You kick the sand and see a pink object in mid-air, catching the sunlight. It is a two-inch spearhead made of jade – an ancient weapon – probably used against the ancestors of that exact same alligator. You kick some more sand because you hope luck is on your side. Instead, you find pieces of black clay with red streaks on them. It reminds you of the same pottery made by the Nahua currently displayed in the Ometepe Museum, once a tobacco factory during the Spanish colonial era.
The trail is full of hidden treasures. When you reach the end of the pathway, you take one last good look because you know this will no longer exist. The trail will disappear after they build the canal, the canal that will cut through the lake, split Nicaragua in half and join the two oceans. The alligator may not survive the construction because it only lives in fresh water. You make your way back to the island, towards the volcano. As you run, you repeatedly turn your head around and frantically hop for fear of the alligator charging at your ankles.
19 On Site review 33: intentional landscapes, inadvertent results
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