Sunday would have been the day to do it. We (Gary, Sally, Ian, and I--Jean spent the day relaxing and studying spanish which might have been the better choice) climbed Volcan Concepcion. It's only 1600m or so, but it was a very difficult climb. Gary, Sally, and Ian, who live in Oregon, have a lot of experience with climbing various mountain and volcanoes. I have never climbed a mountain unless you count my ascent of Half Dome last summer. I have done some physically and mentally taxing things in my life, but Sunday's climb may take the cake.
We met our guide and started out the road that led to the trail. The road itself was slightly uphill but relatively flat. However, our pace was ridiculous and I was dripping sweat in the first 15 minutes.
When we hit the actual trail, it got very steep very fast and stayed steep pretty much the entire time. In addition to being steep, it was very rocky and often required using our hands to help us up and over various obstacles. It was some of the hardest hiking I've ever done. On the way up, we again heard the howler monkeys and quickly made our way past that point and into the clouds. During the winter (now), the top of the volcano is obsured by clouds. However, in the summer, it's generally clear. We knew that once we reached the top we wouldn't be able to see anything, but we still wanted to say that we did it.
Our guide kept urging us onward especially when we wanted to break for a snack. We tried to make it to the halfway point before eating something, but we caved early. Once we did make it to the halfway point, things seemed to get harder. We had been in the clouds and wind and it was getting cloudier and windier. Now instead of being soaked with sweat, we were soaked with mist and rain. Sally made the tough decision to stop at this point because she wasn't feeling well (I don't think any of us were feeling great except for our mountain goat-like guide) and Ian stayed with her and they headed down to try and find a more protected spot to wait for Gary and me as we pushed on towards the top.
The next 30 minutes or so were ridiculously hard with the wind practically blowing us off the mountain and the trail becoming extremely steep and wet. I often thought that this was insane and that I shouldn't even be up here in the first place. However, we got to a level point and which the guide told us that it was only 10 more minutes to the top. We practically crawled up this last part, hugging the side of the mountain because the wind was so strong. We stopped about 10 feet from the top (it was in sight) because the guide said it was dangerous. And when HE thought things were bad, you knew they were. He also made some comment about not wanting us to get blown into the crater. That might have ruined the hike if that would have happened. We posed for a picture, my bandana was blown off my head, and we made the slow descent to safer ground.
It didn't take long to reach the spot where Sally and Ian were camped out and we were glad to be all together again. We hiked down a little farther and Gary and I had some sandwiches and cookies and then we made our way down out of the clouds and into the sun once again. Coming down was extremely painful and my quads have not recoved yet. I'm pretty sure I haven't been this sore since I ran in a marathon. Both Sally and Gary (mountain climber extrordinaires) promised me that when I come out to climb mountains with them in Oregon that I will not fear for my life. One volcano climbed...hopefully many more will be as well.
Monday, July 13, 2009
A weekend in review
Now that I'm back from the island of Ometepe, I can tell you all about it. However, I'd like to back up to Thursday night. We spent the afternoon/evening in Masaya where we spent time in two markets. The first one had some touristy things but when we got out of that area, they also had normal things that a market would have like food and clothes and lots of shoes. Things were cramped but it was fun to walk around and see everything that was for sale. We then headed to the "tourist" market which was much higher priced even though the items for sale were exactly the same. However, that market was more spacious and things were clearly marked (and there was no food for sale)--I guess you pay for that convenience. Later in the evening we had dinner and watched folkloric dancing. We had a great time with excellent food (we all had a massive amount of meat) and a very entertaining dance contest.
On Friday after our classes, Sally, Gary, Ian, Jean, and I headed to the island of Ometepe. We were driven to the ferry, took the ferry to the island, and then took the bus to a hotel where we were staying. All in all, it took about 6 hours to get there. Ometepe is an island made up of two volcanos and is located in Lake Nicaragua. On the shore where we stayed, there was a constant breeze and it was pretty much delightful. We ended up staying in two different hotels because the first place we stayed at (which is said to be the best on the island) only had room for us on Friday night. It was a great place with excellent food--it felt like we were on vacation.
