Blogs from Masaya Volcano, Capital Region, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

Day 3 As I write this the music is blaring in the background---a Saturday fiesta to celebrate the procession of kids graduating on to the next level. Truth be told, this is not much different from other nights---there is the constant, familiar hum of life in San Juan---which I have grown somewhat accustomed to. This includes the fireworks which are set off at random, the roosters, the chickens, and hundreds of dogs--and believe me, when one is set off, they all are set off! The roofed houses with adobe construction are packed tightly togther around the central park and the ever present old church. Only the center of town qualifies for paving, otherwise it's all dirt roads where pigs, chickens, and skeletal dogs roam, bordered by houses built out of rough-hewn planks with outdoor kitchens, zinc ... read more

I had information that it should be possible to camp near Volcan Masaya so I decided to give it a shot. I thought that the park might be closed on Easter Sunday but it was not and I was allowed to camp in the visitor center parking lot. This was not a great campsite because there were no facilities after the visitors center closed but I much preferred this to spending another night in a hotel. I was not the only camper on this occasion. A young French couple showed up in an RV that was as big as a school bus. As a matter of fact, it was a school bus! Their story is that they bought this dilapidated monstrosity in Quebec for $2000 and converted it into an RV by removing the seats and ... read more

We arrived today in Managua around 11:30AM and we met Ana and Arturo with most of Arturo's family at the airport. The flight in was mainly uneventful, although we did get to see Cuba from the plane and got a picture of the coastline. We were then taen onto the bus and driven to the InterContinental Real MetroCenter in Managua. The hotel is very nice and up to the standards you would expect from the InterContinental. After checking in and dropping off our bags we went back to the lobby to begin our tour to Masaya. Our tour guide was Christian, who is a German native living in Nicaragua for over 15 years. He is a great guy and very friendly. Highly recommend him. Our first stop on the way to Masaya was the supermarket to ... read more

Today I went to the volcano with my dad (sorry this time Vlad isn't around) and our driver. It was spectacular, the view, the smoke jejejeje! well I finally went to the top...though my asthma was kicking in..psttttttt! I won...I was at the top with my photographer (Ivan) our driver. Check out the picks!... read more