It's been two days since we've seen a volcano, so guess what ... time for another volcano! Ian and I are suckers for mountains, so climbing volcanoes seems the thing to do. The hotel arranges for a guide to meet us bright and early as this climb will take 6-8 hours. We head out around 7 AM and walk through the lowlands near the lodge, passing plots of beans and corn, people's houses and horses. Eventually, we meet up with the main trail up the volcano. Suddenly, everything is steep, way steep. During the next few hours, we find ourselves climbing up root structures and on our hands and knees. Some places are so sketchy, they have ropes installed. We feel like we are WAY off the beaten path at this point, especially considering that Jaime, the owner at La Omaja, tells us that this hike is gnarly. Gnarly sounds perfect to us! We finally make it to the top, where we don our jackets. It's cold up here! Dropping at least 20 degrees. Ian and I decide that if we moved to Nicaragua, we'd have to live on top of a volcano or else we would sweat to death. Downhill seems much faster for some reason and we make it back to La Omaja in time for dinner, a bottle of wine and a dip in the pool. We are fairly exhausted after the hike and sad to be leaving Ometepe. I take a mental note that 2 days/1 night on the island is not enough. For all future Nica trips, I will suggest at least 2 nights on the island.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.