Captain Cool. 

This is just one side of the boat, but you get the idea. 

After Ometepe we decided we needed to head to Gigante for a few days to recover from the Great Climb. Here's Billy and Rebecca enjoying the maiden voyage of the Minnow, an outrigger canoe that we now keep in Gigante. 

These are some friends we met at the hostel. The British guy on the far right decided that he wanted a "cheesy American group shot," so I got one, too. Some of them ended up coming back to San Juan for a night to hang out. 

I complained a lot the whole time we were climbing and descending, but seeing these howler monkeys at the end made it all worth it... sort of. 

On the way down we saw some petroglyphs. Woop-de-friggin'-do. Is it just me, or are these things always a disappointment? 

Here are our guides for the journey, Abel (front) and... damn, I can't remember the other guy's name. Anyway, these guys were amazing. They climbed the whole way without falling or really even getting dirty. Only someone who has climbed the volcano can truly appreciate such a feat, but trust me, it's a miracle. 

Yes, they actually got in. 

Despite the cold temperature of the water, Billy and Ashton decided that, by God, if they'd climbed that volcano, they were going to swim in the lake.

When we reached the bottom, we were approached by two film producers from Hollywood who had seen their frolic in the water. They were working on casting for a new film and thought Ashton and Billy would be perfect for the lead roles in Brokeback Volcano.

...I know, I know. The Brokeback bit has been overused. 

Finally we reached the top! After the grueling 4.5-hour climb, we got this: a freezing/muddy volcanic lake and clouds so think we couldn't see a thing. 

I lied. Here's one pictures I took when we were allowed to rest for five minutes. 

Here's a small stream we saw on the way up. I apologize, but there are no more pictures from the journey until we reach the top. The reason for this is because I was climbing for my life over ribbon-thin ridges and vertical walls of rainforest tree roots. You think I exaggerate, but I swear it's the truth. 

Here's a view from a field on the way to the volcano. If only we had stopped here... 

On the way up the Mountain of Doom, our guide showed us these ferns that retract when you touch them. Pretty cool. 

Here's Ashton and me in front of the Maderas volcano. We're smiling now, but we certainly were not when we climbed the thing the next day. All over our hostel there were signs talking about how peligroso, or dangerous, it was, but Ashton insisted upon climbing the steepest volcano on the most difficult side. Brilliant. 

I just liked this picture. There's not too much to say. 

While pangas are the sea vessels of choice in San Juan, dugout canoes like this are more popular on the lake. 

This is a shot of some local Ometepe kids fishing out of a dugout canoe. 

And another one. 

A spider monkey on Monkey Island. 

Here's Billy and Rebecca paddling up to Monkey Island, a small island in the lake where there there are some very angry monkeys. They have a bad habbit of tying monkeys to fences here in Nicaragua, and someone had the gumption to save some of them and bring them to this tiny island. Instead of being grateful the monkeys got pissed, so you can't get too close. 

It rains a lot on Ometepe, but without the rain, there wouldn't be rainbows like this... 

After the ferry and another long bus ride, we arrived in the town of Merida to this sunset over the lake. 

It's been a while since we last updated, but a lot has happened. Ashton's friend Billy and his girlfriend, Rebecca came to visit, and we all headed out to Ometepe, the island with two volcanoes in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua, about 45 minutes from San Juan.

Here's Ashton, Billy, and Rebecca on the refugee-style ferry over to the island. They had people packed in like sardines, and we were sitting about level with the water. All the seats were taken when we finally got on, so we had to sit on a pallet with the cargo. I thought at least one of us would get sick on the 40-minute ferry, but everyone managed to hold their lunch. 

Here's my friend/housemate Kathy and me getting ready to shred. I swear we actually surfed, but Ashton's camera batteries died before he could get any of the action.