Isla De Ometepe, and the Great Volcano Adventure

For my 24th birthday, it was prescribed that I throw a rock at a volcano. Yes, this may seem weird, but lately I’ve just been really into throwing rocks at things. There’s something very substantial about seeing it fly (though not very far, because I suck at throwing). So we gathered Omar the Uncertain (this German dude was completely untrusting about us knowing anything) and Renze the Hilarious (Dutch man who later joined our impromptu ac cappella group and earned a space in our hearts forever) and took them on the bus to the ferry that would take us to an island made up of not one but TWO volcanoes. wowie.

The first night we stayed in the port town Moyogalpa, or “Mosquitos Nest” ask the locals know it, and experienced what seemed to be a tri-daily event of All the Power on the Island Going Out. Did that stop us? No. We played an epic game of my new Israeli favorite card game, Yaniv. Why do I love it? Because it’s the only game I don’t kick everyone’s ass in (what can I say, I’m usually pretty good at games). Since the power was out, we played by romantic candlelight… sipping rum and being simply amazed at how much rain this island consumed. After many-a-hour, with the lack of power still keeping us secluded in darkness, the game finally ended, and me and Young Renze had to endure the punishment of loss: Streaking.

Que Libre! I’d never done anything that felt so freeing. Nudeness racing on a rain-covered Nicaraguan cobble-stoned street, with only the moon to make us blush (double entendre!). And who better to do it with than with someone who I assume does it all the time in Amsterdam (I stereotype the Netherlands as a place where people are continuously smiling, biking, high, and nude… a lot like Eugene, too!) and isn’t that bad to look at, either.

The next day we parted ways with our European boys and headed for Santa Domingo, a little lakefront town closer to the base of the Volcano we planned on conquering. We took the bus, which dropped us off in front of a sign that seemed to say “Santa Domingo, this way.” The ambiguity of space and time here never fails, but we decided to follow the sign. Jessie struggled with her sunburnt shoulders, and after walking in the heat of the morning for what seemed an eternity, I was pretty sure she was going to start throwing things out of the bag on the side of the road to lighten her load. Fortunately, a Truck of Glory pulled up in front of us and took us what would become the 4 more miles to the town we assumed we’d walk to.

Jessie made me go horseback riding again. She was in heaven, I was in hell.

We ran into a friend we’d met in Granada days earlier, Jay (this seems to happen a lot in Nicaragua), and the three of us shared a room in a fancy hotel (for like, $5 a person. I love Nicaragua). We somehow convinced Jay to come hike the Volcano Masaya with us, and the next morning we were off to get extreme!

Now, I love hiking. I love backpacking and the outdoors and being out of breath and ‘feeling the burn.’ I guess I never really considered the fact that most normal people wouldn’t put this strenuous activity at the top of their fun list. So after the first hour of sweat covered hiking with our guide, I was astounded that Jay wasn’t having the best time. Jessie assures me she was having fun 90% of the time, and I love her for keeping the positive vibe no matter how sure she was her legs were about to fall off, since it was my birthday and all. I never would have believed it, but WE MADE IT! All of us! To the very top, and then INSIDE of the volcano! And it only took us 5 hours!!!!! There was a beautiful mud pit that, during the rainy season, is a refreshing lagoon tired hikers can cool off in. Unfortunately for us, it was a tease, but served as an AMAZING place for rock throwing! After resting for as long as possible (and allowing our guide to smoke some pot… this seems to happen a lot in Nicaragua) we headed down. This only took 3 hours, probably because by the end we were running from the rain, lightning, and quickly approaching darkness. But we did it. It was wonderful.

There was video, and as soon as i figure out how to upload it via super slow internet, it will be yours.

We got back to our hotel and Jay treated us to LOBSTER DINNER, which for $13 was seriously the best thing that could ever be purchased. We compared bodyaches, and the three of us were asleep by 8:30. Magnificent.