A quick breakfast this morning before swinging protesting backsides over the bikes for the quick trip to the nearby active volcano. This was our first seat on the bike in q day or so, and our shoulder muscles had just begun to recover before we were ready to abuse them again.
The volcano that overshadows Grenada is still an active volcano, although it hasn't actually emitted any lava for nearly 400 years. The approach road starts in a fertile valley, but quickly climbs through the green layer into the black metamorphic rock that is cooled lava. This rock looks like a lunar landscape with almost no vegetation, and striking shapes where the lava covered hills, trees, and any other landform a few centuries ago. As you climb still further the rock gives way to a fine rock piste that is brittle to touch.
The crater edge is actually accessible via a paved parking area that allows vehicle to park within meters of the edge. Conspicuous warning signs request that drivers park facing towards he exit in case of eruption - but we figured it was a pretty low level of risk given the lack of molten action since the 1600s.
The first thing that you notice as you arrive is the sulfur. It infuses the air, and makes it difficult to breath. Th atmosphere feels very close, and enormous plumes of gas rise from the crater. Words cannot describe how other-wordily this environment is, and it looks unable to sustain any form of life. Puffs and dense clouds of gas gush up at intervals, the rocks push out as if shoved from below, and a fine rock powder coats everything.
We opted to walk the additional couple of hundred steep steps up to view directly down into the open crater, and within minutes were wracked with deep coughing and our noses were streaming. Clearly the body does not like the sulfur gases much either. From the top, the view is very eerie, and we did not spend more than a few moments there is it is not a pleasant place to be at all. We snapped a few pictures that show the stunning landscape, and then headed back down followed by our coughs and splutters.
The steady rain in the carpark kept us under shelter for a ,short while before a break in the cloud cover emerged. No one had anticipated the rain, and we had left wet weather gear back in Granada. A decision was taken to try to run before the clouds, and make it to Managua. Despite being listed as the capital of Nicaragua, Managua is unprepossessing and in places downright dangerous. Even Matthias' local guidebook says that (quote) "it is theoretically possible to walk a few blocks unaccompanied in Managua without being mugged or robbed, but all valuables must be hidden from sight, walk only very short distances, and hail a cab if at all possible". We actually got a bit lost leaving the city because Matthias has not been into Managua since 1997, and we found ourselves riding through some of the poorer barrios. I was pleased not to stop, and even more pleases when we found ourselves on the main strip out of town. For the record: Managua has nothing at all to offer residents let alone tourists unless you are really into crime and violence.
By the time we had navigated out of Managua it was past midday, and we decided to head back towards another volcano that overlooks Granada. This one is well and truly extinct and the crater is now a lake approximately a kilometer in diameter. With a string of rustic restaurants clinging to the lip of the crater, it was a delightful place to spend a few hours enjoying the local cuisine. Steak a la piemente con arroz was the go (peppered steak with rice), served on a sizzling hot plate with onions and BANANA. Can't begin to explain the sizzling banana, but somehow the whole dish worked really well. Four full meals and drinks with a view unmatched anywhere else in the world comes with a $44 price tag in Nica.
Enroute back to the hotel, moto madness seized us and a vigorous session of downhill riding around the volcano, was punctuated by wheel stands and all manner of other silliness. It's been a while since we have ridden bikes this way, and damn it was fun. The KLR stands on it's tail with not much encouragement, and Ty learned the folly of stopping in a mud patch directly behind my bike. Gary was a little too savvy to let Ty 'pass the message on' a few moments later.
Tomorrow we plan to leave Granada (regretfully) and bead towards Leon. Why? Surfing, of course. We intend to have a go at surfing, the latest craze in Nicaragua. This is not like surfing as we know it - ie: with water. These crazy Nicas have invented volcano surfing, which nvolves a special board that can be used to surf down the 50 degree slope of the volcano using the rock powder as a form of snow. The mountain near Leon was the same one used by a French cyclist a few years ago to set the world pushbike speed record; 172kph (before his frame broke, youch, see the YouTube videos). Being an adrenalin sports junkie, Gary is in his element. I am sure we won't be going anywhere remotely near that sort of speed, but it sounds like an absolute hoot.
Massage at Salon Pure, dinner somewhere on the Calzado, then bed.
Location:Managua et al
When Could ever call Ty pretty, even without the corona???
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