Masaya

Though part of me was bummed, I did succeed in leaving Little Corn Island on my second attempt. In an amusing last-hour twist, the motorboat from Little Corn to Big Corn (where the planes depart from) ran out of gas as we approached the island and they couldn't make it to the dock and had to just pull up on the closest beach and have us jump out into the surf. One of the boat guys had a cell phone and called a taxi driver he knew, who alerted all the rest of them, and all the taxis had raced from the dock to the beach and were waiting for us there. Hilarious. And so I made it to the airport and onto a plane and waved goodbye to Big Corn...

 

...enjoyed the little puddle-jumping ride...

...and on the way in for a landing in Managua, got a great view of my final Nicaraguan destination: Masaya--or at least the volcano that dominates the landscape of the town.

It was kind of strange and disorienting to be in a normal city again, with honking car horns and so many people, after the idyllic quiet of Little Corn. Also, Masaya isn't a place where many tourists actually stay, so it was surprising (after the relatively touristy places I've visited so far) to have to search for a hostel, an internet connection, etc. But I really enjoyed wandering the ENORMOUS local market, feeling like the only Gringo in miles.

And it was a lovely walk at sunset to and along the promenade area overlooking Lake Masaya.

That cloud-looking stuff just above the horizon is not actually clouds, but smoke from Masaya volcano, which is the main reason I came to Masaya.

So the next morning, the guide I'd found while wandering around town the afternoon before picked me up and we headed into the park to gaze down into the mouth of the beast.

There is no way anyone would be allowed to get this close to the main crater of an active composite volcano in the States, which made it even more fun. But seriously, when the wind changed direction and the sulfur fumes blew my way, my lungs burned so bad I had to just hold my breath until some fresh air came along. Apparently, on evening tours as it starts to get dark, you can see the red of the lava glowing down in the crater. There were no night tours available while I was in town, though, so I had to just use my imagination.

The view across the countryside was clear and gorgeous, though.

And my guide Sergio occasionally took a break from trying to upsell me future tours to show me some really cool things, like this "cotton fruit" (at least that's what he says it's called!):

Back in town, we headed back to the promenade so he could show me what the volcano looks like from that angle. I think he felt bad that our volcano walk was not all he had promised (apparently they were closing the park for the afternoon...something to do with Russians in helicopters?...and as we were driving out, we saw a lot of very clean, well-coifed gringos that appeared to be a film crew on their way in, driving fancy Jeep convertibles...though I guess it doesn't take much to be cleaner and more well-coiffed than I) and was so enthusiastic about the promenade that I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd seen it the evening before.

And so with that, I say a very temporary farewell as I head back Stateside to regroup. Sad to leave Nicaragua, a country I've LOVED getting to know and fully intend to return to as soon as the travel gods permit. But I'll be seeing you again very soon, as I fly to Australia in the middle of March, for a whole new set of adventures to catalogue. Perhaps there will be some posts between now and then; otherwise, I'll catch you Down Under...