I am enchanted with the islands in Lake Nicaragua. Exploring Isla de Ometepe left me hungry for more. I had my eye on Zapatera Island, a large island just South of the Isletas of Granada. I just had to figure out how to get there. I browsed Vianica.com and eventually came across El Bambu Ecolodge. Christian organized an overnight camping trip to accommodate my desire for more Petroglyph hunting and something I hadn’t done yet in Nicaragua….camping! After my pick up in Granada, we headed down a scenic dirt road behind Volcano Mombacho. Reaching the beach, we loaded our gear into a motor-equipped wooden boat along with our freshly caught Tilapia soon to be our lunch and one of my many trip highlights.
It was a short hop over to Isla de Zapatera. On the way I learned that the islands of Zapatera, Isla el Muerto, Jesus Grande and Jesucito all make up a circular shape that once long ago formed a caldera. El Bambu Ecolodge is on a stretch of beach on the North side of the Island between a small peninsula and an outcropping containing the Laguna de Zapatera, potentially a part of the ancient crater of the now dormant volcano. We would take a short walk to the Laguna after lunch to search for tortugas, but first it was time to set up camp. El Bambu Ecolodge currently consists of a palm thatched Palapa for eating and hanging out, a bathroom, an outdoor cooking area, and a beautiful Ceiba and Mango tree-shaded flat beach front site. Perfect for camping out, watching the howler monkeys and taking dips in the lake.
Soon after we arrived, the neighboring family from the Finca Ecologico El Bambu arrived to cook us lunch. The Finca grows plantains and fruit trees, aiding the locals with the reforestation of the Island and adding diversity to their diets. Juanita gets the fire going in preparation for a delicious fried fish lunch with plantains, gallo pinto and salsa. I do believe this was my best fried fish lunch yet here in Nicaragua. Maybe it was the location, the preparation, the wood smoked fire, the freshness of the ingredients and the view.
It began to rain while lunch preparation was underway but that never deterred anyone resourceful and creative. Family members appeared with rope, machetes, and a tarp. Poles were cut, holes were dug, pointing and positioning commenced, and in the blink of an eye a shelter was up, keeping our busy chefs and our food dry. Later that night, we roasted marshmallows around the fire, everything tasting deliciously wood smokey, then headed next door to Santa Maria Ecolodge for a Nicaraguan past time, a little bit of ron and watching boxing.
I will have to return to Zapatera Island with more time and better weather to take the four-hour horse ride to the archeological sites such as ‘Punta de las Figuras’ where Basalt carved statues were found and other hikes. Christian pointed out how common it was to find pieces of pre-Columbian pottery right there on the sand as he handed me a few broken shards. We hiked to the Laguna and found some turtle shell remnants but no Petroglyphs were in site for me on this visit. The next morning, after packing up, we headed for Isla el Muerto.
The rock carvings here are abundant and amazing. There is a rock plateau covered in carved art of monkeys, horseman, and post Columbian crosses. We hiked to two different sites with the majority of the Petroglyphs right below our feet. Isla el Muerto was most likely a sacrificial and a burial site for the indigenous island tribes. There is a great need for more in depth studies of the islands’ archeological history. Students, professors, scientists and researchers are invited to visit and help recreate, record and document the cultural wealth and diversity of the ancient Nicaraguan cultures that inhabited the Islands. Reach out to Vianica or El Bambu Ecolodge if you have these skills!
For a tranquil night camping on a lakeside beachfront, fishing trips in and around the islands, hikes to Petroglyph sites, and long delicious lunches under Ceibo Trees, contact Christian for a visit to El Bambu Ecolodge here. Plans for expansion include a house with 4 bedrooms for those rainy nights (though we did stay quite dry).