It was a hot muggy day leaving Granada last Friday, and while I expected the usual afternoon shower, I wasn't prepared for the torrential downpour as the boat pulled into the ferry terminal in Moyagalpa. So we were thoroughly soaked by the time we boarded the chicken bus to Balgues. The next day was rainy as well, and as I was not planning to spend too much time there chose to walk up Volcan Madera in the rain. It was a physical slog which took 7 hours or so, and there was not even the luxury of the view. Just another thorough soaking and being covered in mud. The next day the weather improved and that gave me a time to look at some of the ancient petroglyphs, which are reputed to be up to 3000 years old, It was very beautiful to spend time with them on my own in the company of Curaca birds and Howler monkeys. It really gave me a sense of occasion on my birthday. The day was crowned by beautiful views of Volcan Concepcion from the verandah of the finca where I was staying. The down side is that now I'm trying to recover from an atrocious cold and have not been able to do anything in San Juan del Sur, where I am currently, except sneeze and lie dazed in a hammock. So far no surfing, and not even swimming in the sea which I always love.
La Piedra Magnifica, the most ornate and largest of the stones I saw
This didn't have an arbitrary title, but my guess is that it must have been some sort of altar. I loved the way the moss showed off the carved patterns
A fern in the cloud forest
"Lusano" worms. These are not larvae, but live and die in this form. they live in the recesses of niches of tree bark and are very sensitive to proximity of hands, handclaps etc, and are wave vigorously when threatend. They have been known to give nasty bites. They grow extremely fast and live approximately 3 weeks or so. These were 7 - 10 cm in length
A Howler monkey with big cojones
The crater lake at the top. As you can see, it's mostly obscured by mist. We couldn't even see the sides of the crater rim towering above us.
A more user friendly section of the muddy trail
Approaching Isla de Ometepe on the ferry, Concepcion on the left and Madera on the right
Concepcion wreathed in cloud
Concepcion after the cloud had cleared
Saying goodbye to Volcan Madera from the back of the pickup truck collectivo on which we rode back to Moyogalpa. Wish I had had weather like this for the climb, I might even have swum in the lake at the top......
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