Ometepe

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua | GoPro Adventure

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• published: 04 Mar 2014
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The amazing Isla de Ometepe or Ometepe Island is one of the wonders of the world, and I went there! Here is my adventure! See my last adventure here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hWEP8eQiAo Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising from Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome (two) and tepetl (mountain), meaning two mountains. It is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua. The two volcanoes of Concepción and Maderas are joined by a low isthmus to form one island in the shape of an hourglass. Ometepe has an area of 276 km². It is 31 km long and 5 to 10 km wide. The island has an economy based on livestock, agriculture, and tourism. Plantains are the major crop. The island first became inhabited during the Dinarte phase (ca. 2000 B.C. -- 500 B.C.), although evidence is questionable. The first known inhabitants were Nahua Indians from Mexico. In their footsteps came the Niquirano Indians who established an important settlement on the island. Traces of this past can still be found in petroglyphs and stone idols on the northern slopes of Maderas volcano. The oldest date from 300 BC. After the Spaniards conquered the Central American region in the 16th century, pirates began prowling Lake Nicaragua. They came in from the Caribbean Sea via the San Juan River. The inhabitants of Ometepe were hard hit. The pirates stole the inhabitants' women, animals, possessions and harvest; and erected settlements on the shore, making it their refuge. This made the local population, seeking shelter, move to higher grounds on the volcanoes. The island was finally settled by the Spanish conquistadors at the end of the 16th century. The most important villages on the island are Altagracia (pop. 4081), on the eastern side, and Moyogalpa (pop. 2905), with its harbor on the northwestern side of the island. These two villages are the centers of the two municipalities and the island is divided between the two. Many traditions have been kept alive, thus inhabitants of Ometepe celebrate more religious and folk festivals than anywhere else in Nicaragua. Today, Ometepe is developing tourism and ecotourism, with the archaeological past and the bounty of its nature sanctuary, the exotic vegetation, animal and bird life as drawcards. There are plans to construct an international airport on the island. Volcán Concepción, once named menstruation volcano; before the Spanish conquest; is the northwest half of the island. Concepción is a symmetrical cone, and is an active volcano (Baker, 2006). Concepción volcano rose in the early Holocene Epoch and, through continual eruptions, now reaches an altitude of 1 610 m making Ometepe the world's highest lake island. Concepción is considered the most perfectly formed volcano cone in Central America. Although it went through a long quiet period, on December 8, 1880, Concepción came back to life. This eruption was extensive, and the volcano remained active for a year. More eruptions followed in 1883, 1889, 1902, 1907, and 1924. In 2005, an earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale occurred as a result of increasing pressure within the volcano. Cracks appeared on roads throughout the island and an advisory to leave the island was issued. This was the first minor eruption since 1999. The most recent eruption was in 2010 and though extremely violent, few of the inhabitants heeded the order from the government in Managua to evacuate the island. Ometepe harbors large populations of the white-faced Capuchin monkey, also called white-headed Capuchin, (Cebus capucinus) and populations of the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata). Efforts are being made to study and protect these animals. The Ometepe Biological Field School is situated on the Maderas side of the island. Here, students and scientists from all over the world come to study the unique flora and fauna of the area. The lake surrounding Ometepe harbors many species of aquatic animals, notably the Nicaragua shark which until recently was thought to be a unique species of freshwater shark but has since been shown to be continuous with ocean populations.[5] Small populations of spider monkeys (Ateles s.) inhabit very small islands within Lake Nicaragua. These populations exist solely due to humans and many of the local fishermen routinely stop by to feed these troops. The local form of the rice rat Oryzomys couesi is distinctive and may represent a separate subspecies. Music by Juan Luis Guerra - Bachata en Fukuoka Check Out My Other Social Media - INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/lewis_jackson_photos FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/lewiswjackson1?ref=tn_tnmn TWITTER - https://www.twitter.com/itslewisjackson (@itslewisjackson) VIMEO - https://www.vimeo.com/lewisjackson YOUTUBE - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKgR4ItJWER2LkZWzZZDquw/videos TUMBLR - http://itslewisjackson.tumblr.com