#ometepe

[debrink]

Nicaragua • Ometepe

~ Arctic Frame Studio

[craftxdog]

Sometimes we are like little drops of water in the vast sea.

[simplyiridescentsims]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[seulpeuninyeon]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[phatapplescompany]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[macphun]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[travelnshit]

The Volcán Concepción Side

The journey across the island was an emotional one, at least the bus from Balgüe to Altagracia was. By the time it rolled through the village it was jam packed, it was human Tetris. They’d even managed to squeeze a whole arse dirt bike on there. Tarrant stared at the carnage in horror as the ayudante, the assistant on the bus, stacked our bags and we perched on the steps by the open door which,…

[oscaracuna]

Charco Verde, Ometepe. 

[kablob17]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[chapin68]

Una experiencia inolvidable. An unforgettable experience. #sanjuandelaisla #ometepe #nicaragua (at Hotel Finca San Juan de la Isla) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmVZaTPs_zJ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[christchristoph-ohmy]

by marc_guitard on Flickr.Ometepe Island and volcan Concepcion covered in clouds, Nicaragua.

[ikaikaaaron]

Last night's selection

Cult Ometepe

Gordo 6 X 60

Hailing from Nicaragua with hand rolled, premium Nicaraguan long-fillers and a Nicaraguan binder all dressed in an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. These tobacco leaves were picked from the volcanic, highly fertile soils of Ometepe, Nicaragua. You'll be met with intense notes of leather, spice, earth, and cedar. Medium to full bodied.

[chaletnz]

Ometepe Island: Punta Jesus Maria views, sunset and fishermen, tamales at Casa de Vicky.

[andredias95]

905. Hiram & Solomon Traveling Man Toro (New Blend)

Gifted by Fouad Kashouty, owner of Hiram & Solomon Cigars.Location: This review was made indoors in a cigar lounge.Information:Wrapper: Indonesia Sumatra Binder: Indonesia Filler: Brazil Arapiraca, Nicaragua Jalapa Habano, Ometepe Habano & Dominican Republic Origin: Dominican Republic Factory: PDR Cigars (Dominican Republic)Box: Sold in 20 count boxes. Release: 2023Availability: Regular…

[afrotumble]

Things to do on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

[ignisgalaxia]

With the release of Prodigy season 2, the Trek fandom finally has an answer to what Chakotay's native ancestry is. He's Nicarao, a tribe from the western region of Nicaragua who actually share a common ancestry with the Nahua Aztecs of Mexico. The show even mentions the island of Ometepe specifically, which is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua made up of two volcanoes.

The reason this is so important to me is because my dad and his family are from Nicaragua. I’ve been getting more in touch with those roots over the last year or so, and I’ve found it very frustrating how there seems to be no Nica representation in media, at least not in the mainstream. But when I found out that Chakotay was a fellow Nica, I was literally bouncing off the walls. To think, one of my favorite characters has the same ancestry as me (well, almost, but I’ll get to that later)! When I told my dad, he laughed so hard because he never would’ve imagined.

But I haven’t seen a lot of people talking about this aspect. I get it, it’s a minuscule part of the wild ride that was season 2. But I’d really like us as a fandom to discuss this more. I mean, we literally don’t have to guess what tribe he’s from anymore!

So since nobody else has come forward, I am going to claim myself as the only member of the Voyager-Prodigy fandom with actual Nicaraguan ancestry, and am making this post to give firsthand information about the Nicarao and the nation as a whole.

Firstly, some context. My dad was born in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, and lived there with his family until he was 7. Then they fled the country due to the Contra War that was going on. My grandfather was born and raised in Bluefields, a city on the country's Carribean coast, then went to college in Mexico where he met my grandmother. Neither of them are Nicarao, and are in fact very European (the DNA tests proved it). However, when they were all living in Managua, my grandparents had a handful of maids that worked for them (they had six kids they needed some help), and a couple of them were Nicarao. Specifically, they were natives from a village in the nearby mountains. So while I don't have info on natives from Ometepe, I do have some on the people in general.

The maids lived with my dad's family during the week and would go home to their village on the weekends. They primarily spoke Spanish, but he would occasionally catch them speaking in their native tongue which I assume is Nahua.

My dad recounted a time when the maids invited the family to their village for a day trip. He said they were living in Adobe houses and had lots of livestock (cattle, chickens, goats, etc) as well as horses, which he apparently rode for the first time there. He also said most of the natives had two primary weapons: a machete to cut crops and other vegetation, and a 22 single shot rifle. They used the rifles to shoot iguanas off trees. Iguanas and iguana eggs are a delicacy in Nicaragua that the natives are experts at making.

This is a direct quote from my grandmother when I asked her about what she remembered of them:

The people I knew, they were good and hard working people. Smart, happy, funny… they really are sociable, like to talk and say jokes invented with their mind and history. The women were skillful, knew how to survive. They cooked, cleaned, planted crops and vegetables. Good merchants, they really knew how to sell and buy.

I wish I had more info to share, but unfortunately season 2 could not have been released at a worse time because my grandfather has recently begun developing Alzheimer's or some other form of dementia and has been losing his memory over the last few months. Even when my dad and I were with him in May and I asked him to recount his earlier life, he repeated himself a few times since he evidently had forgotten he'd already told us those parts. If I had known how fast he’d be deteriorating, I would’ve started my work sooner.

If I do end up learning anything more from my relatives, I’ll update the post. For now, I hope this is of some use to people. And if anyone has questions about Nicaraguan culture in general, I’ll be happy to pass them along to my dad.