Hiatus & Eruption: Managua, Nicaragua

Boom! Another pothole. My dad cursed and accelerated up the hill. He was grumpy because he doesn’t handle the heat well and, with the air conditioner broken, had driven for hours in the infernal Nicaraguan air. Even with the windows open, the weak breeze was thick and sulfuric, unconducive to general happiness about life.

At the entrance to the Masaya Volcano National Park, they told us to hurry because the sun was setting and they don’t trust American tourists feeling their way around in the dark next to a gigantic crater that occasionally spews lava. While I thought the request was founded, my mother joked that we’d see the sunset from the volcano's summit.

She then told me a story about Spanish conquistadors throwing the indigenous off the edge when they made for subpar slaves. Charmingly dubbed “La Boca del Infierno,” or “The Mouth of Hell,” this was the site of 2 volcanoes and 5 craters. The last eruption was in 2003(this was 2008), but all of the craters were infamous for emitting smoke all year round. I ascertained this later, only to discover that what we actually saw was one of the larger craters. Regardless, this crater, Bobadilla, had been exercised of the Devil on multiple occasions, for it was supposedly the most volatile of the five.

Bobadilla looked nothing like the volcano in Shrek. Just a big, stinky hole in the ground. It was funny that there were absolutely no safety features at the edge, though. No guardrail or anything. It was like Earth’s doorjamb.

Anyway, we get back in the car only to find utter silence when my father turns the key. Not even a sputter.

Yes, we were surprised that the ancient, golden, tin can we had considered a car broke down at the precipice of a volcanic crater.

Anyway, that’s the kind of vacationing I do. For as long as I can remember, my parents have schlepped me to a new place every summer for a month to stay in ecolodges, shower with geckos, and make an eccentric time out of the trip.

Keep reading, let’s talk about volcanoes.

The border between Indonesia and Java houses one of the most active volcanoes in the world. Mount Merapi, “Fire Mountain”, was apparently the site where Hindu Gods wanted to put a mountain, but were interrupted by the hubris of two emperors. So, these Gods just put their mountain on top of these dudes, effectively burying them and angering them enough to make molten rock.

Merapi’s latest eruption was in 2010, so scientists deemed it a 4 on the 1-5 “bad volcano” scale, but apparently the subterranean lava levels have since dropped significantly. This being said, I’d like to visit it because I could see two countries simultaneously, and I’d enjoy reading about two cultures merging in this physically explosive way.

I understand that visiting an active volcano is like skiing a slope named “Suicide,” so I’d like to clarify that I wouldn’t be hiking it or anything crazy. I’ll just admire it from afar.