Isla de Ometepe

Ometepe is an extraordinary island created by two volcanoes that erupted from the lakebed, This is Volcan Concepcion, one of the most perfectly conical volcanos in the world.

The other end of the island was formed by Volcan Madera. A good chunk of its top must have blown off in an immense explosion eons ago. The areas around each volcano are joined by an isthmus that has the best beaches on the island.
Cocibolca is so huge, and the waves can be so impressive, that the name sometimes used in tourist literature, Mar Dulce — Sweet Sea, seems appropriate.
While on Ometepe, we stayed at the Hotel Casa Istiam, just a kilometer down the beach from two more expensive tourist hotels, but much cheaper. Our room was perfectly clean, and quite large too.
Minerva, reluctantly posing with Barbara, is a bundle of energy. She seems to be almost everywhere at the hotel, doing almost everything — about 16 hours a day.
Ometepe is a wonderful place to explore, whether on foot or on the chicken buses that travel to places where we'd have thought only a 4-wheel-drive could go. We were never able to arrange transportation by cow.

After Ometepe, our next destination was the Corn Islands.

 

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