Sunday, March 7, 2010

Trip to Twin Peaks...Ometepe, Nicaragua

With the beautiful snow-capped cones surrounding Mexico City right now, I have volcanoes on my mind, so I thought I would take you on a trip this week to the beautiful island of Ometepe in Nicaragua which is made up of twin volcanoes Concepcion and Maderas....















The island, in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, is home to 30,000 people who live in 25 villages which are all thriving communities with a church, school and fertile fields to farm. According to the villagers, it is a tranquil, trouble-free life far from harsher places like Managua where life can be so much tougher...















In the lush, fertile fields beneath the twin peaks, bananas, maize, wheat, rice, coconuts, pineapples, coffee and tobacco are grown for export to the USA and Central America. For the tourist it is a remote, quiet haven perfect for a few days of chilling out. Be sure to get over to the East of the Island where there are tiny beach resorts like Playa Domingo right on the lake shore fringed by black volcanic sand beaches inhabited by white egrets...



















Stay at Villa Paraiso in comfortable cabins with terraces and hammocks surrounded by tropical forest (73USD per cabin), and eat at the restaurant which serves up fresh lobster salad for lunch and tasty lake fish for dinner......



















After a few days here, you will be truly sad to pack up, bid farewell, and leave....


















To get to Ometepe, take a taxi, bus or shared minivan from either Granada (90 minutes, 18USD) or Managua (45minutes) to San Jorge and board the car ferry for Ometepe which takes about an hour to reach the Island. Villa Paraiso will arrange pick-ups from the port to get you swiftly to Santa Domingo (45 minutes, 20USD)....
















For more travelling around the world take a trip to My World Tuesday by clicking here. Enjoy!!

14 comments:

A Cuban In London said...

I was enjoying the photos and repeating the first line of your post in my head: 'Please, take me, take me!' What a glorious tour. I love snow-capped mountains.

Greetings from London.

Purple Cow said...

Beau-ti-ful! Thanks for sharing!

Prêt à Voyager said...

Nicaragua is a place I've been hearing more and more about. Your pictures have me even more intrigued :)

Anne

p.s. Essaouira is a must!

Carolyn Ford said...

What a beautiful sky full of clouds in that first photo! They look like they are touching the ground. These are all beautiful...a beautiful world!

PeterParis said...

Good for you travelling around in Central America ... and so good for us enjoying it ... virtually for the moment!

Jim said...

Very scenic place.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Sistertex said...

Looks to be a wonderful place. Thank you for sharing your world. (Lucky!) ;)

Sylvia K said...

Always love the trips you take us on, Catherine! This one was truly delightful! What a gorgeous place! As always, your photos are magnificent! Have a great week!

Sylvia

Unknown said...

IVillage life is often easier in villages than in cities. Makes me wonder why so many country people leave their comfortable lives to live in cramped environments like Mexico City.

Indrani said...

Such beautiful shots of the place! Who wouldn't be sad to pack up from such a beautiful place.

Anonymous said...

Villa Paraiso looks heavenly. Thanks for taking us there. Nicaragua has never been on my radar and now it's on my bucket list. :-)

Randi said...

What a beautiful landscape!

Arija said...

Such beautiful scenery!

Catherine said...

Hi everyone - thanks so much for all the comments this week - Ometepe is a delightful place to visit...