Volcan Mombacho

What was once an active volcano - 20,000 years ago - is now an amazing natural preserve. Five different ecosystems on one mountain. Hundreds of different species of plants. Dozens of different orchids alone, some as small as the head of a pin, some large beautiful blooms. Tons of insects, reptiles and howler monkeys. We saw one tree that had 35 different species of plants living on that tree. Near the heart of the planet, life still abounds. It amazes me that loggers and ranchers and other companies are mowing down a football-size section of rain forest every second.

We had a great guide, David, who took us on a two-hour hike through the cloud forest of Volcan Mombacho. He narrated our hike in Spanish, insisting that this was a continuation of our schooling, but he was careful to speak very slowly and clearly. It was fantastic. From different vantage points, we could see all of Granada, Laguna de Apoyo (see blog from a couple days ago) and Lago Cocibolca (Lake Nicaragua - the second largest lake in Latin America). Truly stunning.

The truck ride up the mountain took us through several coffee plantations. We got to stop and try a sample of fresh-roasted coffee from Cafe de Flores. Forget Starbucks. This small cup of coffee was amazing. I added a small amount of sugar (no cream was offered) and it tasted so smooth. Delicioso!

Nicaragua has much to offer in the way of natural beauty. But we really wanted to experience the canopy of the rain forest / cloud forest from the perspective of the creatures living there, so we took a zip-line tour about half-way down the mountain. This was one of the highlights of the trip so far.