Nicaragua Day 4

We had to be up and ready to leave early on Thursday morning in order to have enough time to make it across the country and onto a ferry boat that makes only two trips per day. It was a long drive, but I enjoyed seeing more of the country and its likeness to Mozambique. We drove through Managua and made a stop near the Masaya Volcano at a market place overlooking the Laguna de Apoyo which is where our third and final destination was. We arrived in the early afternoon at the ferry crossing station with only a little time to spare. The ferry we took crosses Lake Nicaragua from San Jorge (St. George) to the island of Ometepe. There are two volcanoes on Ometepe; Concepcion and Maderas. It was a very cool sight to see as we crossed the lake via ferry boat. After arriving on Omatepe, we still had to drive around to the far side of the island. Our new home for 3 nights, located in the town of Merida, was a bilingual school which also offers rooms for rent in order to help fund the school. Other than educating local kids and teaching English, the school does a lot to help clean up the trash on their island. Plastic bottles are collected and packed with non-biodegradable products. Once enough of these packed bottles are collected, they are used in constructing the walls of the school. The school buildings consist mainly of small rooms separated by tall walls, with a metal roof covering the rooms. Low walls run along the sides of the buildings and allow for ventilation to cool the rooms in mid day. Used as space fillers, the bottles reduce the need for concrete and remove trash from the environment. It is a simple idea that many of the local people are getting on board with. By the time we arrived at our rooms, it was dark outside. We had traveled almost the entire day, but before going to bed we had one last adventure to complete. Being on an island, in the middle of a large freshwater lake, located in the tropics is a Biologists dream! Along with Dr. Heyborne and other biology students, we explored the area at night. With our headlamps on, we searched the beach and nearby areas for wildlife. There was a good variety of toads, snakes, insects, and plants in such a small area. Exploring for herps (reptiles and amphibians) became a nightly routine for the remainder of the trip.

View of Ometepe from San Jorge