We had set up a driver for the day to take us shopping and to see a few sights in a town not far from Granada called Masaya. It was supposed to have a great market to get some shopping in, famous for hammocks. Our driver picked us up at our hotel and didn’t speak a word of English so I put on my fake Spanish hat and crossed my fingers.
Our first stop was up to Volcano Masaya. You could drive all the way up to the huge crater of this active volcano. It wasn’t like Pacaya with red lava flowing, it was a huge crater spewing toxic gases. There were signs posted that you shouldn’t stay for more than 15 to 20 minutes due to the danger from breathing in the gases. While you could see the crater right from the parking lot, the better view was from up on top of a huge stone path. I couldn’t really smell the gases until we started hiking up the path and then I could feel it in my lungs! While the girls and I went to the top Jason had an emergency poopy diaper to change in the trunk of our taxi. Ahhh, the joys of traveling with a baby.
After Jason went up to the top we all made our way to the other hikes around the volcano. Jason was sure there were some caves so instead of following the path everyone else was taking, we followed him. Well that only lasted for a short while because we could see Jason’s trail was not going anywhere. Not to mention that Lena and Jade had decided to wear their new cheapo sandals and were whining about their feet hurting. So after a lovely attempt to find some caves we ended our trek and hit the road again. (Oh, Jason did ask about the caves and they were somewhere around, but you had to hire a guide and it took 1 ½ hours to find them, so we passed on that one.)
Next stop, the market in Masaya. We found a parking spot and as soon as we got out of the car some guy was all over us offering to show us around the market. I wanted no part of this and told him so, but he must have followed us anyway. We checked out the hammocks and Jason wanted a t-shirt and all of a sudden this guy shows up offering to help Jason find the right size. I was in no mood for this so the girls and I went our own way. Every time I turned around this guy was there telling me where Jason was or offering to help us with the prices. Honestly, we have been traveling with 3 kids for almost 3 months, I am quite confident that I can handle shopping with-out some help! It’s shopping for goodness sake! A skill I have carefully honed for many years!!
Anyhoo, we ended up with 2 giant hammocks which sounded like a great idea until we realized we still had 4 weeks left to travel with these giants. Let’s hope we are allowed to take them on the plane....
After the market Jason wanted to check out an old prison that was currently run on a volunteer basis by the boy scouts. We arrived and there was no one else in sight. A friendly young guy came by and offered to take us on a tour (in Spanish, of course) and the next thing we knew we were deep in the bowels of the prison. It was a very interesting tour. Our guide had a little flashlight and that was all we had for light. The prison was underground and it was pitch black in some spots and only tiny holes for windows in other places. It really gave you a feel for what the prisoners (mostly political prisoner) dealt with. You could see the tiny cells where up to 50 prisoners were put and the 1 “toilet” they shared. Down even deeper you could see where some of them were kept with absolutely no light at all. There were bats flying around which just added another freaky element.
We saw a torture chamber and our guide quite graphically explained what happened there. I have put a picture of this on this post and it looks light, but the only way we could see anything was when Jason used the flash on the camera!! I was torn between translating for Jason and freaking out the girls. I decided the girls could handle most of what he was saying but for the next couple of days Jade kept asking how water and electricity could hurt and how could you pull fingernails right out??
