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

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So my Central American adventure continued, after a fun week in Crica I got on a plane and headed north over the boarder to Nicaragua (I could have just stayed on the rafting river) for the next part of my exciting trip. As a lapsed scientist I decided as I’m taking some time off it might be fun to try and do something a bit scientific again and thus I found myself heading off for two weeks work on a Nicaraguan volcano. I’d found a charity called Earthwatch.org who run many different trips where you can help out with various scientific research projects and a project on the Masaya volcano caught my eye, a chance to get up close and personal with a bit of lava, what is not to like? So the plan was, get ... read more
Volcano #1 Monbacho
Not for show
Butterfly hunting


I have had two busy weeks and have taught lots of yoga both at the Ruben Dario School to the primary children and to the two grandsons at my house. The kids at school love to get out into the patio to take a break from classes and they seem very receptive to "silla yoga" or chair yoga after 10 am when it is so hot outside. Here are some pics.... read more
el patio de yoga
En la aula
Niños estan haciendo arboles


Here are some photos from my home with my Nicaraguan family. They are a tough bunch and work very hard except in the afternoons when it is too hot to do anything.... read more
Eric wants to be a driver like his Grandpa
Gallina en cuadro
Gallina 2


Hi everyone, Here are some photos from the last two weekends. The first weekend was at the beach in Boquita. The second weekend I went with other students to the Mombacho Volcano! I am halfway into my stay and am thinking some of coming home, especially when the 4 hours of Spanish lessons daily drag on. It wouldn´t be so bad if I thought my Spanish was improving, but I can´t say that it is. I still feel like my Spanish is only in survival mode and can´t understand rapid conversations. Oh well, I´ll keep plugging on, knowing that I can be remediated at WTI in the fall. Dawn... read more
La Boquita
view over to the volcano
Cavern in the mountain


Hola amigos! Continuamos nuestra viaje... We headed to Granada to meet up with our travel buddies, Pat and Rob, from Vancouver Island. Granada has a lot of colonial buildings from the time of the Spanish conquest, many of which have been restored as the earthquakes in these parts tend to level cities from time to time. It is a very pretty place with a lot going on from street performers and musicians to beautiful buildings and architecture. There was a boy who kept bugging us at our table one night, to eat the food from our plates. The story out there is that many kids will hit the tourists with stories of not having money, in order to eat westernized food. We were warned not to comply with their begging as western food is not really ... read more
Granada
Pat at the Church Tower
Colonial Architecture


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
Clay for Stamping
The guardabarronco
La Mariposa


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
That's Cuba Down There
Welcome to Managua
Welcome Reception at the InterContinental


Nur eine knappe Busstunde von Granada entfernt. Dort sind die beiden Vulkane Nindirí und Volcan Masaya mit ihren fünf Kratern. Da am Mittwoch wegen Lehrerfortbildung die Schule ausfiel, machten wir uns bei bestem Wetter auf den Weg. Die 1,5 Stunden Aufstieg bei feuchter Tropenhitze haben sich absolut gelohnt. Der aktive Krater spuckt bestaendig Rauch aus. Da die Vulkane mitten auf dem platten Land stehen hat man einen fantastischen Rundumblick. Die Bilder sagen alles.... read more
Krater 1
Krater 2
Was'n Blick


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
VOLCANO
The cross
Burning my butt




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