Rivas, Masaya Volcano, Masaya, Nicaragua
An hour drive can go a long way... that we learned in Nicaragua starting this morning as we boarded our motor coach and drove to Rivas. First we landed in the Port of San Juan del Sur and took the same road which thousands of Americans took during the California Gold Rush since Nicaragua was the route established by Cornelius Vanderbilt to move people from the East to the West Coast during the 1850’s. Today little has changed in Rivas since that time; people continue to shop in the same way as they did a century and a half ago in their local market where products lie in baskets, meat hangs on hooks and chickens and dogs wander around the premises. Aside from electric cables, a few cars on the streets and some artifacts on the business windows, the only other technological advancement which makes us notice we are not back in the nineteenth century are the local taxis called “pepanos” (modified bicycles where the passengers ride on a bench in the front and drivers pedal from the back). Our exploration of Rivas was done on these vehicles, which transformed us from being the “curious” to becoming the curiosities of the day.
After Rivas, we drove to “the mouth of hell” (which is the title early Spanish settlers gave the Masaya volcano) and drove all the way up to the crater. There we saw how the fumes of hell rose like an incense column and wrapped the cross which Fray Francisco de Bobadilla placed on the highest point of the mountain in the sixteenth century to keep the devil from escaping. Then lunch was welcomed at “El Filete” restaurant. Lunch consisted of what Nicaraguans call “Caballo Bayo” – basically a typical buffet lunch.
Our third stop was for shopping in the town of Masaya. Masaya is the most densely populated town in Nicaragua and home to the descendants of the proud Chorotega Indians who are fine craftsmen. Having filled our tummies and emptied our pockets we drove back to San Juan del Sur. But the day was not over for us. After an early dinner, we went back on land this time to visit “La Flor” a beach where olive ridley turtles were supposed to come by the hundreds… it wasn’t our day of glory but we enjoyed a great walk on the beach under the moonlight and a cool ocean breeze. A long but gratifying day came to its end.
An hour drive can go a long way... that we learned in Nicaragua starting this morning as we boarded our motor coach and drove to Rivas. First we landed in the Port of San Juan del Sur and took the same road which thousands of Americans took during the California Gold Rush since Nicaragua was the route established by Cornelius Vanderbilt to move people from the East to the West Coast during the 1850’s. Today little has changed in Rivas since that time; people continue to shop in the same way as they did a century and a half ago in their local market where products lie in baskets, meat hangs on hooks and chickens and dogs wander around the premises. Aside from electric cables, a few cars on the streets and some artifacts on the business windows, the only other technological advancement which makes us notice we are not back in the nineteenth century are the local taxis called “pepanos” (modified bicycles where the passengers ride on a bench in the front and drivers pedal from the back). Our exploration of Rivas was done on these vehicles, which transformed us from being the “curious” to becoming the curiosities of the day.
After Rivas, we drove to “the mouth of hell” (which is the title early Spanish settlers gave the Masaya volcano) and drove all the way up to the crater. There we saw how the fumes of hell rose like an incense column and wrapped the cross which Fray Francisco de Bobadilla placed on the highest point of the mountain in the sixteenth century to keep the devil from escaping. Then lunch was welcomed at “El Filete” restaurant. Lunch consisted of what Nicaraguans call “Caballo Bayo” – basically a typical buffet lunch.
Our third stop was for shopping in the town of Masaya. Masaya is the most densely populated town in Nicaragua and home to the descendants of the proud Chorotega Indians who are fine craftsmen. Having filled our tummies and emptied our pockets we drove back to San Juan del Sur. But the day was not over for us. After an early dinner, we went back on land this time to visit “La Flor” a beach where olive ridley turtles were supposed to come by the hundreds… it wasn’t our day of glory but we enjoyed a great walk on the beach under the moonlight and a cool ocean breeze. A long but gratifying day came to its end.
