meeting adam & family in isla de ometepe, nicaragua {1/2}

Arrival in Managua and a long day of travel to Ometepe

Thursday, March 14, 2024: After taking an 8:30 a.m. flight from San Salvador, I arrived at Augusto Cesar Sandino Internacional Aeropuerto in Managua, Nicaragua at 9:10 a.m. on Thursday and had to wait there until about 12:45 for Mike to arrive from his two flights from Washington to Miami to Managua. The airport in Managua is probably the worst possible place to have to spend over 4 hours because it is small and hardly has anywhere to sit or anything to do. I did have a little breakfast at a kind of food court, but it was nothing special.

When Mike finally arrived, Dani (a driver Adam had arranged for us) drove us over 2 hours to San Jorge port where we took the 3:30 ferry over VERY rough seas from San Jorge to Ometepe.It was an hour ride rocking violently to and fro in wild seas!

Unscathed, we finally made landfall in Moyogalpa on Ometepe. Luckily we didn’t capsize. 😳😮😱 In Moyogalpa, we rented a Toyota Rush for our 7-day stay on the island 🏝️. Then we drove over an hour to Balgüe, where our son Adam lives.

Here’s a short video showing our ferry crossing to the island. The noise you hear of a woman crying is from someone playing a telenovela (soap opera produced primarily in Latin America) on their phone.

Balgüe & Totoco Eco-Lodge

We arrived at Totoco Eco-Lodge, did a brief check in, then Mike drove to pick up Adam, Maria and the girls: Cristy (12), Andrea (10) and Mia (7). We all had dinner together at the lodge and though I had trouble communicating in Spanish, I was able to understand and speak some, especially with Adam and Cristy helping to translate. What a wonderful experience to finally meet Adam’s Nicaraguan family. And we were excited to find out that Adam and Maria are expecting a boy, and Adam plans to name him Michael (not Miguel, which he hates) after his father, with Christopher as a middle name (the same as his own middle name).

Steps: 10,483; Miles 4.44. Weather: Hi 90°, Lo 76°. Sunny.

Friday, March 15: We arrived after dark last night so this morning we were able to wake up in the paradise that is Isla de Ometepe. We’re staying for 7 nights at Totoco Eco-Lodge, a cool lodge on the slopes of Volcán Maderas. I enjoyed a breakfast of huevos revueltas (scrambled eggs) with onions, peppers and cheese, beans and rice, Nicaraguan cheese and fried plantains (they were hard like potato chips). It was delicious and the views were fabulous. The hotel has a small infinity pool and views of Volcán Concepción.

After breakfast, we hung out at Adam’s casita with the family. Adam’s wife Maria made a delicious lunch of fresh lake fish, rice, salad, and melon juice. Mike, Andrea, Mia and Adam played a game of chess after lunch. Cristy went to school and then had fútbol practice after school. She speaks excellent English and loves school; she’s at the age where her friends are very important to her.

Adam gave us a tour of his property where he raises chickens, a pig and some rabbits!🐇, Lola and Rabbititte!

We spent the afternoon with Andrea and Mia at the Totoco Eco-Lodge pool. Andrea is a little fish in the water and has endless stores of energy. She is athletic and active and has a lot of confidence. Mia is still learning to swim but she has no fear of the water. She swims a few feet with her head underwater and then she jumps up and shakes her head with gusto while brushing her long hair out of her eyes. Both of them would be exhausted that night!

Mike had brought several pairs of goggles which he gave the girls to use and to keep. They really liked having them.

Mike patiently worked with Mia by encouraging her to swim to him and we both tried to get her to practice her kick, which is quite spastic, kind of like Elaine’s dancing on the TV show Seinfeld.

Adam came by to pick up the girls while he delivered cheese to Totoco. Mike and I relaxed a bit before going to their house. We caught the tail end of the sunset 🌅 from Totoco Eco-Lodge.

We arrived at their house around 6:30. The girls, decked out in colorful dresses, performed a “folkloric dance” to music before we went out to dinner.

Here is a short video of the girls’ performance. I changed the music because there was too much talking and exclaiming by some very noisy grandparents!

We had dinner at Pizza Mediterránea with the whole family. The girls all love pepperoni while Adam and Maria ordered a delicious broccoli and chorizo pizza. Mike and I enjoyed our funghi mozzarella pizza, but once I tasted the chorizo and broccoli one, I regretted not having that. The girls wanted some jewelry sold by Kemal, a Turkish man who has lived on the island for many years, so I bought them each a piece. It was a fun and laid back evening. Adam says Maria loves to cook and they rarely go out so they enjoyed the special treat.

Steps: 6,626; Miles: 2.81. Weather Hi 91°, Lo 78°. Sunny.

Saturday, March 16: After breakfast at Totoco, Mike went to pick up Adam and take him to meet with someone who was selling a used refrigerator. Mike helped him buy the refrigerator so they could store the cheese they buy and sell. They arranged to have it delivered that afternoon.

