Ojo de Agua

We had breakfast at the same place where we had lunch the day before, though we had to fight off all the flies in order to enjoy our food and playing cards in between bites. We then got ready and headed towards the Ojo de Agua, about 2 kilometers away from Santo Domingo; along the way we got to see some great views of Volcan Conception, and we took pictures while listening to the blue jays sing all around us. When we got to the entrance, I was surprised to see that it was now $2 per person, double the price since less than 6 months before. After we paid the fee, we walked across rice fields and then through a forest of plantains before we got to our destination. We found some lounge chairs, had a cold beer and went for a swim in the refreshing water. Once we got out, we met Byron, who worked at the restaurant and served us drinks and food; he was very chatty and friendly, and when we saw me scribbling in my notebook, he came over to ask me if I was a writer. I told him that the only thing I write nowadays is this blog, and he shared that he also wrote a book of poetry and was waiting to have it published. He seemed to be really proud of Ometepe, and even told me about an initiative to name the island the 8th wonder of the world; I asked him how one can vote for it, and he gave me the internet address www.com (?) which I found more than a bit questionable, but have to give him credit for his enthusiasm.

For lunch we had delicious tacos (not Taco Bell ones, but the real deal), and afterwards Josh and Marisa went for a walk up the path and came across another mirador, with even more beautiful views of the volcano. By the time they returned, we started hearing thunder in the background, and we quickly packed up or things, paid the bill and started heading back to Santo Domingo, since we didn´t bring umbrellas with us. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing pretty much what we always did: swimming, reading, relaxing and chatting. As it started to get close to sunset, we headed to our rooms to shower and change for dinner; as soon as I got out of the shower, Marisa knocked on my door, and told me to get out as soon as possible and bring the camera too. I threw on some clothes and rushed out the door with camera in hand, discovering the patio empty and everyone on the beach, staring at Volcan Maderas. I got there in time to witness something without comparison: a dark rainy cloud was enveloping the top of the mountain, and with the help of the sun´s last rays created a huge and vivid rainbow unlike any I have ever seen. We took pictures and stared at the volcano as the rainbow faded away, then we walked down the beach towards one of the restaurants for dinner. While we were waiting for our food, I had some fun trying to get the resident parrott to talk, and in the process put a nice sized hole in my pack of smokes with its beak. After a really good jalopeno chicken dinner, we returned to Buena Vista, where in typical fashion on Isla Ometepe, we headed early to bed.

The next day we celebrated Marisa´s birthday, and in accordance to her wishes, we had a very relaxed day, with no set plans to talk of. After breakfast at Buena Vista, we walked over to Finca Santo Domingo, got a hold of some beach chairs and divided our time between swimming and suntanning; from the water of Lago de Nicaragua, we could see both volcanoes at the same time. We had lunch at Finca Santo Domingo as well, and after taking numerous shots of the blue jays harrassing us for leftovers, I had the first in a series of clutzy incidents on the trip. I barely started leaning against a wooden railing when I heard a crack, and before I could react, it broke free and fell a few meters down to the cemented base of the patio. Luckily I did not follow it and simply fell on my ass; if I would´ve followed it the end of the story would not have been pretty. For the afternoon, we walked to the other side of Playa Santo Domingo, where we got to see vultures and cranes on the nearly deserted beach. In the evening, while waiting for our dinner at Finca Santo Domingo, both Marisa and I were stunned when we both saw the same unusual phenomenon: a perfectly spherical ´bolt´of lightning, which lasted for at least a few seconds, much longer than a regular bolt. This stirred up some discussion and promises to further research this event (later on, Josh did discover a few links online from other sightings, and it seems that while rare, others have had the same experience as us in the past). Since we were leaving the following morning, we returned to Buena Vista to pack our bags before going to sleep.