Rivas and Ometepe, Nicaragua

Dear Friends and Family,

You’ve changed! Nicaragua does not observe daylight savings time. We are now only one hour ahead of our west coast family. ☺️ Our Hotel Gran Victoria room in Rivas is plush, has a central courtyard with a swimming pool, and rooftop views of our surroundings. We’re directly across from the colorful Central Park, and a beautiful church. In the distance, Vulcan Concepcion, a live volcano, is visible. After a swim in the pool, we strolled around the park and watched young kids in a cute dance contest. There was a small local band playing in one corner, vendors selling small bags of popcorn for 10cents, and an ice cream man with a pushcart. Street side shops line the park, but, by American standards, people, buildings etc. are poor and yet most people seem happily engaged. They are certainly very kind to us.

We stayed overnight and then the next day took a one-hour ferry across the vast Lake Nicaragua to Ometepe island. Lake Nicaragua is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, and the tenth largest in the Americas. Ometepe is an hourglass shaped island with a volcano on each end, the active Concepcion and the dormant Maduras. The island is so beautiful, and life is slow paced and simple. We rented a motorcycle and tootled around. We had to share the road with tuk-tuks, chicken buses, trucks, cyclists, dogs, goats, sheep and pedestrians. Vaqueros occasionally crossed the road herding horses and cattle. At one point, we passed between a truck and cattle with about a foot to spare on each side. We had to stay with the flow of traffic, but those long horns so close felt pretty intimidating! We slowly traversed incredible natural scenery, speed bumps, and one police checkpoint on the way to the Charco Verde natural reserve. The police only wanted to see Bruce’s license and registration and then sent us on our way. We saw evacuation route signs along the way in the event of an eruption. The main road was challenging in one way, but our turnoff onto a sand and dirt road, dodging potholes and rocks was nerve wracking in another. The park was wonderful! We saw howler and capuchin monkeys, some beautiful birds, and butterflies galore on our one-hour trek around a lagoon. We were relieved to return ourselves and the motorcycle safely, but it was fun to explore the island with the freedom of a bike.

 

Today we took the ferry back to Rivas. We’re thinking about seafood for dinner-a whole shrimp and lobster pizza for around $11…

Tomorrow we will take a chicken bus north to our next destination, Granada.

 

Hope this finds you all healthy and happy!

Love, BnL

Bruce and Linda/ Momma