Saturday was beautiful and we walked/hitched a ride on the back of a truck to a place that had a bunch of petroglyphs and checked out all the rock carvings. The petroglyphs are pre-columbian and they are scattered throughout the island. We noticed smaller ones being used as doorstops and as decoration. We walked back to the hotel via the beach in time to move our bags two hotels down the street where we stayed on saturday and sunday night. After getting settled and having lunch, we decided to walk down the road in the opposite direction to check out "El ojo del agua". It's a pool of water that supposedly has healing and restorative powers to it since it has many volcanic elements in it. You'll have to decide if I look 10 years younger or not. Healing powers or not, it was very relaxing. The water was clear and cool and deep enough to swim around in. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and relaxing and preparing for Sunday's adventure.
On Sunday, we climbed Volcan Conception (the higher of the two on the island) and that story deserves a post of its own so that's what it will get. Since we were all pretty much exhausted after the climb, we had some dinner and went to bed. We took the 5:30 bus from our hotel to catch a ferry (which we missed so we ended up taking a boat and I'm glad I'm not a person who gets seasick) and then were picked up and driven back to La Mariposa. We were all less than excited to have classes this afternoon, but we survived.
Ometepe is a beautiful place (and was recently in the running for being included in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World) and I would gladly visit again.
On Friday after our classes, Sally, Gary, Ian, Jean, and I headed to the island of Ometepe. We were driven to the ferry, took the ferry to the island, and then took the bus to a hotel where we were staying. All in all, it took about 6 hours to get there. Ometepe is an island made up of two volcanos and is located in Lake Nicaragua. On the shore where we stayed, there was a constant breeze and it was pretty much delightful. We ended up staying in two different hotels because the first place we stayed at (which is said to be the best on the island) only had room for us on Friday night. It was a great place with excellent food--it felt like we were on vacation.
Saturday was beautiful and we walked/hitched a ride on the back of a truck to a place that had a bunch of petroglyphs and checked out all the rock carvings. The petroglyphs are pre-columbian and they are scattered throughout the island. We noticed smaller ones being used as doorstops and as decoration. We walked back to the hotel via the beach in time to move our bags two hotels down the street where we stayed on saturday and sunday night. After getting settled and having lunch, we decided to walk down the road in the opposite direction to check out "El ojo del agua". It's a pool of water that supposedly has healing and restorative powers to it since it has many volcanic elements in it. You'll have to decide if I look 10 years younger or not. Healing powers or not, it was very relaxing. The water was clear and cool and deep enough to swim around in. The rest of the afternoon was spent reading and relaxing and preparing for Sunday's adventure.
On Sunday, we climbed Volcan Conception (the higher of the two on the island) and that story deserves a post of its own so that's what it will get. Since we were all pretty much exhausted after the climb, we had some dinner and went to bed. We took the 5:30 bus from our hotel to catch a ferry (which we missed so we ended up taking a boat and I'm glad I'm not a person who gets seasick) and then were picked up and driven back to La Mariposa. We were all less than excited to have classes this afternoon, but we survived.
Ometepe is a beautiful place (and was recently in the running for being included in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World) and I would gladly visit again.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A little over one week down...
Time has really gone quite fast here so far. However, there are other times that I think I've been here forever--especially when I'm talking with the other group of people that are here and I think I've known them for several years. Overall, things have been going very well--the spanish classes have been good (however definitely don't expect me to be fluent anytime soon since it takes me about 8 years to form a complete sentence), the food is excellent--lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, the people are amazing--it's an easy place to get to know people well in a short amount of time, the landscape is beautiful--I love looking out on a variety of volcanic peaks every day, and I'm learning a lot about the history and culture of Nicaragua. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of my time here.
Due to some internet issues and afternoons full of activities, I am a bit behind on what I've been doing here. On Tuesday we went to a nature preserve called Chocoyero. There are more national parks/preserved pieces of land than I expected here. We hiked a loop that took us past a variety of trees and other vegetation. Bergman, our teacher and guide (he really knows everything about everything), pointed out many birds, insects, and types of plants. As we walked we could hear the howler monkeys high up on the mountain--thankfully during winter, they seek refuge from the mosquitos in the higher elevations. The sound they make is quite terrifying and I really had no desire to see them up close. We ended up at this large rock face where the chocoyero lives (it's a type of bird--kind of like a parrot I think). Their nests are these holes in the rock and they fly in and out of them very quickly. It was cool to watch.
