Volcano’s & Bat’s

Being back in Nicaragua is like coming home for us. We realize how much we missed it now that we are here. We made it to Granada for a brief visit and ate at the Euro Café our old usual. I guided us into town forgetting that the LT (the big truck with us) is wider than Consulado Street will permit. Long story short we had to make a quick change and squeeze onto another street. Unfortunately the LT was burglarized in the two hours we visited the area.  They stole Dave’s laptop and camera, and ruined two door locks.

Next we headed to Masaya the active Volcano in the area. With our letter of permission and a bit of encouragement with some magazine copies we were in for the evening (the advantages of being with the press). They allowed us to camp on the rim of the Volcano all night. This was very cool…! Also they allowed us to take our trucks on closed roads around the back of the Volcano to see some rarely seen views. As if this wasn’t enough, they brought us into the Bat caves as sun down and 20,000 bats left for the night will we stood still in the cave. They flew by our heads and you could hear the hum they make and the flapping of their wings, it was incredible and spooky also. Three species including vampire bats were present. We were joined by Dennis and Michelle which was a great treat too, it was so good to see them although brief.

Another old friend Lars, joined us for the night on the Volcano in his new to him Toyota Landcruiser model 78 Diesel, my favorite truck…! And a super clean example.. He had fun with the privilege of sleeping at the Volcano, but then we convinced him to guide us to the beaches at Las Salinas using an Overland route that he has driven on his dirt bike. So the fun began and we headed first to El Crucero and then enroute to Las Salinas. Oops did I mention I broke a front axle/CV on the Toyota. This would have been a really huge problem, but I had a spare axle/CV setup with me, although we did not have all the tools we needed to do the job. Wayne Burgess (CO) came to the rescue when we called him, he put us in touch with a local Nica brother that was able to do the axle swipe in his front yard. Not much of a shop at all, and his pile of tools had much to be desired, but two hours later we were back on the road! It was great to visit with Wayne briefly as well.

Las Salinas beach was a excellent. I swam several times in the cold Pacific waves. Stacey enjoyed sucking up some more sun. Overall it’s a great relatively private beach in the middle of nowhere. We also bumped into some nice young needgreaters living in Las Salinas and got to spend some time together.

Today we reached Ometepe the huge Volcanic Island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We took a ferry to it and got a tour from a friend of Dennis’ his name is Ben Evans, he and his wife are specials. It was great to see the work he’s doing there and see the progress. The Volcano is Concepcion, and it’s active and amazing  to look at. It was actually calling my name to climb it. Someday Dean R and I will need to spend a night on its summit!

We leave this morning to cross the border to Costa Rica. Hope all is well with everyone at home. Our prayers and best wishes are with you all.

James Y Stacey..

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