by Eric Alberts
Of all possible volcano climbs in Central America, the one up Maderas on Nicaragua’s beautiful Ometepe Island is one of my favorites. It has one of the most unique and breathtaking settings and includes varying terrain and opportunities to see wildlife. The climb is challenging but possible for the relatively fit and has a special reward at the top. Getting to the volcano entails extra effort, but seeing the island of Ometepe is worth the trip.

To make the climb, we start our expedition from Rivas, taking a short taxi ride to the San Jorge dock where my friend and I are to depart for Ometepe via ferry. At the dock we hear “tiburón, tiburón!” being screamed out. No shark attack, it’s a street vendor hawking freshwater shark. The only population of freshwater shark in the world lives in Lake Nicaragua, and at San Jorge, you can devour some. The tiburon is fried like crackling and is dished up like the similar named vigorón, a common dish that consists of a banana leaf piled with boiled yucca, fried pork skin, and a cabbage salad topping.