Yesterday we had a relaxing day with classes in the morning and a discussion on Nicaraguan history before 1900 in the afternoon. I also did some laundry. I've decided that if I didn't use a washing machine on a regular basis, I would wear a lot less clothing during the week. I would also rewear things more than I do now. Yesterday also marked the first real storm that I've experienced while here and it's currently raining now. It's not bad, but it makes drying clothes, very difficult. Last night we had our usual dinner out at a pizza place in San Marcos where they were televising some soccer matches from the Copa del Oro. The two teams playing happened to be the US and Hondoras--a bit ironic considering the current politcal situation.
I don't have time to post pictures at this point but hopefully I'll be able to next week. This weeked I'm heading to the island of Ometepe (supposedly a beautiful place) where we'll be relaxing on the beach and climbing a volcano. It should be a 10 hour hike or so. Of course, I'm looking forward to it. I hope all is well with you and that you're enjoying reading these.
Due to some internet issues and afternoons full of activities, I am a bit behind on what I've been doing here. On Tuesday we went to a nature preserve called Chocoyero. There are more national parks/preserved pieces of land than I expected here. We hiked a loop that took us past a variety of trees and other vegetation. Bergman, our teacher and guide (he really knows everything about everything), pointed out many birds, insects, and types of plants. As we walked we could hear the howler monkeys high up on the mountain--thankfully during winter, they seek refuge from the mosquitos in the higher elevations. The sound they make is quite terrifying and I really had no desire to see them up close. We ended up at this large rock face where the chocoyero lives (it's a type of bird--kind of like a parrot I think). Their nests are these holes in the rock and they fly in and out of them very quickly. It was cool to watch.
Yesterday we had a relaxing day with classes in the morning and a discussion on Nicaraguan history before 1900 in the afternoon. I also did some laundry. I've decided that if I didn't use a washing machine on a regular basis, I would wear a lot less clothing during the week. I would also rewear things more than I do now. Yesterday also marked the first real storm that I've experienced while here and it's currently raining now. It's not bad, but it makes drying clothes, very difficult. Last night we had our usual dinner out at a pizza place in San Marcos where they were televising some soccer matches from the Copa del Oro. The two teams playing happened to be the US and Hondoras--a bit ironic considering the current politcal situation.
I don't have time to post pictures at this point but hopefully I'll be able to next week. This weeked I'm heading to the island of Ometepe (supposedly a beautiful place) where we'll be relaxing on the beach and climbing a volcano. It should be a 10 hour hike or so. Of course, I'm looking forward to it. I hope all is well with you and that you're enjoying reading these.
Monday, July 6, 2009
A day in Leon
Yesterday Sally, Ian, Amy, and I woke up early and took a 2.5 hour drive to Leon. It's an older city in Nicaragua and is home to one of the oldest cathedrals in the country. Bergman took us and also served as our tourguide. On the way there, we had a great view of several volcanos. After stopping for breakfast outside of Managua, we arrived in Leon and walked around the Cathedral. A service was starting shortly after we arrived so we didn't have too much time in the very ornate church.
The cathedral in Leon
The museum of the Revolution
We spent the rest of the morning going to the Museum of the Revolution (It was a room that had newspaper clipping and pictures detailing the events of the revolution. Nothing was protected or preserved but the man that was giving us the "tour" was very proud of what he had to show us. This is something that I don't remember learning in school in our history classes and hearing about it from a Nicaraguan perspective is very interesting.
We also went to the home/now museum of the famous Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Dario. They had some furniture there and his personal library along with some original writings of his on display. Our final stop of the morning was an art museum that included work from all over the world but the more modern paintings were mostly from Nicaragua.
After lunch (where I had chicken on bone--yes, I took the chicken off the the bone myself), we went to the ruins of the first spanish church in Nicaragua. It was on the property of this older woman and after walking around the remains of the church, we talked with her for a bit. She had a picture of her grandmother (who lived to be 114) and I think her family had been on this property for several generations.
On our way back into the main town, we stopped at the house of a man who was a woodworker. He carved saints out of tree trunks and is well known for this in this region. He showed us some samples of his work and gave us his card in case we needed his services in the future.
