by Ronald Betancourt, M.Sc. 

Zapatera Island in Lake Nicargaua, with an area of 52 square kilometers, is the second largest island in the lake after Ometepe. It is believed that it once was an active volcano given the evidence of volcanic formations from its base to the heights of 625 meters. It has tropical rainforest vegetation and several rocky streams. Some of the land is ideal for cattle ranching.

This eroded ancient volcano formed on the volcanic fracture of Nicaragua’s Pacific, possibly even before Lake Nicaragua was formed. It is roughly rectangular in shape, with the longest diagonal 11 kilometers in length. Rocky peninsulas jut out from its shores. The shoreline is very broken with rock outcroppings and numerous coves. Some anthropologists believe that the island was a sanctuary or ceremonial site for the original inhabitants of the land, mainly of Chorotega origin.