Ometepe, Corn Islands, Granada

Corn Island


Howler Monkey on Ometepe
Volcan Concepcion, Ometepe
Sorry for the delays in posts. There is just so much to do, see and so many distractions. I will do my best to recap the last few weeks. From San Juan Del Sur, I went to Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by two volcanoes in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. To get out there, you take a ferry to the island. I stayed at a coffee farm on the island with my travel companion Gunvor from Denmark. I spent one morning treking around Volcan Maderas, the smaller of the 2 volcanoes. I went part way up, looking for howler monkeys with some other girls. 45 minutes up the trail, we found two trees full of monkeys. It was my first time seeing monkeys, out in the wild and boy are they just adorable. We were like the papparazi, standing there taking picture after picture of the monkeys. Definately the high light of Ometepe.

Soon after, Gunvor and I decided to take a little trip across the Carribean over to the Corn Islands. We flew to Big Corn and on our way met some lovely ladies from Norway. The 5 of us took a ferry over to Little Corn, a beautiful, tranquil island with no motor vehicles. The island is incredibly small, with about 1,500 inhabitants. The locals speak Englsih, Spanish and Creole. The island is surrounded with white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and a laid back life stlye. Our week there was spent swimming, sun bathing and relaxing. We did have a night out at a local bar where they were celebrating Palo Mayo (May Pole). The people tie ribbons and balloons in a tree which are supposedly filled with different things like money. The people dance around the tree, men climb up it to pop the balloons and wait to see what will fall from it. The dancing was pretty crazy, booty shaking African dance. It was fun to watch.

After the Corn Islands, Gunvor and I parted ways...she headed off to Panama and I to Granada which is where I am now. I spent yesterday at Laguna de Apoyo, a lake in the crater of a volcano. It was pouring rain the entire time there, but we made the most of it and swam in the warm water and relaxed at the isolated hostal. From here, I will be hanging out in Granada awaiting my good friend from college to come visit me for a week!