138 wanderlust.co.uk October 2019
he crack of a twig gave them away.
Over my head, a family of howler
monkeys were foraging for breakfast,
seemingly unperturbed by the
grinning biped below that had begun
to snap away in a paparazzi-like frenzy.
I was kayaking along the verdant
waterways of the Rio Istián on
Ometepe Island. The branches of
laid-backislandlifebelieda
tumultuoushistoryofexploding
volcanoes,plunderingpirates,rebel
priestsanddemoniclegends.PiratesoftheCaribbean
MyjourneybeganonLittleCornoff
theeastcoastofNicaragua,acar-free
Caribbeanislandjustwithoutthe
heftypricetagsortheall-inclusive
resorts.IflewfromManaguatoBig
CornIslandandfromthereitwas
a30-minuterollercoasterridebyboat,
revivedbyarefreshing,saltyspray.
MybasewasYemayaIsland
Hideawayonthenortherntipof
LittleCorn,just 16 beachfront
bungalows-on-stiltswithbalconies
thatoverlooksandsopowderfineit
squeaksandtheocean’sever-shifting
blues.Withstringhammocksstrung
betweenloftypalms,athatched-roofgnarled trees rooted in the river, were
spread above and mirrored below me
in this otherworldly aquatic garden
where turtles basked on logs and
caiman slid silently into the water
when I got too close. Little wonder
that when the Chorotega people left
Mexico around 800AD in search of
their promised land, they found it
here in this twin-coned volcanic Eden
rising out of the silver, flat waters of
Lake Nicaragua, and sprinkled it with
petroglyphs carved into basalt rock in
homage to its beauty.
Nicaragua might be dubbed the land
of lakes and volcanoes, but it’s also
a land of myriad tranquil islands,
within easy reach of the mainland, but
also a world apart. But as I explored
these unspoilt isles – taking me from
the Caribbean Sea to the heart of Lake
Nicaragua – I was discovering thatMonkeying around
(clockwise from above)
Kayaking along the Rio
Istián, Ometepe Island;
turtles basking in the sun;
Yemaya Island Hideaway,
Little Corn Island; a howler
monkey foraging for food
in the trees; (previous
page) a view of Volc n
Concepción from the
shores of Lake Nicaragua