Nicaragua

I left paradise the next morning. I was on my way to Nicaragua to visit my parents and see my brother who was coming down from Canada. For those of you who don´t know, my parents have retired to Nicaragua. They have a house near the town of Granada, which is close to the border of Costa Rica and at the foot of the Mombacho volcano. Now, I shan´t bore you with the details of my family reunion, but I´ll let you know about the things that I saw when I was there.

Granada is a lovely little town that was founded in 1524. It has colourful colonial houses which are very Caribbean-like (not surprising when you consider the location!). Here you can still see horse or ox pulled wagons alongside the new 4X4s. There are money changers in the streets with massive wads of cash that they wave at gringos as they pass. I bought a hammock from an organisation that teaches street kids how to make them - I wasn´t sure how I was going to fit a 2kg hammock in my already bulging bag, but....


Nicaragua is known as the country of lakes and volcanoes. It has a string of 13 volcanoes that make up a back bone of sorts on the Pacific side. We visited 2 of these; Mombacho and Masaya, as well as a laguna that used to be a crater, Laguna de Apoyo.

Coffee beans drying on Mombacho

They grow coffee on the Mombacho so half way up we stopped to have a taste and to have a glimpse of how they dry the green coffee beans. Every morning the neat, covered piles of beans are spread out with a shovel and then carefully raked into perfect rectangles. We continued up the volcano in the back of a pickup truck and the going was so steep that I feared that we would all fall out of the back. The temperature was dropping quickly as well - we were driving into the clouds that often hover over Mombacho. 


We had come prepared to do the 4 hour hike around one of the 4 craters, but when we got there we found that we were not allowed to go forward without a guide, due to potential Puma encounters. So we contented ourselves to a hike around the smaller crater. The cloud cover did not lift so we did not get a clear glimpse, but it is unknown when the last eruption here was and the inside of the crater is completely overgrown now with a lush, green forest. 



Masaya volcano

Volcan Masaya is a huge contrast. This volcano is still active and it last erupted in 2003. When you drive up towards the volcano, you can see that there isn´t much growing around here -the ground is littered with giant volcanic boulders.   The crater is grey and desolate. There´s a steady stream of noxious sulfur dioxide that slowly drifts up from the crater´s depths. Curiously there are birds (vultures I suspect) that float about in this stinky plume. When you climb up to the top - they recommend staying no longer than 20 min in case the fumes make you pass out. You can see the wide circle of devastation all around it.

Laguna Apoyo

Laguna de Apoyo  is the crater of a volcano that erupted 23000 years ago (how they figure this stuff out, I dunno) and is now filled with water. It´s a very popular local weekend destination as the views from the top are spectacular...and they sell sugar cane (makes my teeth hurt when I eat it, but I can't help myself!). You can go swimming there (we didn´t though) and I´m told that since its a volcano crater there is no slope - you jump in and its deep. You never touch bottom....well, not without special gear at any rate!

Nicaragua