Assorted adventure

How do you pick a standout moment on a diverse journey that began with zip wiring through jungle canopies in Nicaragua, included standing up on a surf board for the first time in El Salvador, and concluded kayaking amongst mangroves at sunset in Honduras?

 It might be exploring the cobbled streets of colourful Granada, chasing a turtle out of your hotel room, sampling delicious bean and cheese filled corn Pupusas (an El Salvdorian delicacy) at a simple ‘Pupuseria’, discovering ancient Mayan civilisations at Copan, ash boarding down the side of a volcano, or just relaxing in a hammock with a book and a fresh coconut! Perhaps it would be easier to pick a favourite day?....

This particular day begins abruptly at 5.00am, as I am woken by a sudden loud banging on the roof of my bungalow. It’s nothing to be alarmed about, just an early morning wake up call from family of howler monkeys who are keen to make their presence known. It turns out that they’ve done me a favour, it’s just before sunrise and I’ve time to head down to the shore of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, to watch the sunrise over the bay. The lake is peaceful at this time of the morning, my only companion is a lone American egret strutting up and down the lake shore fishing for his breakfast. Strolling barefoot up and down the sandy beach, with no mainland in sight, I have to remind myself that I’m in the middle of a lake and not on the shore of the Pacific Ocean.

We’re staying on Isla Ometepe, an island composed of two giant and perfectly cone shaped volcanoes joined together by an isthmus. From our hotel, we’ve fantastic views of Concepcion, the larger of the two peaks and still active. Today though, we’re heading to the other half of the island, to the extinct Volcan Maderas. Swathed in cloud forest and with a mist-shrouded lagoon in its crater, it’s a very different prospect to its larger neighbour. We’re not going right to the top, just stretching our legs with a jungle hike to San Ramon Waterfall. Our 4x4s arrive to pick us up just after breakfast. Oscar, our driver today, doesn’t speak any English; he does however know all the words to the 90s hits (2Unlimited anyone?) blasting out of his homemade sound system, complete with speakers forged from large plastic water bottles, which he shows of to us with a huge grin! It certainly makes for an entertaining journey.

Arriving at the trail head, we have a quick chat with the guide about any poisonous plants and animals we might want to try and avoid before heading off. As we walk up through the forest we plenty of time to stop and admire all the beautiful flowers and butterflies. There is a plethora of unusual exotic flowers, ginger, hibiscus and heliconia, as well as some supersized versions of the ferns and houseplants we all recognise from our living rooms at home, flourishing here in their natural habitat. We arrive at the 40m high San Ramon waterfall after just an hour or so. Though the dense cloud forest has done a superb job of sheltering us from the hot sun, the walk has been somewhat humid and we can’t wait to run in and cool off the quickest way possible; by standing directly underneath the force of the cold cascading water.

We head back to our hotel in the early afternoon; today we’ve some precious free time in what is an action packed holiday. There’s still plenty to do though; our accommodation is in a secluded bay, surrounded by a private nature reserve, which I head out to explore. Others borrow kayaks from the hotel to explore the bay or just hang out in a hammock with their books.

In the evening we all gather for dinner in the open air restaurant at the hotel. We’ve all been enjoying sampling the Nicaraguan cuisine, which is a delicious mix of Spanish, Creole and indigenous Miskito, generally washed down with freshly squeezed fruit juices or local beer! Most meals are based around a mix of grilled meat or freshly caught fish, served with yummy plantain cooked in various different ways, corn tortillas, and the ever-present mix of rice and beans. Tonight, I am sampling a local delicacy called ‘Nacatamal’, which is a corn dough mixed with pork fat, filled with pork meat, rice, potato, peppers, onion and tomato, which is then wrapped in plantain leaves, tied into a package with string, and steamed. It’s certainly an acquired taste and, though I’m glad to have tried it, I don’t think I will be adding this particular meal to my cooking repertoire!

After dinner everybody heads to bed for an early night (if those howler monkeys will let us); we’re getting the first ferry back to the main land tomorrow and have to be up early. We’re all sad to be leaving this little piece of paradise, but looking forward to the next chapter of our Central American adventure.