Conquistador (Moyogalpa, Isla Ometepe)

Where to begin...

The next morning I met a couple from Norway who were renting a car and offered me a ride to the otherside of the island, great people left and right. We arrived to an amazing old farm called Finca Magdalena, a huge coffee farm set in the hills overlooking the lake and the bigger volcano Vulcan Concepcion, with the base of Vulcan Maderas sitting right behind it, making it a popular spot for people climbing the smaller of the two volcanos. I settled in and sat to admire the icredible scenery for awhile. I walked around the property and ran into three people from Indiana, one of whom lives in Nicaragua right now. We got talking about the volcano and decided to go up as a group the following morning without a guide despite recommendations to do so. We met at 7am and had breakfast and started our hike at 9. The hike was pretty strenuous and got very muddy towards the top. We finally arrived three hours into it at the lagoon that sits in the caldera at the top of the 1400m volcano. I took a swim in the frigid water and since I forgot a bathing suit I had to go desnuda. These things happen. We got down the the mountain it another two hours, making our round trip five hours and seeing as most people I talked to took eight hours, we felt pretty good about ourselves. So good in fact that we called ourselves team conquistadores and spent the night celebrating our conquest. The next couple days was spent mainly just hanging out and relaxing. On Saturday we went down to a fiesta/rodeo that we´d heard about from some locals, which turned out to be animal abuse 2010, could of done without that and I don´t really feel like getting into the details right now. We partyed afterwards and I bid fairwell to all my friends who were leaving early in the morning. I awoke the next day to an all but empty dorm and lounge area and relaxed for awhile trying to figure out my next move. I finished up my tenth book of the trip and went to bed. I awoke the next day realizing I had to come to Moyogalpa which houses the only ATM on the entire island for more cash. I arrived to find out that everyone was stranded on the island because the ferries weren´t running because the winds were to bad, ten foot swells in the middle of the lake, it was like the ocean. Good thing I don´t want to go anywhere. Anyhow, I went to this place I heard about called Yogi´s for dinner, it´s run by an expatriate named Jerry and his dog Yogi. He is quite the character, as is his dog. We walked around and all the town strays came and greeted them both, apparently he feeds all the strays which amounts to 150lbs of food a month! That´s a great way to rack up some good karma. We went back to his cafe and he finally fed me, it was worth the wait though, he knows how to cook up some good ol´ fashioned comfort food. After dinner we sat and talked for awhile and then we were joined by a couple other tourist, one was a wild-eyed guy with crazy hair who could be confused for Charles Manson and then the power went out and we sat around with some lit candles and talked until we were joined by a couple other expats, one of whom had an incredibly gorgeous Nica girlfriend. We sat in the dark for a couple hours, I listened to all there crazy travel stories and how each one came here for the weekend and stayed. I can see myself doing the same down the road. The power finally came on just in time for everyone to head to bed and I retired to my dorm room to be kept up all night by the hurricane like winds ripping through the room and tearing stuff off the walls, but I woke up in paradise once again and after this blog I am headed to the beach. It´s hard to miss home, but I miss you regardless. Hope all is well, until next time...