Monday, June 18, 2012

At the base of a volcano

We are on Ometepe Island in Laga Nicaragua (Lake Nicaragua). This land form was originally two islands, each with its own volcano; my understnding is that lava flows from the volcanoes connected the islands. We are in a hotel at the base of Volcan Concepcion, the taller one. It looks something like an inverted cone with the tip torn off... craggy and rough. Lava flows cover its flanks. Forests reach half to 3/4 of its slopes: plant communities on the margins of the forests give some of the dark rocks a green tint. There must be streams in some of the lava flows, trees border them. Clouds sometines cover the peak, sometimes form a ring around it... astounding! It changes all the time. I will post photos! We walked a long way on a dirt road near the lake today. We say literally hundreds of butterflies of all sizes and color: gray, black and white, pure white, bright yellow, pale yellow, iridescent blue. There were also astounding birds: many vultures, an osprey (aka fishhawk), herons, and some astounding birds that we think are blue and white magpie jays. We will try to include a photo of them sometime, they don´t stay in one place long. They are beautiful, huge, and loud! We got here this afternoon, and will be here until Thursday. We hope to connect with the agricultural collective, but decided our Spanish is too weak for us to base ourselves there for a homestay. Expect more from here. Last comment: IT IS HOT AND HUMID!!!

1 comment:

rhonda said...

Paul, I finally got a chance to follow you. OMG, this is SO good! I enjoy your writing and your photos are gorgeous.

Kate's school is quite remarkable, and I am sure makes her feel so good to make such a positive difference.

I totally enjoy traveling with you - and we had quite the temps this last weekend. It was 107 on Sat, high 90s yesterday, and today it was pleasantly cooler. I hear it will climb, but summer is but a few days away.

Keep writing, and enjoy! R