Concepcion, Cacao & Kayaks on Ometepe Island
The clouds parted to reveal the beautiful view of Ometepe Island as we made our way down from the summit of Volcan Conception.
If you’re thinking of travelling from Monteverde, Costa Rica through to the paradise island of Ometepe, Nicaragua in one day, know this: it’s not easy!
Although by no means the furthest distance or the longest journey time we have done to date, it was by far the most stressful. Perhaps in a shuttle, private transfer or hired car it’s a little easier, but on public buses it was quite the ordeal.
We left our hostel in Monteverde at 3.45am to head to the bus station, where we got the 4.20am bus to La Irma. There’s nothing much in La Irma - it’s just a bus stop on the side of the Panamarican highway. There we waited for the Tica Bus that we had prebooked our seats on - poised at the side of the road ready to flag it down when it drove by.
We waited, and waited… staring directly into the morning sun as bus after bus drove past us. Central Line. Nica Bus. Trans Nica. The only high point here is that we saw a pair of macaws playing in a nearby tree. Otherwise it was an anxious wait until it finally turned up, over an hour late.
Now, we’ve been travelling a while and an hour late is by no means the longest delay we’ve had. But waiting in a bus station with people around, where you can grab a coffee and sit comfortably knowing the bus will pull in, is no big deal. Waiting on the side of a highway in the scorching sun knowing you need to flag the bus down for it to stop, on the other hand? That hour felt like an eternity.
From there we travelled to the Costa Rican border, which we were through in 30mins, and then to the Nicaraguan border. That was another story. We were required to take all of our luggage with us to the queue, where we waited again. For two hours without moving, in the direct sun with no shade. It was torturous!
Up until now we’ve crossed seven land borders through South and Central America so we feel like we know what to expect. This was by far the worst, and most expensive ($10 to exit Costa Rica, $13 to enter Nicaragua). Jay was not happy to learn we saved the worst journey of our seven months for his visit! But, as we said, it’s all part of the adventure.
Back on the Tica Bus and over 2 hours behind schedule, I was now worried we wouldn’t get a ferry to the island! We pulled up in Rivas at 3.15pm and, by some miracle, we had evaded insistent tuk tuk drivers who followed us around, found a cash point, hailed a taxi to take us to the port of San Jorge and boarded the 4pm ferry to Ometepe just as it was leaving. Phew!
The sky turned pink as the twin volcanoes of Isla de Ometepe came into view, a much needed reminder of how worth it this journey would be. Once docked in Moyogalpa, it was another 45 minute taxi ride to our base in Santa Cruz - luckily our incredibly helpful hotel owner had the taxi waiting for us when I had messaged to let him know we were on the ferry.
By 6.45pm - 15 hours after leaving Monteverde - we had dropped our bags in our room. What. A. Day.
Now, having spent three days on the island, I’d do the journey again in heartbeat. We absolutely loved it.
Lakeside beaches and volcanic springs
Our first day was very relaxed - we needed to unwind after the journey! After breakfast in our hotel restaurant overlooking Concepcion Volcano, we walked to Playa Santa Domingo and spent the morning relaxing on the sand in between dips in Lake Nicaragua. We then walked for about 45 minutes to Ojo de Agua - a beautiful natural pool fed by volcanic spring water. A few hours swimming in the clear waters was just what we needed to refresh and reinvigorate!
We stopped at a Tiki Bar to watch the sunset on the way home and happened to meet Chris and John. Chris - from Leicestershire! - was visiting John, who was on a longer trip in Central America. Their ATVs had broken down and they were waiting for a mechanic in the same bar. We shared some cocktails and learnt that John was looking for a group to climb the volcano with… as we had a guide booked for the next morning, we invited him to join us.
Climbing Volcan Concepion
Isla de Ometepe is made up of two volcanoes: Concepcion and Maderas. Each morning and evening as we dined in our hotel restaurant we had a view of Concepcion - the taller of the two and still active - so it made sense that’s the one we chose to climb.
Was it easy? Absolutely not! The route there and back is about 10km, but there is a 1600m elevation gain… that’s steep. At the base we walked through hot and humid forest, and then emerged into a layer of thick clouds that shrouds the the peak most days.
It took four hours of hard work to reach the crater… where we could see nothing but a blanket of white cloud. The intense smell of sulphur in the air was the only indication we had made it. We perched on the crater rim, cowering from intense wind and driving rain, questioning the decisions that led us there!
The way down was, if anything, harder. That thick cloud had turned the rocky ash into a mud slide. We spent the first few hours battling to stay on our feet - with little success. It’s safe to say we all collected a few bruises! Jay suffered the worst having to do the walk in trainers rather than hiking boots. At points I looked at his face and could see him questioning not only why he had come to visit us on this trip, but our entire 18 year friendship!
Once past the cloud line we were delighted to see the morning had cleared up and we got a spectacular view across the island to Maderas, the other volcano. The path was now loose dry ash that we could run and slide down easily - it suddenly became a lot of fun and was just the pick me up we needed after a hard morning!
Seven hours after starting we returned to the trail head, spotting a baby monkey in the tree line in the final section. The guide said it would take eight hours, so we were pretty pleased to have shaved a whole hour off this time, even if we were all shattered.
It took long showers to get all the ash off us, but settling into the hotel restaurant and looking up at Concepcion with beers in hand, the sense of satisfaction was immense… and I was assured Jay would still be friends with us. We had summited an active volcano. Mad!
Cacao Crazy
The next morning it’s safe to say we were all aching. We had emailed a local Chocolate factory hoping to get a tour, and found out they were running a very special trip that morning and had space for us to join.
Jumping into the back of a truck with about 15 other people, we were taken to a cacao farm on the slopes of Maderas volcano. There, we spent the next two hours harvesting cacao with the local family of farmers. We learned how to tell which pods were ripe, collected them off the trees and split them open to scoop out the fruit inside. As we did this we were encouraged to taste as many fruits as we liked - it was delicious! We were careful not to have too much, though: apparently too much raw cacao can have a similar affect as a small dose of MDMA!
It was definitely a unique experience that we haven’t seen advertised anywhere else, and we felt lucky to have been on the island when it took place. Our guide said it was only the second time he had organised this trip in his six years on the island.
For our final evening, we did a kayaking tour. You’ll remember from our time on Lake Titicaca that kayaking is not our favourite activity, but the passing of time made us think it was a good idea again… it was not.
We were in single kayaks on this occasion and had a lovely start to our trip, slowly paddling across the still like waters towards Volcán Concepcion as golden hour approached. However, our route then took us up into the river mouth. Just as we reached this point, the wind picked up. Paddling against the current and against the wind was too much for my non existent upper body strength. I’d give it everything for a few minutes and move only a meter, then rest and move back two metres. It was my turn to have the furious look on my face - I was ready to give up and just float away on the waters of lake Nicaragua, never to be seen again….
Our guide didn’t seem to care I was struggling, he was well away! Luckily Graeme and Jay came to my rescue, tying my boat to Graeme’s so he could tow me into the river. Best husband ever? I think so.
Further in we kayaked through mangroves and we’re able to see a baby caiman hiding in the water!
The way back, with the current and wind behind us, was a literal breeze, and we arrived back at the base of Playa Mangos just in time for cocktails and one of the best sunsets on the island.
We packed a lot into our time on Ometepe island and left feeling like we could have stayed longer there. It truly is a paradise: stunning nature and authentic experiences made it our favourite Central America stop so far.
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