Pools and treehouses

Waking up the next morning we had all decided to take a break from overexerting ourselves and take the day a little easier. We hitched a ride to the natural mineral pools called ‘Ojo de Agua’. The pools themselves are man made but are fed by mineral-rich springs directly from the volcano, and are very good for sunburns - which we all had. Taking spots right at the waters edge, we took turns relaxing in the soothing pools and swinging in the hammocks. Noticing that there was a path that ran behind the pools into the plantain plantation, we decided to take a brief break from our laziness. Being the adventurous type, we suited up and started on the trail.

This is a definite not to miss thing to do if you come to the pools. The path wound through tall plantain trees and provided some incredible views of Concepcion, one of Ometepe’s two volcanos. Heading back to the pool, we went for one last swim before we decided to hitch a ride back to the small town of Santa Cruz, roughly half way home. Fuelling up on some much needed nachos and quesadillas, it was well needed as we’d realized we missed lunch by about three hours. Heading back on yet one last hitched ride of the day we watched the last sunset while swimming in the lake, saying our final goodbye to the great couple days we spent there.

Getting up bright and early we headed back to the ferry to take us across to the mainland and got ourselves a ride to our next adventure; we would be staying in a Treehouse. It was super cool, however with all of our bags it was quite a hike up to the accommodation itself, which was a 150m climb over very steep rock “stairs”. The view was outstanding, and the sunset was again, beautiful as ever. The food was served and we ate family style, all together at the same table. It was a great way to get to know all the other travellers and hear their stories.

After dinner the party started, and things went sideways a little too quickly. The beginning started off with a costume party, which was quite entertaining. They threw a bunch of random items of clothes on the ground and everyone dressed up in whatever they could find. This was the fun part. Next the game started and things got weird fast. It essentially involved throwing darts at pieces of paper on a wall and whatever paper your dart hit, you were required to do whatever was written on the back. Well, there was beer being thrown everywhere, and naked people sliding down poles a little too early in the night for us. These kinds of shenanigans are perfectly acceptable after a few too many drinks, but it wasn’t even 8pm yet, and most were sober. Not being overexcited about the party that was unfolding, we ended up finishing our drinks, throwing earplugs in and calling it a night.

Needless to say, we were the first ones awake in the morning, and the only ones feeling great. We had an early breakfast and caught the next shuttle out. It was a very interesting experience, but were happy to have only booked one night.