Climbing volcanoes and dodging fireworks

Hey there!

Last weekend was a blast in Leon! On Saturday, August 14, I climbed my second volcano! Momotombo is one of the more difficult local volcanoes to climb, standing at over 4250 ft above sea level. Sure was harder than Cerro Negro! The volcano is important in Leon history because its eruption in 1610 forced the town to relocate from the shores of Lake Managua (where you can still see the ruins of “Leon Viejo”) to its current location.

I got together with the group at 5am and we set off! The beginning of the hike was no problem, but once you get toward the top firm footing is hard to come by- it is basically trying to scramble up a pile of loose rocks! The top was pretty- AMAZING views of Lake Managua and a sense of accomplishment definitely made it worthwhile. I took a video that you can see on YouTube.

The fumes that you see coming from the top of the volcano have that terrible sulfur rotten egg smell- so that kept me from getting too close to the crater, which is probably a good thing come to think of it!

The way down was harder for me than climbing up! The rocks kept slipping out from under my feet and I have quite a few scrapes to show for it! Here is a picture of the view from the top, the inside of my boots after part of the descent and one of my hands (notice manicure still intact of course!):

I will spare you the picture of my worst scrapes- let’s just say that I ended up with a big hole ripped in the seat of my pants!!! Nothing to worry about though- “just a flesh wound” as Monty Python fans would say

It was a BIG day because after finally getting down the volcano in one piece I celebrated the Griteria Chiquita. Basically it is a celebration which originated on the same date in 1947, when the people paraded the image of the Virgen around the streets in an attempt to mollify the rumblings of the volcano Cerro Negro (see my earlier post on sandboarding on Cerro Negro). Sure enough, the volcano quieted down and ever since they have continued to praise the Virgen Maria on August 14th. It is called Chiquita because there is a similar nationwide holiday on December 7th.

Basically it all kicks off at 6pm, and the place to be is Parque Central in front of the Cathedral. The bells are ringing like mad, there is a band playing, tons of people and tons of noise! All over town people have bought fireworks and just wait for the churchbells to ring at 6pm and midnight so that everyone can set them off at once! The most surprising part was when the park was invaded by people with large, rectangular, hollow structures on their heads glowing with fireworks! They literally run around randomly and at the same time are ejecting more fireworks in the direction of the crowd! Adolescent boys have a total field day getting as close to these crazy people as possible without suffering any permanent damage! It is hard to describe, so check out this video for the highlights:

After that big event, a good friend showed me the “grito” (yell) part of griteria. Basically a bunch of houses around town have set up alters to the Virgen Mary and have their doors open. Everyone- adults and kids alike- can go around to each house and say (or yell) “Quien causa tanta alegria (who is causing so much happiness?) to which the people at the home answer “La Asuncion de Maria” (the assumption- which means rising the heaven- of Mary) and give you candy! Well, mostly candy, you can also get the occasional slotted spoon, yo yo, or even a pair of cotton underwear! So basically that part is like a religious Halloween where adults get to play too

I am now (yay!) on vacation- I look forward to posting some pics from the road!

Hasta pronto- Dra MV

PS below are pics of the fireworks people and a nice lady handing out candy next to her altar. Enjoy!

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