Today I got an incredible experience, or set of experiences. I’m going to split them into different updates, so the different places will show up on the map.
After getting up at 5 am (yeah, I really got up at 5 am) I made the two hour taxi, van service, taxi trip to Managua (during which I’m pretty sure the old man driving proposed to me) to meet my professor and a group of students from Boston. It was so good to hear English again and hang out with people my age. Just what I needed after last week. After a delicious breakfast of rice and beans, we set out for the Masaya Volcano.
There are a number of craters in Nicaragua, but this one happens to be an active volcano. A few years ago, it started spewing rocks again and one of the parking lots and viewing areas crumbled into the crater. It’s been several hundred years since the last volcanic eruption, but the possibility still exists at any time. There were signs with directions to park your car facing away from the crater (for a quick getaway incase of lava flow) and to hide under your car (if it started throwing rocks). This was all very comforting.
The experience however, outweighed the fears. It was absolutely breathtaking. I’ve posted some pictures of it, but they just don’t do it justice. The size of the crater was enormous, and it continually blew steam (hence the cloudiness of the pictures). There were also signs saying not to breath in the steam, as it is highly toxic, but when it’s blowing in the air around you, do you really have a choice??
There was also a museum about the volcano and its history, which we toured. Apparently, hundreds of years ago, the locals sacrificed their children to the god they thought lived at the bottom of the raging pit of fire by throwing them into the volcano. Nice, huh... At one point, the volcano was considered to be the mouth of hell, so a missionary priest baptized it and placed a cross there to try and ward off whatever evil hell was sending forth. I found that story amusing. Really – baptize hell? How exactly does that work??
Anyway, aside from the whole sacrificing children and run for your life parts, it was really beautiful and well worth seeing if you’re ever in the area.
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