{"id":1364,"date":"2020-06-07T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T07:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2022-04-05T18:24:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-05T18:24:10","slug":"visiting-volcan-masaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gowatkinsgo.com\/?p=1364","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Volc\u00e1n Masaya"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we arrived in Nicaragua at the end of February, our first stop was in Ometepe. It is an island in Lake Nicaragua that is made up of two volcanoes: Concepci\u00f3n and Maderas.\u00a0 We hiked part of the way up Maderas, but Maderas is dormant.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month we drove two hours to visit the Masaya volcano, an active volcano. Nicaragua sits on the Ring of Fire that runs down the western coast of the Americas and has many volcanoes. The name Masaya may sound familiar because on March 4 of this year Nik Wallenda walked 1,800 feet across the mouth of the volcano on live television.\"\"<\/p>\n

The first eruption ever recorded at Volc\u00e1n Masaya occurred in the early 1500s. Another large eruption happened in the late 1700s and you can still see the black path of the lava flow from that event as you drive up to the volcano. \u00a0There are three craters that makeup Volc\u00e1n Masaya. There is a paved road all the way to the top with a large parking area and viewing area.<\/p>\n

We arrived at the park a little after 5:00 on a Monday night. It had been raining earlier in the day and when we got there the volcano was closed because the sulfur dioxide gas coming out of the volcano was too thick. We were told that there was a chance that it would clear up so we decided to enter the park and take our chances.<\/p>\n

There is a small museum, a new restaurant (that is closed on Mondays) and a great outdoor area with playground equipment. We were the only people there. The boys ran around outside for a while and we toured the museum.<\/p>\n