Nicaragua on Horseback

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

Lago de Nicaragua is the largest lake in Central America and the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world (177km long, 58 km wide and 60m deep) with fortyfive rivers flowing into her. The world´s only fresh water sharks live in Lago de Nicaragua. The lake is thought to have once been a golf, part of the Pacific Ocean, but got sealed off by the lava flow of erupting volcanoes. Over hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, the sea water eventually lost its salinity and the fish evolved to fresh water conditions. There are three major islands in the lake, one being Ometepe which was formed by two large volcanoes (1310 and 1640 meters high), one with an almost perfect cone. Arriving by boat the volcanic view is exceptional, and I could see the smoke from one that is still active! People are dotted around the island in small settlements. There is really no city, just a couple of small towns with schools. An incomplete figure eight road loops around the two volcanoes, a foot path finishes the eight on the far side of the active Volcan Madera.
Our hotel is called Finca de Santo Domingo, a rather isolated bungalo villa whose songs of the birds are matched by the lapping of the waves just feet from the terrace and our rooms.

Several of us spent our free day horseback riding. Rosilla was a lazy horse... until we reached the seaside (okay, it is actually now a lake, but so great you can´t see the mainland). Rosilla loves to gallop on the beach. Our guides took us up a rocky path, a bit treacherous for our shoeless horses, which walked gingerly and occasionally slipping on the muddy rocks. We viewed ancient stones and Mayan petroglyphs (rock carvings) atop a mountain, now part of someone´s fruit plantation. They depict people, animals, birds, and geometric shapes, especially spirals. Today in this region you will find pottery with these markings in the decorations.
We sipped cokes, fresh squeezed lemonade and nectar from freshly picked and split open coconuts, all the while swinging in hammocks of the mirador (viewing spot) atop the plantation, petting the dog and chatting with the natives. The family supplements their finances by charging a small fee to view the petroglyphs and offering refreshments to parched tourists such as us.
Lorraine and I didn´t want to stop riding, so we dropped off the others and headed to El Ojo de Agua, which upon arrival I discovered was the equivalent to a watering hole or spring. We soaked a spring fed pond tucked up in the woods beyond the banana plantation. Our horses were so gentle and obedient. Considering the heat, we had pushed them enough. Returning to our cozy lakeside retreat, we all gathered for a meal and a dip in the same waters that would lull us to sleep tonight. The wooden swinging porthole door that covers the screened window would need to be closed in the middle of the night during the thunder storm and winds.
Thankfully it continues to rain primarily on travel days while we are on the bus, or during the night when we are sleeping. The further north we go, the further away from rainy season.