One of the tours we took was a late afternoon trip to see Volcán Masaya, an active volcano.  It’s the only volcano in the western hemisphere where you are able to drive right to its rim. At the entrance to the park we stopped to look at the lava field left by its big eruption in 1772.

Its latest eruptions have been in 2000, when it hurled huge boulders down on people and cars in the parking lot; and in both 2004 and 2008. The Spanish called it “the gates of hell” and and the local Chorotegas tribe called it “the mountain that burns” and made human sacrifices in the hope of averting an eruption.

After a short, steep climb the road led to the parking lot at the volcano’s rim.

These were a little scary.

Just in case you need to make a hasty exit! They say the volcano gives no prior warning, it just erupts when it feels like it. But, the volcano behaved itself for our visit. It was putting out a good bit of sulfurous gas and steam though. Such a big, deep gaping hole!

More parking lot warnings!

Next, we climbed the 184 steps to the top of the observation point.

The view was great from above!

We found two videos on YouTube that people had made in 2008 when it last erupted. One can be found here and the other here. Both are worth watching and I highly recommend you follow the link. The second video is funny because they are talking about whether or not the volcano is dormant or active when it erupts. In both videos the people are on top of the observation point and have to hurry down the 184 stairs to reach their vehicles in the parking lot.

Afterwards we watched the sun go down. Here in the far distance you can see the hazy outline of another volcano that is still active (in fact they harness the gas and steam to produce power), Momotombo. I just love saying that name. Momotombo. It’s hard to see, so I’ve outlined for you just in case. It’s never blown its top like Masaya has so it still has its classic conical shape. The cross in the foreground was erected by the Spanish Conquistadors as they begged for the Volcán Masaya to cease its eruptions in 1529.

After the sun went down we drove to another spot in the park and met with a park ranger. We donned helmets and flashlights and headed off down a path to a underground tunnel formed by lava streams. Lots of little fruit bats and very interesting rock formations. It seemed like we walked and walked down that dark tunnel before we reached a spot where visitors can not go beyond. Our ranger made us turn off our flashlights and take in the total darkness. Creepy. And not a place for people who don’t like bats since they whizz by, barely missing you. I don’t mind the bats.

The last and best stop on the tour was the viewing point on the opposite side of the crater from where we were before to look directly down into the crater and see red, glowing lava. It was a little scary since there was no guard rail. Nothing but two pieces of wood crossed over each other to stop you from falling. in. I got just close enough to the edge to see the red glow, but not too close. This crater opening was recently formed during its 2006 eruption and is located deep down in the crater and can only be seen at night. The volcano was putting out more gas and steam than it was when we visited the rim earlier and our ranger said that was a sure sign we’d be able to hear the magma exploding—and we did! It sounded like grumbling thunder, only coming from deep in the ground instead of the sky. It’s something neither one of us will ever forget.

Here is a link to a short video Rick made although it does not have the drama of the two videos linked above!

Side note added: If you want to see Part 2 of the first video of the volcano erupting as they drive down the road it is here. Trust me, this bus is going very fast down this steep road! Obviously the driver is thinking “get these tourists outta here—fast!”

I am taking a break from vacation posts today to share this.

Yesterday morning when I let the dogs out in the back yard at around 6:30 a.m. they started barking and looking towards the front yard. I looked out and didn’t see anything, but they kept barking for a while longer. (I can’t see all of the front of house from the windows that I looked out of.) I guess I should have known something was up but it’s been so long since we’ve seen any kind of bear activity. I didn’t think too much of it, or at least not enough to go outside and check.

A few hours later I went outside to let the plumber in the garage (we are in the middle of a bath remodel at the moment ... oh joy) and noticed one of the little trees that we planted last year was knocked over and smashed in. Take a look.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! My tree! What the $#@#? It’s supposed to look like the other tree in the photo seen here. I was almost in tears.

That’s when Tim (who is doing our remodel) said “bear.” Sure enough, there were the footprints in the mulch—big ones—leading up to the tree. We are thinking that the bear made himself a cozy bed and just curled up and slept there.

Why my tree? Those trees aren’t exactly cheap! Mr. Bear checked into the Hilton instead of the Motel 6. Thanks a bunch ...

