In my last entry about Nicaragua, I talked about the beautiful colonial town of Granada. Well, there’s much more to Nicaragua than just that.

If you venture outside of Granada, you’ll come to Masaya Volcano, an imposing volcano standing straight up out of the Nicaraguan landscape. It’s a tourist attraction now, and for good reason. Take a ride to the top of the still-active volcano and it will look like you’ve entered through the Gates of Hell. The rising demonic smoke will contrast the hoards of tourists in shorts and fanny packs. Try to walk over to the ledge of the crater, all made from volcanic rock, and look over, deep into the depths of the underworld. You’ll be able to see the fires burning bright, illuminating the inside, and you’ll wonder to yourself if you’re in a fantasy novel.

One of the times I went to Masaya Volcano was on a small road trip around Nicaragua with my landlord and a few coworkers. It’s the only place in the Americas that you can see flowing lava within a volcano crater. Masaya is also the name of a city with a big market showcasing beautiful art and products from local Nicaraguan artists. We made a stop there too, just to experience more of the local culture.

One of our next stops was around the coast of Lake Nicaragua. Maybe you remember the island of Ometepe from my last entry. Well, we stopped at a small restaurant to drink some beer and eat nachos along the coast to take in the scenery. Ometepe is visible from almost anywhere around Lake Nicaragua because it’s directly in the center, and it’s such a beautiful sight. The volcanoes that stick up remind you that civilization can exist anywhere, even with the danger that chaos could come any moment. Being around a volcano is a scary, imposing place to be for a foreigner. The atmosphere that comes with it is one of my favorites on the planet.

Sadly, I never made it to Ometepe. The one time I planned to go, it rained too hard, which is something that happens too often in the tropics. Maybe one day.

As we continued on our trip, we came to the small surf town of San Juan del Sur. Maybe this is a stretch, but I consider this place the Las Vegas of Central America because the things that happen here are just crazy. People come here to party a little too hard, an interesting contrast to the white statue of Jesus that watches over the town.

A quick story about another time I visited San Juan del Sur:

I had decided to take a walk on the beach to take some photos, and came across four local fishermen. Their style to catch fish was something I’d never seen in person, so I decided to check it out.

The way they caught the fish was with a big net. First they threw it into the ocean, trapped some fish, crabs, and other creatures in it, and then ran it onto the beach. It was great to see and made for some really nice photos.

When I walked over after the demonstration, I saw that the net was absolutely packed, and the birds in the sky above took notice. Before I knew it, they were circling the beach, waiting for the feast. It was like a seafood buffet for them.

In an act of generosity, the fishermen decided to pick up their fish and toss them into the air for the birds to catch. Suddenly, the sky turned into a circus. The birds became daring acrobats, twisting and turning, flipping around in mid-air, and violently ripping the flesh from the poor airborne fish.

The fishermen seemed to love that I was taking photos so they eventually came over to say hi. I didn’t speak much Spanish at that point so I was just smiling and communicating “good photos!” with a thumbs up. They were a good group of simple guys who seemed to love everything about what life had to offer.

We attempted to communicate as much as possible for a while, and I think they loved seeing a tourist come to their beach. I say this only because they invited me to their place for local and homemade crab soup, but because I had a bus to catch (and I really don’t eat seafood!) I had to turn down their offer. As they said goodbye, one of them stuck a live crab in his mouth and started to bite into it. Strange, memorable, and a good reminder of why I love to travel.

Going back to the road trip, we drove up to the Jesus statue to get a closer look. He was overlooking that same familiar beach with the fishermen. The statue isn’t exactly like the one in Brazil, it’s much smaller and less impressive. But it was still very interesting to see.

However, I have to say that the view was even more interesting. Not of the beach where Jesus was looking, but behind him. It was worth it to drive up there because the real coast of Nicaragua came into view. The jagged rocks and cracked coastline stuck out into the Pacific Ocean without any type of pattern. The only logical explanation was that the land was formed by volcanic eruptions over millions of years. At that moment, it was even more obvious that Nicaragua is truly a Land of Fire.

Nicaragua, Land of Fire

Costa Rica, Wildlife Sanctuary

¡Fiestas!