Day 2
Boat Tour
Day two started out with a boat tour of Lake Nicaragua, which we had just seen from a distance the day before. Around the edge of the lake are a ton of tiny inlets or small islands created by the nearby Mombacho Volcano in its last eruption. Along the way, we saw a few monkeys, posh houses, and interesting birds. Unfortunately no bull sharks or American crocodiles.
Volcanos
Our next leg of the journey lead us about ⅔ of the way up Mombacho Volcano, this being one of the few volcanoes in this part of the world with a road, albeit dirt and very steep, all the way to the top of the volcano where we found a coffee plantation.
The view from this stop is great when not limited by clouds. Here we had a tasty coffee sampling waiting for us and we proceeded to split up into groups of either hiking to the top, ziplining, or taking a tour of the coffee plantation. My choice was hiking up the rest of the way to the top of the volcano even though we were advised that we probably wouldn’t be able to see much from the top this time of year because of the cloud cover.
Unfortunately they were right, the clouds never let up so we couldn’t see what I’m sure was a magnificent view from the top, but we did have a fun trek through what they call the cloud forest, which is very similar to a rainforest. It was very humid and almost no sun got through. There were also some really pretty Orchids that were blooming and we are told that they only bloom one day.
After the groups came back together, we had lunch and of course, more cigars. Next, we made our way by bus to another nearby volcano, Masaya Volcano. This one, unlike Mombacho Volcano, is very active. The road goes all the way to the top where you can look down and see a river of lava. It is quite powerful to hear the roar of mother nature’s gut. The crater itself is quite impressive spanning several thousand feet across and down.
Dinner
After a few minutes of downtime, we are shuttled off to our first official dinner of the festival. Here, we are greeted by lovely ladies holding trays full of cigars and instructed to smoke. Throughout the night we are treated with not two or three, but 5 total cigars of which we are supposed to all smoke each at the same time and talk about them with our companions after a brief talk from each maker of the respective cigar. There is of course an open bar, and the good times are flowing just as easily. The dinner itself it a traditional Nicaraguan dish of rice, beans, plantains, and pork. All in all, a pretty good day 2.