Ometepe

14 June 2009


Ometepe is one of the most interesting and impressive places we've ever visited. The island Ometepe consists of two volcanoes rising from the waters of Lago Nicaragua. One of them, El Concepcion, is still active. We never tired of looking at this magnificent volcano, as ever changing cloud patterns change its appearance from minute to minute. The other volcano, Maderas, is inactive. In its crater at a height of 1400m is a green lake.


Ometepe is little touched by tourism. Most of its inhabitants live of agriculture (plantaines) and move around on horeback. Given the state of the few roads on the island, this is understandable: only one stretch of the roads on this island is paved. The lack of infrastructure means that the nature in this island is largely intact. We spot monkeys everywhere, and beautiful birds too. In addition, Lago Nicaragua is home to the only shark that can live in sweet water as well as in salt water. The shark travels from the Caribbean through Rio San Juan into Lago Nicaragua. This shark is not dangerous: we swam in the lake and no shark bit us.

Ometepe Pictures here:

Ometepe