Masaya

Waiting for the bus to Managua

Volcán Masaya (on the left)

Volcanoes in Nicaragua, looking southeast from Cosinguina

Laguna de Masaya, with Volcán Masaya in the backdrop

We started the day at a very extranjero (foreigner) oriented hostel, the Tortuga Booluda in León, Wi-Fi enabled. The breakfast specialty is self made pancakes which were excellent. Liam and I met a Brit, but stepped on some toes when we said we liked Arsenal, who apparently had played a part in the demise of his team, Sheffield (now in Division 1 of the Football Association).

From León to Masaya, you have to pass (and thus change buses) in Managua which we did.  Anyone traveling in Central America learns quickly to ask ¨where is the bus to…?¨ and stand in line. It took a few hours, but we managed to make it to the town of Masaya which is outside of Managua by about 45 minutes. Masaya is the name of the town, as well as a large lake (Laguna de Masaya) and an active Volcano (Volcán Masaya).

Although the Volcano is a national park, and the only Volcano in Nicaragua that you can drive the rim, there is no public transportation to the top. We hired a taxi and the driver agreed to give us a half hour at the top to make faces into the camera. When the Spanish first arrived in this area, they believed Masaya to be the mouth of hell, because of the huge chasm belching out sulfurous smoke. It wasn't until centuries later that the mouth of hell was shown to be Ann Coulter. We also got to spend a little time in the visitor center, studying the volcanoes of Nicaragua.

Later we walked through the old marketplace of Masaya, which is one of the largest handcrafted marketplaces in Nicaragua. I was unable to find any FSLN (Sandinista) t-shirts or hats, although we did find some gifts. We took a walk to the lake overlook (Malecón), running into many young boys and girls sitting along the rail. Lastly we had a chance to watch the local baseball team (San Fernando) practicing in Roberto Clemente Stadium. Although Clemente was from Puerto Rico, he became involved in the relief work following the 1972 earthquake in Managua. He felt like he had to personally escort the relief donation because Somoza was pocketing the cash and selling the donated goods to people. He died in 1972 while on a relief mission to Nicaragua and is remembered fondly by the country.

We also experienced ¡hot showers! when we got back to our hotel in Masaya, the first since leaving home. Tomorrow, we are heading to Ometepe, which is the island in Lake Niacaragua (Cocibolca) formed by two of the volcanoes in the chain.