Petroglyphs and Motorbiking on Ometepe Island

From the lagoon we got a taxi to the nearest town of Masaya. Before entering Nicaragua we’d heard that it wasn’t the safest country (only in terms of petty crime like theft etc) and we’d been advised to get tourist shuttles and avoid local transport like buses, which is what we’d done so far. But we had been here over a week now and had more of a feel of the place, and we felt that the buses here would be fine. So we planned to catch a bus from Masaya to the town of Rivas or San Jorge on the shore of Lake Nicaragua. From there we planned to get a boat over to the island of Ometepe, defined by the 2 volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas.

We were dropped at the bus stop on the main road, expecting to get a bus to the transit town of Rivas, then another taxi or a second bus to San Jorge, but a kind gentleman asked us where we were going. He said there was one bus which goes direct to San Jorge coming soon and told us the price. When it arrived he signalled to us.

The bus was packed, no seats left, so we had to stand up in the aisle for the 1.5 hour journey to Rivas, there, a lot of people got off and we finally had a seat, but it was only another 20 minutes to San Jorge from there.

We did have one strange encounter with one person, who seemed drunk or high, he got on the bus and stood very close to Dave, first asking for his bracelet, then his shades, then just asking for money, but a lot of the locals around us were watching it, one guy even stood up behind Dave and told him to stop. Other people were looking round as he was causing a bit of trouble and being a nuisance in general. Eventually he got off and all the locals offered us a sort of apologetic shrug and smile, all the locals on the bus had our backs.

At the port, we had just enough time for a quick drink on the beach before boarding the boat to the town of Moyogalpa on Ometepe. The boat was PACKED, even more so than the bus, there was only a seat on the top deck in the baking sun, so we covered ourselves in suncream and got our jumpers out to cover ourselves, it was so hot in the jumper, but better than getting burned!

There are few buses on Ometepe and none aligned with our arrival in Moyogalpa, so we got a taxi to our hostel in the town of Balgue on the North East side of the island.

After a long day of travel on 4 different legs of the journey, we finally arrived at our room and went straight out for some food.

In the morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast, before walking up the trail behind the hostel in the foothills of Maderas Volcano. We’d seen there were supposed to be some petroglyphs here which looked really cool…

… And they were, the petroglyphs were so amazing. They are etched into ancient basalt boulders, scattered beneath mango trees and tangled jungle, some half-hidden by moss or soil. The carvings – spirals, animals, and faces – are thought to date back over a thousand years, made by the island’s indigenous Chorotega people. No one knows exactly what they mean… maybe they marked sacred sites, told stories, or followed the stars, but they were fascinating and so unique to see.

We also saw a pretty amazing stick insect, I don’t know  how I spotted it, but it was so “twiggy”, it was probably the twiggiest stick insect I’ve ever seen! 🤣

On the back down the road we heard so many trogons and were looking for them in the tree tops before realising actually they were much lower down and right next to the road! We were looking in the wrong places! Once we knew where to look (these trogons were obviously more used to people and got closer to the road) we enjoyed watching them the whole way back, as they sort of lead you down the path, because as you get too close they fly off, but usually just further down the road. The male is a shimmering blue green (like a teal colour) in the sunlight, he was stunning!

Then once we got back we rented a motorbike for 24 hours and headed to a very highly rated 100% vegan place, called El Pilar. It was quite pricey (for Nicaragua), but it was absolutely amazing, I got a hummus with tofu shawarma dish with fresh pita bread and it’s up there in the top 10 meals I’ve ever eaten 😋

After food we headed over to Playa Mango on the south west of the island to watch the sunset. What a beautiful end to the day!

The next day we we used to bike to drive back towards Playa Mango, to rent a kayak for the morning to try and spot some wildlife in the mangroves and wetland area of Rio Istián, a river which cuts between the 2 volcanoes. We set off early and got the kayak at 7am, and we did see a lot of water birds, but no caimans or monkeys 😔

We got back at around 10am and so went to El Pilar again, this time for breakfast, they had a fake egg shakshuka which was so good!

Then in the afternoon we drove to the Reserva de Biosfera Ometepe to walk the short loop that is here, it’s supposed to be good for parrots and white faced monkeys (which we haven’t seen yet), but sadly we didn’t see much on this trail, just some Howlers.

Then we headed down to Playa Mangos again to watch the sunset, the volcano still had his hat on, but it was pretty cool to see it slightly differently today instead.

We really loved our time on Ometepe, largely because it gave us a real sense of freedom again. Renting a motorbike meant we could explore the island at our own pace, winding through rural roads and discovering hidden corners with ease. Kayaking was another highlight – something a little different that added to the adventure. The ancient petroglyphs were fascinating too, offering a glimpse into the island’s past. But what truly stole the show was the scenery. Ometepe’s two volcanoes dominate every view, with the perfectly conical Concepción rising dramatically into the sky – you can see it from almost anywhere on the island, and it never gets old….