The island giveth and the island taketh away...

Isle De Ometepe
The name Ometepe means ‘two hills’ in the native ‘náhuatl’ language. The island is located in the 5th largest lake in the world, Lake Nicaragua. At one time the lake was connected to the pacific ocean, but a series of Volcanos poped up isolating the lake from the ocean. As a result a rare fresh water bull shark became a legendary feature of the lake. In the 60's the Nicaragua government allowed the Japanese to hunt the sharks, at the rate of 20,000 a year for 10 years. Now spotting the sharks is extremly rare except near a river that leads to the Carribean side. The climate here is based around the rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season is from May to December and usually involves a couple of major showers a day followed by sunshine. The result is a kind of eternal summer, but the locals call the dry season (now) summer. The temp is typically between 75 and 85 degees but occasionally gets down to 68 and up to 95... it is a rough life! The lake also rises a few feet with the rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season was a large
My hostel in very near Santa Cruz which is at the intersection of the Maderas loop.
The island is easily split in half between the Volcanos. Maderas is smaller and inactive. It is a muddy and challenging 8 hour climb to the top and back. At the top there is a small lagoon. The road around the volcano is almost impassable at parts. The rain washes the dirt away and is left with large rocks everywhere. The villages are very small and friendly, and you get the feeling that you are in a very remote part of the world.
Conception is a the larger volcano and is VERY active. The last major eruption was in the 1950's, but it blows off some steam about every year. The two major cities on the island our on this side, Moyogalpa and Altagracia, and a paved road connects the two. To climb Conception take 12 hours and is a very step and difficult trek. It is almost impossible to get to the top and look in the crater. The upper half is void or trees and lots of wind, sun, and gravel await. It does make for beauftiful pictures!
The people of the island are extremly friendly and helpful. About half speak some English and only a few speak it well enough to converse. All across the island are ancient pre columbian artifacts, carvings, and painting... called petroglyphs. VERY little is known about people the inhabited the island at this time. A few people have come up with theorys, but with little facts to base them on because no real research has been done. My theory is the Anasasi tribes from the 4 corners walked down here of serveral generations. The stone carvings are incredible similar.
OK, I must serve dinner. I have made BBQ brisket tonight in a little tribute to Kansas City.