The first day of our stay on the volcanic island of Ometepe, we arrived at the hotel after noon, ate lunch, and still had half a day to something, but we did not know what. We found out that there was a natural reserve called Charco Verde (Green Lake in Spanish) just 5 minutes away. As taxis are close to none-existing on Ometepe, we rented scooters to explore Charco Verde.

Charco Verde natural reserve contained all sorts of tropical trees, including banana trees, a beautiful beach, wild monkeys, and a greenhouse with all sorts of enormous, colorful and exotic butterflies.

 

 

 

 

 

The beach is made from very dark, almost black volcanic sand, and the lake consists of freshwater. Lake Nicaragua is the only place in the world where you can find bull sharks. However, it is safe so swim as long as you stay close to shore.

The lake itself was as bit of a disappointment. As the name of the reserve is Charco Verde, we imagined the lake being the highlight of the reserve, and it being a beautiful, green lagoon-looking lake. In reality it is a muddy-green colored lake and the water is anything but clear. However, we didn’t mind, as there was so much other cool trees, plants and animals that we could check out.

The entry of Charco Verde is 150 córdoba, or 5$, and the reserve is enormous. If you want to see the entire natural reserve, you would have to walk and walk for 2-3 hours, or you can rent a bicycle.

 

 

 

Have a little taste of what Charco Verde has to offer in the video below:

-Martin-