In my voracious reading over the years, I’ve come upon literary scenes of women washing clothes in rivers and in lakes. But it was only now, at the age of 62, in Merida, Ometepe, Nicaragua, that I finally witnessed the scene with my own eyes. The settings in the books have always been so exotic- the jungles of Africa mostly. And thus, so too, seemed the act. But when I actually saw the women, in two different groups, over two days and at two different beaches around Merida, washing their clothes in the lake looked both normal and fun. A …

Probably our favorite place on Ometepe was Charco Verde (translated as Green Lagoon). What a great place, especially to see insects! It’s an ecological reserve located along the isthmus between the two volcanoes. On the day we were there we were the only visitors. Our visit began in the beautiful butterfly pavilion. It ended there too, because we just had to go back before leaving. Butterflies are super hard to photograph. They were flitting everywhere: the sudden flash of blue and then black and white, blue and then black and white. Lovely music is piped into the pavilion. There are …

There are several choices of where to stay in Ometepe: hotels and hostels in town, Eco-farms in the jungle, simple cabanas, fancier hotels with restaurants along the beach of Santo Domingo, and accommodations with local Nicas at their homes. The friend, Jon, who was visiting us from his home in the Rocky Mountains wanted a beachfront location. We visited the lovely Hotel Paraiso in Santo Domingo and enjoyed a cup of coffee at their open-air restaurant overlooking the lake but chose to stay someplace simpler and less expensive. We found our lodging online, via AirBnB. It’s called Isla Bonita and …

We caught the 10:30 am ferry from San Jorge, about a 45-minute drive NE from our home in San Juan del Sur. I’d called and made reservations over the phone the day before and was told we’d be traveling on the Ometepe 3, one of their larger ferrys which took cars. I was told it was a big, three-story ferry with a bar and bathrooms. And also that it could carry nine cars. Those two separate bits of information didn’t match in my mind; surely a large three-story ferry could carry more than nine cars, right? But when I saw …

My Two Ometepes Like Ometepe’s two volcanoes – the active, northern Volcan Concepcion and the dormant, southern Volcan Maderas – I hold two Ometepes in my mind. One Ometepe, is the mystical one, which came to me over the years from traveler’s and expat’s blogs and from our son who claimed: “Once you and Dad visit, you’ll sell your home in San Juan del Sur and move there.” The second Ometepe is the one I breathed and ate and saw with my very own eyes for the first time last weekend, when the visit from a friend spurred my husband …