40
Nicaragua
511 Kilometres – 18 Days
La Cruz, Costa Rica – San Jorge, Nicaragua - 64 kilometres
From Costa Rica the road to Nicaragua veered inland away from the Pacific Ocean
and onto the busy Costa Rico-Nicaragua border. Trucks were backed up for
kilometres, still, our crossing into Nicaragua went smoothly. After crossing the
border, one first noticed Lake Nicaragua, a substantial freshwater lake. We
continued in the direction of Rivas, the first big(ish) village.
From Rivas, a smaller path led towards the lake where we discovered an
inexpensive guesthouse in San Jorge, a tiny lakeside settlement. From here, ferries
departed to Isla de Ometepe, an island fifteen kilometres off the mainland. Isla De
Ometepe was formed by two volcanoes rising out of the lake. Concepcion (1 610m)
is still considered active, but last erupted in 1957.
The most remarkable fact about Lake Nicaragua was that it was home to sawfish,
tarpon, and sharks despite being a freshwater lake. Initially, scientists thought
sharks in the lake belonged to an endemic species, the Lake Nicaragua shark. In
1961, following comparisons of specimens, the Lake Nicaragua shark was found to
be synonymous with the Bull shark, a species also known for entering freshwater
elsewhere. It had been presumed these sharks were trapped within the lake, but it
was subsequently discovered they could jump along the San Juan River’s rapids
(which connects Lake Nicaragua and the Caribbean Sea), almost like salmon. Bull
sharks tagged inside the lake were caught in the open ocean (and vice versa). How
amazing is that?