Picture Special

I've built up quite a back-log of pictures, so as this hostel has free internet and I'm having a quiet day, here are a few of them.

First is the view of Ometepe from the boat on
Lago de Nicaragua. The island is made up of two volcanoes and the larva that has solidified between them - so it's shaped a little like a bowtie. The one we climbed is on the right. It's about the same size as the one on the left (Concepcion) but further away. One of the best things about Ometepe was watching the ever-changing cloud cover on the volcanoes. It was like a lady in a hat shop. This cloud on Concepcion was particularly dramatic.
This is Lydia and Sarah looking surprisingly cheerful during our climb up the volcano, despite the mud and rocks. When we got back from the hike we read in the guide book that it was essential to take a rope for the climb. Our guide didn't have one.
At the crater on the summit Sarah very kindly volunteered to give me a massage. I know I'm wearing a knotted handkercheif on my head, but that, surely, is still no excuse for looking quite so much like Benny Hill.
This is the crater lake, in the few minutes we had when the mist cleared and you could see the other side. For that short moment it was quite a magical place.
Ometepe is a remarkably picturesque place, that somehow is all the more beautiful because of the intensive agriculture that the rich volcanic soil has made possible. This is the quay where we waited for the boat down to the Costa Rican border. You can't really see the bananas piled up in the background, but you can make out Volcan Concepcion quite clearly.
This is how we made ourselves comfortable on the boat for the ten-hour over-night journey.
Two pictures from the riverboat trip down the Rio San Juan to El Castillo . . .

We had a great night in El Castillo, perhaps helped by the fact that nobody had any money and we had to cook for ourselves and eek out a small bottle of rum between us all. From the left, enjoying silly songs on the balcony, are Birgid, Lewis, Sarah, Lydia and Thomas.
El Castillo was gorgeous. Here's three pictures. . .