As I was driving through the valley of volcanoes I tried to get as close to the volcano Momotombe as I could as I was told you could climb it. On one of the volcano's you can snowboard down. Most of them are still active. I followed a road to where the turn off should have been but there were no signs, so “in for a penny in for a pound” as they say, I decided to follow it. Shortly thereafter it turned into a dirt track that was very rough and lots of ruts. After about an hour we started to see some Fincas and a few haciendas (rather like shacks). People were far and few between. I was not sure if I was on the right road but I kept the one mountain range to my left and headed towards the volcano. The area was very dry and I would not want to be strande3d out there without water or fuel. Fortunately with a diesel engine it uses very little gas. After a while I came across a hitch hiker, an older gentleman with a 50 pound bag of rice. So I gave him a ride in the bed of the truck. We must have driven for almost an hour before he signaled he wanted out to walk down a side road. Who knows how far he really had to go. Shortly thereafter we came across a young boy about 10 on horseback herding some rather large bulls by himself. I have to say the Nicaraguan people are hardworking and very resilient.
We carried on towards the volcano until it was starting to get dark. So instead of driving up to it on this trip I decided to try to find the main road that would lead ups back towards Estelí. I was sure we were headed in the right direction. We came upon a small farm that had a lamp post outside so I knew we must be near a small town. After another 45 minutes we came across a few boys on bicycles herding cows down the road. We followed them until the outskirts of a small town. It seems that every town is laid out in a square pattern, and if you can find the church you can determine direction as the entrance is always facing west. So after some trial and error we found the main street and followed it out to the highway that lead us back to Estelí after about another two hours drive. After we got back to town I decided that our success of travelling to the Pacific Ocean and back deserved a dinner at Dough Pizza!
We carried on towards the volcano until it was starting to get dark. So instead of driving up to it on this trip I decided to try to find the main road that would lead ups back towards Estelí. I was sure we were headed in the right direction. We came upon a small farm that had a lamp post outside so I knew we must be near a small town. After another 45 minutes we came across a few boys on bicycles herding cows down the road. We followed them until the outskirts of a small town. It seems that every town is laid out in a square pattern, and if you can find the church you can determine direction as the entrance is always facing west. So after some trial and error we found the main street and followed it out to the highway that lead us back to Estelí after about another two hours drive. After we got back to town I decided that our success of travelling to the Pacific Ocean and back deserved a dinner at Dough Pizza!
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