While they were doing that, I walked about 2.4 miles, first downhill from Totoco Eco-Lodge to Balgüe and then, just when I thought it hadn’t been all that bad, I had to climb back up the steep and relentless hill back to the Eco-Lodge. Then I  was too hot and tired to do anything but swing in the hammock, take a dip in the pool, and take a cold shower before going out into Ometepe’s constant heat.

The Saturday Market

We then went with the family to the Saturday market. I bought a necklace and some earrings (I threw them out when we got home because they broke). Lots of expats and Nicaraguans make and sell jewelry.

We ate some delicious vegan patties of lentils, yucca, potatoes or some combo of the above called “handkerchiefs” stuffed with frijoles or queso. Each patty was served on a banana leaf and topped with guacamole, shredded lettuce, tomatoes 🍅 and piquante sauce. So yummy.

Mike went swimming in Lake Ometepe (it is more like an ocean) with Andrea and Mia. They could go quite far out and the water was still only to their knees. Adam was having the new refrigerator delivered so he arrived late.

I couldn’t tell who outnumbered who, the gringos, the backpacker crowd, or the native Nicaraguans.

As we were leaving, one of Adam’s friends named Ryan, and his little naked son, Maximus, asked if we could drive him to his home near Totoco. He had a huge bag of papayas because he said he only eats fruit. Many of the long-time gringos here mostly go around bare chested. It seems quite the thing.

Andrea had fun wearing my hat; I was surprised it fit her because I have such a huge head. She looked adorable in it.

Cafe Campestre

Mike went to play poker at Cafe Campestre from 2:00-5:00 with Adam, Ben (the owner of Cafe Campestre), and Luke (another expat), so I took the opportunity to relax by the pool for the afternoon. Volcán Concepcion was wearing a cute little cap of clouds. ☁️ ☁️ ☁️

Cafe Campestre was where Mike and I headed for dinner when the family wanted to go to their house and relax for the evening. We couldn’t spend every waking hour together; at times, we all needed some down time.

I enjoyed a glass of wine and the most delicious green chicken curry. It was one of those dishes that tastes so good that you want to cry when it’s all gone.

We went up to the lodge to relax and read. It gets dark every night of the year here in Ometepe at 6:30 p.m. and the sun rises at around 6:00 a.m.

I couldn’t believe it, but Mike and I both slept for almost 10 hours. My normal night of sleep is 6-7 hours, so this was an extraordinary treat.

Steps: 10,553; Miles 4.47. Weather Hi 91°, Lo 78°. Sunny.

Sunday, March 17: This morning, Mike and I walked down and back up from Totoco before breakfast. We showered and enjoyed another lovely breakfast with grand views.

Rabititte meets an untimely end

Shortly after we arrived at Adam’s house to pick up the family for our day’s outing, suddenly the girls came out of one of the bedrooms and began weeping. All of them were crying, even Maria, and it took us some prying to find out that one of the bunnies, little Rabbititte 🐇 , had died. No one knew the cause, possibly not having enough water or eating some vegetation not meant for rabbits. Anyway, it was devastating for the girls as it was the first pet they’d ever owned. Adam immediately took charge, dug a hole on the farm, and gathered the family for a little funeral service. They paid little Rabbititte a fond and loving farewell and placed him in the grave, covering him with dirt and a few large stones as a grave marker.

Ojo de Agua

It was a sad thing to watch them grieving for their little pet. After the funeral we all climbed heavily into the car for the drive to Ojo de Agua, a public swimming pool. The waters come from the volcanoes and are supposedly rich in minerals.

It didn’t take long for the girls to jump into the water and start swimming happily around. Andrea and Cristy are very good swimmers, while Mia is happy to repeat the same strokes over and over again: head underwater while pulling with her arms, butt in the air, and legs flailing every which way.

We three adults (except Maria who is pregnant) ordered coco locos; luckily I didn’t choke on them as I did last year. Then we ordered a huge platter of meat and seafood: beef, pork, chicken, fish, shrimp, cheeses, plantains, and French fries. We took lots of photos and used my selfie stick for silly poses.

Andrea, Cristy, Mike and Adam jumped off the platform on the rope swing too many times to count. Adam and Cristy “raced”’down the pool with Adam trying hard to pretend he didn’t know how to swim. Cristy “won,” and was utterly exhausted. Andrea lost and did her pouting, faux crying and sniffling. Adam calls her a “drama queen.” She definitely has the strongest personality of them all. Below is a short video of the family’s swimming escapades.

What a fun day, topped off with ice cream treats for all.

Back to Balgüe

After we returned to Balgüe, Mike and I hung out at Totoco Eco-Lodge for a bit. Later, we drove to Merida to have dinner at Playa Mangoes. That place was packed and it wasn’t really my vibe, so we drove back up to Totoco, where we ate dinner. I had a filete de Pollo and Mike had Pasta Linguine Pesto y Pollo. The dinners at Totoco were just average, nothing compared to Cafe Campestre.

We were awestruck by a beautiful sunset and Volcán Concepcion was sporting a rather fluffy sombrero.

Steps: 11,217; Miles 4.76. Weather Hi 91°, Lo 77°. Partly cloudy.