Leon is a very nice city with beautful architechure and it supposedly wasn't as touristy as Grenada (I'm going there later so I'll let you know what I think). It was rather quiet and a nice place to walk around.
The cathedral in LeonThe museum of the RevolutionSaturday, July 4, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
This is the second year in a row where I don't get to celebrate the forth of July with fireworks at home. However, I'm quite glad to be celebrating here in Nicaragua.
Yesterday was a low-key kind of day with class in the morning and a discussion on issues in Nicaragua such as trash, electricity, and water. It was very informative and because most of it was in english, I could understand what was going on. The classes have been very good and while the conversation is exhausting, it's excellent practice for what I've learned in the grammar part of the class. Last night we went to a bar that's know for its pork. We checked out the "kitchen" which was a room off the main dining area that had a ton of raw pig sitting on the counter. After it was cooked, it was delicious. After that, we went back to the pizza place that we went to on Wednesday because on Friday night they have a mirimba band. They were excellent but there were only 2 other people in the place so no one was dancing which was rather disappointing.
Today was a trip to the Mombacho volcano. It was a beautiful day and we headed up to volcano in what seemed to be an old World War 2 era vehicle. The road was narrow and extremely steep (I think it was steeper than some of those roads we rode up in Italy, Jonathan). We took a break halfway up where we sampled some coffee which was excellent. When we finally got to the top, we joined a guide who took us on the Puma trail around the main crater. I thought it was a dormant volcano but we could smell the sulfur and could see the gases at some points. At the start of the hike, it was rather cold but as soon as we started to hike, it became humid and hot. The area was very green and lush and the hike itself was strenuous. We were constantly hiking either up or down but the trail was well-maintained with steps built into the terrain. It was also very windy at all the lookout spots but we had a great view of the crater and surrounding towns. Overall, it was a great national park and if you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend it.
Yesterday was a low-key kind of day with class in the morning and a discussion on issues in Nicaragua such as trash, electricity, and water. It was very informative and because most of it was in english, I could understand what was going on. The classes have been very good and while the conversation is exhausting, it's excellent practice for what I've learned in the grammar part of the class. Last night we went to a bar that's know for its pork. We checked out the "kitchen" which was a room off the main dining area that had a ton of raw pig sitting on the counter. After it was cooked, it was delicious. After that, we went back to the pizza place that we went to on Wednesday because on Friday night they have a mirimba band. They were excellent but there were only 2 other people in the place so no one was dancing which was rather disappointing.
Today was a trip to the Mombacho volcano. It was a beautiful day and we headed up to volcano in what seemed to be an old World War 2 era vehicle. The road was narrow and extremely steep (I think it was steeper than some of those roads we rode up in Italy, Jonathan). We took a break halfway up where we sampled some coffee which was excellent. When we finally got to the top, we joined a guide who took us on the Puma trail around the main crater. I thought it was a dormant volcano but we could smell the sulfur and could see the gases at some points. At the start of the hike, it was rather cold but as soon as we started to hike, it became humid and hot. The area was very green and lush and the hike itself was strenuous. We were constantly hiking either up or down but the trail was well-maintained with steps built into the terrain. It was also very windy at all the lookout spots but we had a great view of the crater and surrounding towns. Overall, it was a great national park and if you're ever in the area, I'd highly recommend it.
Friday, July 3, 2009
"We looked into the mouth of hell...
and they told us to hold on to this pole." That was a quote from Sally after we had returned from the Masaya Volcano. We went there last night and it really was a great time. I had never been to a volcano so this was a new experience for me. It's a national park and a hot tourist spot--mostly english speakers and possibly a high school track team (actually it was probably a mission group) were there when we were. We drove up to the top of the volcano and walked up to a view point. A cross was placed there by the Spanish in the 16th (?) century and there's one there now--it's replaced every two years because the gases from the volcano corrode the materials. It was rather cloudy/foggy but you had a good view of the surrounding area and it was cool to watch the smoke and gases billow out of the mouth of the volcano. 
We then hiked to the top of another hill to get a view of another extinct crator and also a view of Lake Masaya. Again, because of the cloudy conditions, we couldn't see much but the wind picked up enough that we could get a view of the lake.
