Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

My top 10 must see Nicaragua travel destinations:

On to #2. I have to choose Isla de Ometepe. This is a true wonder of Nature.

Isla de Ometepe

This volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua is truly one of the natural wonders of the world. From the mainland, the craters seem to soar directly out of the lake itself. From the moment you get off the ferry and arrive on the island it feels like a very different world from the rest of Nicaragua. There are plenty of things to keep you busy many of which include hiking. Among the activities and sites include waterfalls, fresh water beaches, horse back riding, mountain biking, swimming. etc.

While there, we spent a long day hiking Volcan Madera. Our guide book referred to it as a fairly easy hike and that it was "approved for overweight chain smokers". I do not believe the writers of the book ever did this hike. We chose to go with a guide from the Hotel Villa Paraíso and we were joined by an El Salvadorian couple in their 50's. About midway the guide told the El Salvadorians that they could not continue as there would not be enough time to get down before dark and we continued to the top. Unfortunately for them and our guide, they did not listen and ended up hiking through very wet, steep, slippery trail in pitch black. They eventually made it back to the hotel, but not until very late.

The next day we spent riding horses on Playa Santo Domingo and just relaxing. When I get back I really want to get up to the San Ramon waterfall. It looks very cool, but on this trip we were exhausted from the Volcano hike.