We just returned from a family trip with lots of R&R and adventure mixed in on Ometepe Island.
The trip was made easier by all the pre- trip info and assistance via our host at Linda Guest House - a beautiful home we reserved so we could have easy access to lots of activities and enjoy the beach and lake as much as possible.
The island is very unique with its 2 volcanoes, carved rocks and statues, mineral springs and the rural way of life and the friendly islanders.
In Santa Cruz, there are various places to eat but we really enjoyed the Cocos Comedor - restaurant on the beach - with wood fired pizzas, wheat bread, cakes, chocolate, grilled chicken and fish with plantain chips, a flavorful vinegrette on the salads....our kids are still talking about the island, food, fruit drinks....and just hanging out on the beach, playing a baseball or soccer game with the neighbors, watching the horses come to the lake throughout the day, taking sunset rides, exploring the beach looking for pottery shards, seeds and swimming under the amazing starry night skies....
We could easily return here since it was our favorite vacation place and trip.
Ditto - Ometepe is very special - we found the Cocos restaurant on the Santa Cruz beach entrance and enjoyed the wood fired veggie pizzas with pineapple. Ordered on our way to the beach - to relax and swim - also ordered a chocolate cake and it came with a plate of delicious local fruits. All was very economical and delicious.
We returned for huevos rancheros in the morning and Manuela made us corn tortillas and organic coffee too.
So we rented bikes from her and went to the mineral springs for the day and returned in time for dinner and ordered grilled chicken and an amazing large fresh fish - with the garlic sauce and the plantain chips....! Yummy.
We asked about horse rentals and also the tours - so they arranged those for the next day.
We rode the horses to the petroglyphs and nearly the lookout - they have their farm fields up here - it was an interesting tour. The later in the day they arranged for Edgard to pick us up at our hotel at the top of the hill - Hostel Santa Cruz - we drove on the rough rocky road towards Merida and at The Peru we entered towards the lake.....spectacular views. - Edgard had a motor boat so we toured a bit of the lake and then climbed into our kayaks with our guide Noah and entered the peaceful River Istiam.....flocks and flocks of a variety of birds including parrots, egrets, ibis, cranes, a variety of herons, kingfishers, .....we saw caiman, monkeys, even bulls swimming.....it was glorious and lush.....the river is quite low this time of year so we couldn't go very far in but it was so quiet, & green - we didn't want to return the kayaks and so paddled back to Peru with an amazing sunset and Concepcion volcano in the background. Edgard gave us a ride back to Santa Cruz - where we returned to Los Cocos for more delicious food ending the meal with caramelized plantains called "maduros".
The worst part was that we had already reserved hotels in Granada and really didn't want to leave Ometepe Island!
Spectacular and worth the effort to travel there. The islanders are friendly and happy to help tourists with limited Spanish. There is alot to do on the island and we didn't allow enough time to explore it more.
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