Concepcion Volcano (and see the red tree? They're my favorite!)
Concepcion Volcano
Concepcion Volcano
Friday was a really fantastic day at placement. I helped another woman through labor, and I cleaned off, weighed, measured, and dressed her newborn baby boy. She was thrilled as I handed him to her. There was another 19-year old woman in labor also, and for the first time that I've seen so far, her boyfriend was with her.
We left for Ometepe in the late afternoon. We took a minibus to Rivas (about 80 mins away), and from there, took a taxi to San Jorge. We took a ferry across Lake Nicaragua to the island of Ometepe. I was feeling pretty nauseous from sea sickness, but luckily it passed as the wind died down. The island really is beautiful - there are 2 volcanos. Concepcion, which is an active volcano and one of the largest of Nicaragua's 19 volcanos, and Maderas, which is a dormant volcano. Conception last erupted on December 11, 2009, and has erupted at least 25 times since 1883.
The ferry ported in a small town on the island called Moyogalpa. From there, we took a taxi 45 minutes to the town of San Jose del Sur. We spent the night in a quaint, family-run hostel. We spent the evening socializing with other guests of this hostel.
We woke up early the next morning and took a taxi to the other side of the island. We went to Santo Domingo, another small town with supposedly the best beaches on the island. It truly was beautiful. The white sand beaches were deserted, and the surrounding lush vegetation and mighty volcanos provided quite a view. We enjoyed the beach for the first part of the morning. We had a delicious lunch, and then decided to head to the volcanic springs called Ojo de Agua (Eye of the Water). Remembering that the spring were about a half hour walk away from Santo Domingo, and considering that the springs would be closing in about an hour, we decided to seek another means of transportation. We had seen a place earlier where we could rent bikes. Unfortunately, all the bikes had been rented out except for one. There was, however, a quad that was available for rent. With that, 4 of us adventurous girls hopped on to this quad, while the 5th one of us rented the bike. I don't know why, but I love quads (haha). I try to drive them every chance I get, which is mainly only at Matt's grandparents farm. I was the only one who knew how to drive the thing! I drove us, and taught the other girls to drive... It was a blast! Only in Nicaragua could you rent a quad for $10 and drive it on a highway, without signing any waivers on top of it all...haha
We made it to the springs in good time. We were told that the water contained many minerals that were good for the skin and muscles - my slightly sunburned skin and sore muscles from work felt wonderful after our swim! We quadded it back to Santo Domingo - the locals laughed at the 4 "chelas" (white girls) on this quad. Too funny...
There wasn't much of anything to do after 5pm, as everything closes then. Regardless, we were happy to spend the evening exploring the town a bit and getting to know each other better. The "tranquilo" Nicaraguan vibe allows for a lot of time to just talk, and enjoy the people you're with.
This morning, myself and another volunteer woke bright and early. We rented horses for the morning for $5.00, and a mini-dream came true of mine today as we cantered along the beaches. It was incredibly fun and peaceful. I could have done it all day!
We left Playa Santo Domingo around 11am, and traced our travels backwards home to Jinotepe. It was a relaxing, peaceful weekend. So nice :)
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