POPULATION
5,848,641
ACTIVE VOLCANOES
19
YEAR CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
FIRST LANDED IN NICARAGUA
1502
YEAR NICARAGUA BECAME AN
INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
1821
MILES OF COASTLINE
566
PERCENTAGE OF LAND THAT
IS IN A PARK OR PRESERVE
17
SPECIES OF BIRD
698
NUMBER OF POEMS ATTRIBUTED
TO NICARAGUAN POET AND
FATHER OF SPANISH MODERNISM
RUBÉN DARÍO
773
threeperfectdays
nicaragua
VolcánMasaya, he says, has been
fearedforcenturies—firstby indigenous
people,whouseditforreligioussacrifices
andnamed it“BurningMountain,”and
later by 16th-century Spaniards,who
called it“TheMouthofHell”and tried
todraw liquidgold from itscenter.
While there haven’t been anymajor
eruptions in centuries, the complex
does—as Roberto puts it—“burp”on
occasion.Its lastsignificanthiccupwasin
2001,whentheSantiagocrater launched
bouldersasfarawayasthevisitor’scenter,
10minutesbycarfromtherim—which,
incidentally, is the only rim in the
WesternHemispherereachablebyroad.
Thedriveup is relativelygentleuntil
about fiveminutes fromthepeak,when
the road jerks upward at a precarious
angle. Roberto chats breezily about
human sacrifice and explosions as we
grindourwayuptoavolcano-toppark-
ing lot.Cloudsofsteamwaft lazilyfrom
thedepthsof thenearbycrater,drifting
toward theCruz deBobadilla, a large
cross theSpaniards erected tokeep the
devil away.
Fromhere,Ihike fiveminutes to the
dormantNindirícone.Dottedwithtrees,
Nindirí has a view that encompasses
ApoyoLagoon,acraterlakethatresulted
from one ofMasaya’s most powerful
eruptions,more than20,000 years ago.
Therearenoeruptionstoday,thankfully,
althoughthereareafewrumblingscom-
ing from the regionofmy stomach.
I head for an early lunch inMasaya,
the volcano’s namesake city to the east.
The big attractionhere is the open-air
MercadodeArtesanias
, located inside
theblackbasaltwallsof anoldSpanish
fort.Themarket is packedwithbright
shops selling traditional keepsakes,
including some rather grisly baskets
fashionedout of dead chickens. I settle
ona small ceramicvase.
I make my way to the market’s
southeast corner and take a seat at
RestauranteCheGris
,where I quickly
blankonmy rudimentarySpanishand
panic,orderingbypointingat theplate
of the person next tome.The dish, a
waitress informs me, is
indio viejo
, a
generoushelpingof tender beef strips,
EATANDGREET
Clockwise from top left: awoman friesplantainsatGranada’sMercadoMunicipal; busymarket stalls; a typicalNicaraguanbreakfast
of plantains, riceandbeans, a sliceof queso secoanda friedegg
BY THE NUMBERS
NICARAGUA
68
MARCH2015
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
