Nicaraguan Adventures 2: Ometepe Island

Here is a glimpse of this most intriguing Nicaraguan Island. It was both enjoyable and frustrating. More on that later. Here are some pictures, most of which can be selected for a better view.

Volcan Concepcion dominates the left half of the photo. This was taken as our ferry approached Moyogalpa, also visible on the left. On the far right distance is Volcan Madera, the other volcano that makes up this dumbbell-shaped island. Most nature enthusiasts try to make it to this more remote volcano because the wilderness is better protected there. But, at least when we were there, the roads were worse and the hotels more expensive.

The gash on Volcan Concepcion is from the most recent eruption in 2010. It was a rather dangerous event, villagers were warned to leave the island but, as is the case in places like this, almost all preferred to stay.

The maps below show clearly the dumbbell shape of the island, most of the landmass being slopes of the volcanoes. Very fertile slopes, too. The residents have long since planted fields ever creeping up the slopes of the volcanoes. Most of the population – and the better infrastructure – is on the north part of the island. This can be seen by the greater number of services and tourist accommodations on the map on the right. But the southern volcano has more pristine nature. Unfortunately, harder to get to and more expensive to stay there.

The map on the left shows the four places where we spent the most of our time. The ferry landed at Moyogalpa and that is where we spent the first night or two. After that we took a creaky bus over to Altagracia on the northeast coast. In between the two mountains is a stream and a nature trail with fantastic large trees. I felt like I was on the set of Jurassic Park! No dinosaur, though, but I did blunder onto a trail of angry ants. Really painful bites! Lots of them. And I was on the trail too.

A lot of the horse power here was also burro and oxen power.

Left. Tamarind tree. The fruits here are not ripe yet. Center. Our lunch in Balgue. Tilapia for her and spare ribs for me. Also fried bananas covered with corn meal. Right. On our vain trip to find a nature trail on Concepcion we saw these young fellows energetically threshing sorghum against a wooden beam.

The slope of the southeastern volcano, Madera, trends more directly into the lake. The overall lack of level land hinders population growth here. Less population means less roads and cultivation – better wildlife. The photo above is of our vain attempt to get to a nature trail on the northern volcano. Cultivation was obvious on both sides of the dirt road. Finally – by this time we were pretty tired out – we came to what you see here. Does this look like a nature park? Disappointing.

Animal life here is spectacular if you go to the right places. Most of these photos are from the Charco Nature Reserve. Clockwise from the top-left:
1. Ringed Kingfisher, Megaceryle torquata. I saw this bird along with the Amazon Kingfisher. Fishing must be good at the Charco Reserve.
2. Mangrove Swallow, Tachycineta albilinea, greeted us as we approached the port of Moyagalpa.
3. Mantled Howler, Alouatta palliata. We saw several of these at the reserve.
4. White-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta formosa. One of the loudest and most common of birds, but always fun to watch.
5. Summer Tanager, Piranga rubra. A familiar bird from the US.
6. Black-headed Trogon, Trogon melanocephalus. If you look carefully you can see the spider web by his beak. He is helping himself to the odd bits of insects, wrecking the spiders handiwork in the process.

Center. This photo does not belong here – but neither do these two boys, caught fishing in the Nature Reserve. Poaching is a serious problem here. It is especially serious for the Yellow-naped Amazon Parrots. This island is the last, best refuge for this endangered bird. Many of the nesting sites are robbed of eggs and chicks and sold to the illegal pet trade. And many of the locals, about one fourth of the homes on Ometepe, have these parrots as pets.

Deforestation and general degradation of natural resources will be a theme that comes up time and again in our travels. Admittedly, as travelers and writers about our travels we add to the problem, since we give helpful information to future travelers. But hopefully they will travel with as light a footprint as possible – as we also try to do.

Next: Granada, Dirian, and Masaya