Hiking Maderas Volcano to San Ramon Waterfall


Hiking the San Ramon Waterfall was one of our goals of things to do while on Ometepe Island. Ometepe is a two-volcano island in Lake Nicaragua (or Lago Colcibolca). The San Ramon Waterfall runs from near the top of Volcan Maderas, the dormant volcano that makes up one end of the island, and has a lagoon in the crater.


The waterfall is apparently not worth seeing in the dry season, which is when my family visited Ometepe for the first time last year, so we didn't get a chance to see it. Being here in January rather than Febraury this time, at the end of rainy season, we made this hike a priority.

Howler monkey in the trees, sits on a small branch with monkey balls hanging low from it's body.

Look! Howler Monkeys!


Along the trail we were alerted by some fellow hikers passing by that we should keep our eyes out for the howler monkeys that were resting in the tree branches. I was very happy to have brought along the camera, as we encountered them shortly after.

Howler monkey sits on a tree branch in Nicaragua, howling and showing it's open mouth and teeth.
Howler monkey face peers through the green foliage of a tree towards the viewer.
Howler monkey, with just tail, bottom, and legs visible, lays on a branch of a tree in Central America.
Howler Monky sits on a large tree limb, staring out in the Nicaraguan jungle towards the right of the photo.
A red howler monkey stands on a branch and reaches up towards the left of the photo to grasp onto another branch of the tree.

Reaching San Ramon Waterfall


It took us about an hour and a half to hike up to the waterfall from the upper parking area at the trailhead. We were happy to have had an ATV rather than a scooter or motorbike for the drive, as it would have been a very bumpy and somewhat risky journey driving up the road from the entrance to the parking area without the ATV, and it would have added quite a bit longer of walking up the road to get to the trailhead without wheels.



A colourful rainbow in the mist, over the small pool of water at the bottom of San Ramon Waterfall on Ometepe Island in Nicaragua.

Once we reached the waterfall, the view of the waterfall was a welcome sight. We were very happy to cool down in the shallow pool and under the waterfall spray. Unfortunately, even my 24mm lens (the widest range of view I had available at the time) was not quite enough to capture the waterfall with the composition I would have liked, given that I could only move back so far from the waterfall without climbing on top of other hikers that were at the furthest point I could have tried shooting from. Still, I managed to just get the length of San Ramon waterfall into the frame for a photo.

View of the top of the San Ramon Waterfall from the base of the falls, with small peeks of blue sky showing through the white clouds.
San Ramon Waterfall running down the rocks with green foliage at the sides, and a rainbow over the small pool of water below.
Child in blue long sleeve sun cover and blue shorts holds arms, standing barefoot in front of San Ramon waterfall with rainbow behind.

More Howler Monkeys


On the way back down the volcano trail we happened upon another group of howler monkeys. This time Garrett had the camera, while I took some videos on my phone, so these following photos are all taken by him (though edited by me). You may have noticed some impressively large dangly bits in some of the photos above and below. I can't help but think there must be a better solution for nature's way of housing the ingredients to creating the future offspring of this species. It can't be pleasant having those tender bits knocking about the tree branches all day.

Interested to know more about my family trip to Ometepe?


If you're curious in reading more details and seeing the quick (and not that great) cell phone snaps from our family travels on Ometepe, you can read about our trip on my personal blog here, while I'll keep adding photo posts here on my photography website as I edit them. Keep an eye out! In the meantime, I wish you a beautiful day of whatever it is you are needing or wanting it to be.