Our next stop was the lava caves. We all put on our hard hats (you know how I love wearing a hard hat) and got our torches out and headed into the caves. You could feel the bats flying past your head. There were also examples of the 3 types of lava--Pahoehoe, Aa, and lava bombs. 
Our final stop on our volcano tour was "La Boca de Infierno" where we put on gas masks and held on to a pole and looked down into the crater where we could see the glowing lava. It was completely and totally safe since we were holding on to that pole.
I believe we'll be visiting another volcano tomorrow but during the day. So things are good and I'm having a blast. I'm laughing hard with the other students and learning a lot. The spanish instruction can be exhausting but each day I feel like I'm picking things up a bit more quickly. This weekend we will be taking day trips on Saturday and Sunday. I haven't decided if I want to ride a horse to a lake or spend the day in Leon. Decisions, decisions...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I'm here!
Travelling went smoothly yesterday. After waking up at 2:30am and taking a 5:40am flight out of Baltimore to Houston and then Managua, I met a person who was picking me up at the airport. He was just holding a handmade sign that said "mariposa spanish school" and I trusted that he would be taking me where I was supposed to go. Thankfully, that was the case. It was about a 40 minute drive from the airport to La Concepcion where the Mariposa is located. We drove through the city and more rural areas and you can definitely tell that Nicaragua is a developing nation.
The school itself is off the beaten path and the grounds are amazing. There are a ton of animals (most of which I try to avoid) roaming around including a monkey. I stay far from him. Because I got here just after the other students had left for their afternoon activity (which was a trip to a lake), I had the afternoon to myself. I had some lunch--everything here is pretty much grown on site with mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. Then Manuel, one of the people who takes care of the grounds gave me a tour. Of course this tour was all in spanish so I didn't really get everything he was telling me about each plant and its fruit and what you can eat and what you can't and the medicinal properties of everything. He also pointed out several different kinds of birds and could imitate their calls quite well.
When the other students came back, I got to meet them and have dinner with everyone. There's a couple and their son from Oregon, a teacher from New York, a librarian from Arizona, and another woman who works for the NY Times here at the moment. Some will be here most of the time that I'm here but a few are leaving at the end of the week.
This morning I went running with two of the other students before breakfast and it's super hilly here so we didn't go far. I also had my first spanish class. The first two hours are grammar (It's amazing how much I have forgotten since high school and college) and then the next two hours are conversation. The conversation was pretty exhausting since I have to pay attention and figure out first of all what question is being asked and then figure out how to respond. Hopefully that will be easier as time goes on. I'll keep you posted.
It really is beautiful here and while it's stinking hot in Managua, right now I'm enjoying a lovely breeze here. The food is delicious and the accomodations are simple but adequate. I'll post some pictures at some point.
The school itself is off the beaten path and the grounds are amazing. There are a ton of animals (most of which I try to avoid) roaming around including a monkey. I stay far from him. Because I got here just after the other students had left for their afternoon activity (which was a trip to a lake), I had the afternoon to myself. I had some lunch--everything here is pretty much grown on site with mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. Then Manuel, one of the people who takes care of the grounds gave me a tour. Of course this tour was all in spanish so I didn't really get everything he was telling me about each plant and its fruit and what you can eat and what you can't and the medicinal properties of everything. He also pointed out several different kinds of birds and could imitate their calls quite well.
When the other students came back, I got to meet them and have dinner with everyone. There's a couple and their son from Oregon, a teacher from New York, a librarian from Arizona, and another woman who works for the NY Times here at the moment. Some will be here most of the time that I'm here but a few are leaving at the end of the week.
This morning I went running with two of the other students before breakfast and it's super hilly here so we didn't go far. I also had my first spanish class. The first two hours are grammar (It's amazing how much I have forgotten since high school and college) and then the next two hours are conversation. The conversation was pretty exhausting since I have to pay attention and figure out first of all what question is being asked and then figure out how to respond. Hopefully that will be easier as time goes on. I'll keep you posted.
It really is beautiful here and while it's stinking hot in Managua, right now I'm enjoying a lovely breeze here. The food is delicious and the accomodations are simple but adequate. I'll post some pictures at some point.
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