Tourism Day

Lago de Apoyo. Catarina, Nicaragua.

Alex at the Masaya Volcano.
(Notice the hilltop cross behind his head.)

The Masaya Volcano is one of those experiences that leaves you wondering. The brochure they give you at the entrance to this national park advises you in a very matter-of-fact manner to park your vehicle "downhill", to facilitate a speedy exit in the event of an eruption. And it left quite a pit in my stomach when we were shown where the other parking lot "used" to be. Originally one parked their vehicle on the other side of the volcano, however it was covered in a landslide not that many years ago! The staircase up to a cross is another reminder of just how active the Masaya Volcano is -- those stairs are now cordoned off, as part of that hill has been eaten away by the lava. It is now considered unsafe. A student from Managua explained how 7 or 8 years ago when his elementary school class made a trip to visit the volcano, those stairs were still open. He said that students would be vomiting over the rails all the way up the staircase (in part because of the height of the staircase, and in part from the gases of the volcano)! Today visitors still frequent the volcano, but are advised to only stay approximately 15 minutes, so that the gases don't make you ill.

Finally, this evening we went dancing at a local popular fresh air discoteque called "La Discoteca Palmera". It was a very open and friendly place with traditional latin music mixed with some Euro-Tecno. It was fun to unwind and cut loose on the dance floor after a week of meetings and discussions. Even Alex was out there quite a bit. (But not directly near me, mind you. I can't say that I blame him.)