Our horse drawn carriage ride around the city stopped at the Iglesia de La Merced. Our carriage driver said we should not miss the view from the top of the bell tower. Here we are approaching the church.

We paid our $1.00 admission fee and then saw the steps up to the top. Good thing we are not claustrophobic!

The view over the city of Granada in all directions was indeed worth the short climb.

In the last two photos you can see Volcán Mombacho in the distance which will feature in another blog post.

Our driver waving to us from below! Our carriage awaits!

Rick makes his way down the narrow, winding stairs.

I hope you enjoyed the view!

The beautiful Catedral anchors the busy and boisterous Parque Central, or town square. It was a pleasure to look out at its sunny yellow façade from our hotel balcony. Here it is as seen from different angles.

Horse-drawn carriages lined the street in front of the park and right underneath our balcony. We tried to pick the best cared for horses when we took our carriage ride around the city as some were not as healthy looking.

They shared the streets with buses and cars pretty seamlessly.

The square was filled with vendors selling food, souvenirs and handicrafts. Every morning they were set up from scratch and taken down at day’s end.

My favorite, of course, was the elderly woman with her food stand. We are still not quite sure what it was she was selling and we were really tempted to try it, but it contained a lot of salad or some kind of raw slaw and that’s a classic no-no when visiting a third-world country. No street food! Plus we did watch her pick things up from the ground a few times and then serve food. Whatever it was, she served it in a neat banana leaf packet. Lots of white rice, some salad on top and lord knows what else. Many people ate it for breakfast. Here she is dressing the salad/slaw.

Every bowl had to be ‘just so’  in a certain position, her banana leaves stacked by the big bowl of rice (she also used a banana leaf to stir the rice), along with all of her other ingredients. We mostly watched her setting up her food stall, but one day we managed to be on our balcony when she was leaving for the day. Unlike the morning where she presided over the setting up, in the afternoon she strolled off clasping the hand of what appeared to be her small granddaughter, leaving the taking down of the stall to the same crew that brought all her things to her in the morning. Here is the cart being loaded up at the end of the day.

It was such a wonderful peek into the daily lives of real people. It’s one of my favorite things about the entire trip.

Here is our hotel as viewed from the square. Our balcony is the one partially obscured by the tree.

The only drawback to our room on the square were the noisy birds the guidebook calls “jackdaws.”  These birds nested in the trees in the square and woke up very early in the morning, squawking and generally making a great deal of noise. It was impossible to sleep through! Every night as the sun was setting it was the same thing all over again as they settled in for the night. Kind of endearing though in an strange way.

Everything in Granada is colorful (the subject of yet another blog post.) If you look closely you will see that the car in the background is the same color as the table and chairs.

I loved the bicycle in the fountain in this shot. This color of green is very popular as the photo of the table above was taken on the opposite of the park from this one.

Next entry: Granada, Nicaragua: From the Bell Tower

Our vacation to Nicaragua and Panama took us a world away. It awakened the sleeping traveler in me. They say the mark of a truly good vacation is one that takes you out of your element and completely transports you. Not only physically, but mentally as well. This vacation did all that and more.

When we lived in Europe we traveled a lot. We were always on the go exploring and flying to new places. In the past years since we’ve been living back in the States, I have not done much out of country travel. I don’t like to fly very much anymore and avoid it whenever I can. I even thought I really didn’t want or need to travel anymore, having had so much of it in the past. This trip proved me wrong. It literally screamed at me Wake up, Lynne! There are so many places yet to explore ... don’t be afraid of it ... embrace it.

I know I promised I would blog from our vacation. I really thought I would have time, but the reality was I did not have time nor did I have the inclination to write a blog entry. In the next week or so I will be taking you on my vacation with me albeit a little late.

Right now we are having difficulty getting the photos that were downloaded on Rick’s laptop to transfer to my computer. Once we have that problem solved I will have lots to share with you. An active volcano, rain forests, howler monkeys, a sloth, colorful birds, the Panama Canal, gorgeous scenery and more!

I hope you will come along for the adventure!

Painting on the side of a building in old town, Casco Viejo, in Panama City