Nicaragua – September 7-13, 2023

[Martin Hash]

My “countries visited” total reached 120 when we entered Nicaragua, but I didn’t savor the achievement like I did when the magic 100 was approaching year ago because then we gained membership in the “Century Club,” as defined by their official list of countries and territories, a total of 330 as of January 2022, even though there are 249 countries per the United Nations geoscheme, and only 196 in the United Nations. Some are not actually countries in their own right, but they have historical or cultural significance, for example, the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Borneo & Hong Kong. Even Alaska & Hawaii count separately. Entering the country took almost 6 hours, and it was hot & humid, however the 12-person dorm we stayed at in Leon had privacy curtains, a pool & A/C.



Leon, a beautiful little town, is famous for its young active volcano, Cerro Negro, less then 200 years old. Apparently, it has the best volcano sledding in the world, where tourists slide down volcanic sand on wooden boards. We immediately scheduled a tour with over 50 people on the crowded party bus. The guide took a shining to my wife, Gwynne; asking her name, talking to her, taking her picture & hanging around. He even surreptitiously exchanged bags with her so she had a reason to seek his attention. She found it flattering, and I’m used to that kind of thing.

A young woman, a YouTuber with a staff of 5, accompanied us on the bus there. She was constantly talking into her phone, live-streaming, totally self-absorbed. One of the members of our group, trying to listen to the guide’s instructions, yelled at her to “Please shut-up!” loud enough for her YouTube audience to hear. We had to carry the sled-boards up the volcano ourselves. They weighed about half as much as Gwynne did so I carried both after she pooped out. Then Gwynne’s hat blew off in the strong winds, falling down the steep slope of the volcano but a fit young man athletically scurried down the loose pumice to retrieve it for her. After getting to the top, most people’s descent was embarrassingly slow, certainly not worth the effort of climbing all that way, but I started out fast and got faster so it was thrilling for me anyway. Afterwards, Gwynne’s attentive admirer served us extra rum & Coke.



We encountered a political parade with flags & banners when we traveled the next day. We’ve seen several of these now, evidence that people in Central America are quite dedicated to their politics at a grass roots level; we waved at them, and they waved enthusiastically back. We arrived at Laguna De Apoyo, a beautiful, lake-filled ancient caldera, in the early afternoon so we had a chance to go swimming. We were in a 16-person dorm of bunk beds with no A/C but the lake more than made up for it; plus, it was the weekend so the place with full of families with kids, which Gwynne enjoyed.



We went to Volcano National Park, and I was struck by the enormity of the caldera we were in. All the volcanic craters were contained within a single immense one, which became apparent when we stood on a promontory overlooking the basin and saw the capital city of Managua also within it. Looking out, one of our compatriots mentioned that there was an earthquake where we stayed the night before; when I looked at him questioningly, he excused the tardy news with, “I would have mentioned the earthquake, but I was distracted by the volcanoes.” We waited until nightfall when the orange glowing lava at the bottom of the Santiago crater was visible.



Granada - September 12, 2023

Granada, Nicaragua was established in 1524 by Hernandez de Cordoba of Spain and claims to be the first European city in America. Whether the 17 Catholic Churches or the 85% Catholic population. It was ran by a dictator, Anastasio Somoza, for decades before there was a Communist revolution conducted by the Sandinistas, and resulting in president Daniel Ortega, who was defeated in an American-backed election, but ultimately returned and has been President continuously for 3 decades. There is a gold statue of a Sandinista fighter near the old city center square. I learned all this during a horse-drawn carriage tour.