Double, Double, Toil and Trouble: Nicaragua

“From the beginning of Nicaragua's conquest, the Spaniards referred to the Masaya Volcano as “The Mouth of Hell” or simply “Masaya's Hell.” José G. Viramonte, Jaime Incer-Barquero , Journal of Valcanology and Geothermal Research

I rode a bus for over two hours each way—from the port of San Juan del Sur on the coast to a volcano near the Nicaraguan capital of Managua—to spend 15 minutes looking into the mouth of hell.  It was worth every second of the trip.

You see, I love volcanoes. Live ones, dormant ones, ones that have been sleeping for years.  Each has its own character, and its own results.

This one looks like the caldron of hell.  The caldera is deep—so deep that a photo (at least on my camera) cannot capture it. And smoky—that is not clouds in that pit, it is the smoke of the volcano.  And it would clear enough from moment to moment that you could see to the bottom of the pit—way, way down there.

The last major eruption was in 1776, yet the lava from that eruption looks surprisingly fresh.  There have been small eruptions since then.  In fact, there was a school trip on which some children were on the top, and felt a rumbling. Next thing you knew, they were covered in ash.  They have since started warning people that if you feel something, get out of there.  Smart advice.

Why only 15 minutes?  That’s about as long as most people’s lungs can stand the fumes.  One big puff of sulphur, and everyone was coughing.  But we all agreed that it had been worth it.

Nicaragua is trying to build a tourism industry, seeing the success of its neighbor, Costa Rica.  The volcano is part of it.  San Juan del Sur, a pretty ocean-front city, is another part. It is largely considered a surfer’s paradise, and the number of shops and bars catering to the surfers seemed to confirm this.  However, it is going to need to approach its neighbor’s political stability and handle on crime to get there. But it is interesting to see that they are trying.

Next up: Huatalco, Mexico