| Central America - The Journal |
Standing in a Volcano Mouth
Days 13 & 14 - Isla de Ometepe
For a peaceful beach island where life moves slowly (but productively due the to extraordinarily fertile volcanic soil) our time on Isla de Ometepe was surprisingly hard work!
On the first day we caught the early bus (only 3 a day) to Roatan, a small place on the south of the island, so we could take a short hike to see a waterfall. The hike was quite straightforward, but the continual incline, the hot sun and a very steep and slippery last kilometre made the 7km round trip take most of the morning and a chunk of the afternoon. It was worth it though, to find a pretty amazing waterfall hidden in the forest, with gallons of water gushing over the ridge above and crashing down the 100s of metres of rock face but appearing to hit the earth reluctantly, leaving a fine mist of fresh, crystal clear water to coat the lower rocks, like an innocent aura.
Unfortunately, as the waterfall hugs close to the rocks, there is no real pool to swim in, which would make a great recovery from the walk. However, there is a very tiny pool where I was able to stand next to the rock face and take a shower in the ice-cold but naturally clean water. I only stood in their briefly though, the force of the falling water and the extremely chilly temperatures meant that after 10 seconds, it looked much better than it actually felt. Anyhow, enough about the relaxing day.
On the second day, Laura decided to hang out with 2 South African girls we'd met and I decided to tackle the 1407m Volcan Maderas. Although the smaller of the 2 volcanoes on the island, it still makes for a serious hike/scramble/climb if you want to stand by the lagoon in the mouth of the now dormant volcano.
As its a fairly long hike, about a 11km round trip, but the steep and tricky terrain making it take at least 3 hours each way, an early start is required. And the limited island transport means a very early start is required..a 5am bus in fact.
However, this early start does allow breakfast to be taken at the idyllic Finca Magdalena, a workers farming co-operative base where travellers can also find a simple bed, filling food and a beautiful view of the forest surrounding the volcanoes and covering the island. I had a very large breakfast, knowing that considerable energy would be needed over the next few hours.
The climb was really tough, one of the hardest things I've done, mainly because the climb was really steep and the terrain ridiculously bad. I had to scrabble over rocks and climb up muddy paths (not actually paths, more steeps rivers I had to clamber up). Furthermore, most of the route was made of 3 horrible things to walk on...loose mud which you constantly slip on or get stuck ankle deep in...wet clay which has no grip and you will again constantly slip on...and a river...with the moss covered stones lying, waiting for you to step on and slip on. Coming down was just as difficult as going up, actually harder, because every step had to be done really carefully! It didn't really help that my guide was some sort of terminator mountain goat who basically ran up and down looking back disappointedly at my slow progress. He never slipped once and I fell over countless time!
But after all that effort, it was an amazing feeling to stand at the top, in the volcano crater, looking over the misty lagoon and think Wow, I did it, I´m now standing in a volcano crater!
After the climb, I realised that I had 10 minutes before the bus home passed by...if I missed it, I'd have to wait 2 hours for the next one. The problem was, the bus "stop" was 1km away...so I somehow found I had enough energy to run the kilometre to get it in time. I think my guide was finally a lit bit impressed with my fitness after that!
After I met back up with Parki (who'd spent the day in the sun with 2 girls we'd met in the hotel) I spent the rest of the day hanging in a hammock, reading and drinking a cold beer...I'd certainly earned it!
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