An island of two volcanoes rising from the largest lake in Central America
Isla de Ometepe is formed by two volcanoes — Concepción (active, 1,610m) and Maderas (dormant, 1,394m) — rising from the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America. The island is one of the most unspoilt destinations in the region: pre-Columbian petroglyphs dot the jungle, howler monkeys wake you at dawn, and the main 'road' connecting the two halves of the island becomes a mud track in the rainy season. Concepción is climbable with a guide; the crater of Maderas holds a cloud-forest lagoon. Farming, fishing, and a growing but still small ecotourism scene define island life.
Ometepe was densely settled before European contact — the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people lived here, and over 1,700 petroglyphs from the pre-Columbian period have been found on the island, concentrated around the volcanic slopes. The name comes from the Nahuatl 'ome' (two) and 'tepetl' (mountain). Spanish missionaries arrived in the 16th century and established several small villages that remain today. The island's isolation — it can only be reached by ferry — kept it largely insulated from the violence that devastated mainland Nicaragua during the Contra War of the 1980s. UNESCO designated…