and the thrill of going so freakin' fast! I was sliding down an active volcano at a furious speed! This was unbelievable!

After maybe 1 minute, I reached the bottom and felt like I had done something that would remain in my memories for the rest of my life.

And not long after, Steve went down too and mastered his descent. Just to comfort Steve's ego, the reason why I went first is not because I'm braver, it's because I told him that I wanted him to go after me so if I die on my way down, he could pick me up on his way.

I don't know what else to say that would really describe this crazy experience and I think everyone needs to try it before they die. Actually, it's the #2 on the CNN 50 most thrilling and daring things you can do on vacation between being a jet fighter pilot for 1 day and the cage of death in Australia. 

After this incredible adventure, we went back to León, had lunch and a beer, went back to our hostel and showered. We had black dust and rocks everywhere.

We spent time at our hostel, by the pool, and met a nice couple from Quebec city. We chatted for a little while.

Steve and I had dinner, made research for the next leg of our trip and went to bed.