Las Isletas y Volcano Mombacho!!!

What a weekend Chelcy and I had!!!

We started out yesterday on our adventure to Las Isletas! We got a ride from Chelcy´s host mother´s boyfriends´friend/coworker? lol to this little dock where we could get a boat for the day! The ¨dock¨ was made out of rice bags filled with sand!! And as the water got deeper there were planks of wood held up by other smaller planks of wood! It was a really funny set up!! I took some pictures but I left my camera cord at home :(

So we got on this little boat and started our trip across Lake Nicaragua! Lake Nicaragua, i´m pretty sure is the only lake that has sharks (bull sharks) and the water is so murky and gross looking, so no swimming for us! There are about 300 islands that make up las isletas and some have gorgeous mansion like houses on them! They were saying that you can buy an island for about 100,000 US dollars, which is no a bad deal at all! So our boat driver pulled up to this tiny tiny tiny island with a little shack and a tiny pool...and asked us what time we wanted to get picked up...we took one look at the island and were like...ummm No we want to go see the other ones, so he hesitated and then agreed. We think that his families or friends owned that island so he was trying to get them business. So we went to some other islands! Saw some monkeys!!!! And then spotted this really nice island with hammocks and a little restaurant! So our boat driver was hesitant but dropped us off and we literally laid in a hammock from 9 in the morning to about 4 pm!! It was the most relaxing day ever!!

We literally just laid in the hammocks watched these little kids jump/throw rocks and sticks at a tree trying to get mangoes down!! It was so adorable! We helped a little but once we finally got some down they weren´t ripe! It was very disappointing!

So luckily our boat driver came back for us, which was a good thing because he didn´t seem too happy about our choice of island..lol

So yesterday was probably the most relaxing day I have ever had! It was amazing just laying in a hammock admiring the islands and volcanoes all around me!

This morning we met up with a tour group to start our adventure up Volcano Mombacho!! We started out with a tour of a coffee plantation which sits on the side of the volcano. We walked around the plantation and I had the best coffee I have EVER had! It was soooooo amazing!! Instantly we had way too much energy from the caffeine and starting hiking! We are talking about a pretty much vertical incline up this volcano and it was soooo hot!! So about 2 mins up we were all completely exhausted, out of breath, legs like jello, and completely DRENCHed in sweat!! And that was only 2mins up...we had a longgg way to go!! hahaha I thought that eventually it would flatten out maybe just for a bit..but no! They whole way up was pretty much vertical!! I´ve done some pretty intense mountain climbing but I think this was the most intense! We finally reached pretty much to the top, where they have a little conservatory center. It literally looked like we just stepped out of the shower!

So once we rested up for a bit, we continued our hike through the cloud forest (not rain forest because the vegetation gets its moisture from the clouds, since we were up so high) towards the crater of the volcano! So my biology nerdyness came out as we trekked through this cloud forest! It was absolutely amazing!! There were orchids, bromilliades, trees, scrubs EVERYWHERE!! Up until this point everything we have seen in Nicaragua has been dry and very dusty. This forest was so lush and flourishing! My mom would have been amazing with all the wild orchids!! There was this really cool naturally made tunnel, which was awesome!! This tunnel was made when there was an earthquake years and years ago, and it felt like it had AC in it! I decided that I could totally live in this tunnel! It was so amazing!! We saw lots of butterflies, birds, reptiles and of course cool little insects. We were walking through the forest when all of a sudden our tour guide stopped in his tracks and said he just saw something really big move in the bushes. We all stopped and were trying to listen and were really quiet. All of a sudden we heard this loud purring noise!! It sounded like a huge cat purr!! It was so exciting! They only big cats that live up there are pumas! We didn´t see it again, but it was still awesome!

I figured out today, that I´m happiest when I´m either in the middle of the ocean or in the middle of a forest. It´s so hard to explain but I just get the most amazing feeling when I´m out surrounded by nothing but nature! I keep thinking today about all of the amazing research projects I could do about all the plants, specifically about plants that could be used for medical reasons. I´ve never had the urge to do research before today! But I saw so many things today and it just made me wonder so much about the logistics of this forest. I´ve always had an interest in alternative medicine, so who knows maybe I´ll end up focusing my studies on that!

The treacherous hike was definitely worth experiencing this adventure through the cloud forest! Once we got to the top of the crater there were fields of orchids over looking all over the surounding lakes and cities! It was gorgeous! There are holes coming out of the volcano releasing the pressure of the volcano and they felt like a steam bath! So I got a little sulfur facial today...lol

So what I leaned today is that I´m a complete nerd because I can´t stop thinking about all the trees, animals, different habitats and all the medicines that could probably be made from all the plants..lol!

Luckily it started raining, like downpour, so we get a ride down from the top!! Except it was like a roller coaster riding down because it was sooo steep and twisty! At some points I wasn´t quite sure if we were going to make it down. It was such a crazy adventure just getting down!!

It seems like everything we do here turns into an adventure, or for my brothers sake I´ll call it an expedition (cause that´s safer)!!

So it´s back to work tomorrow!! And on tuesday Chelcy and I are doing a presentation about the importance of brushing teeth and washing hands for the children and hopefully some of the parents at Santa Ana! I´m a little nervous about my spanish skills but I´m sure I´ll manage pretty well!

I´ll try to get some pics up tomoorrow!!