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The Mouth of Hell

By Barb & Ron Kroll

William Russell
William Russell

To reach the entrance to hell, we climbed 184 steps to a platform at the base of a giant cross. From there we looked over a concrete barrier and into the breathtaking Santiago crater, wide enough to swallow three Roman coliseums. The orifice belched a white cloud of hydrogen sulphide, hydrochloric acid, and water vapor. As it billowed upward, we and 50 other onlookers coughed simultaneously.

The Santiago Crater has a serious case of halitosis.

Masaya is the most accessible of the 40 volcanoes that pimple Nicaragua's Pacific lowlands. Located 14 miles south of the capital, Managua, it's one of only two active volcanoes in the world with a paved road to the top. Fields of ruffled black lava from the last eruption in 1772 still frame both sides of the four-mile route, once used by local inhabitants who, according to legend, threw young virgins into the molten lava to appease Chaciutique, the goddess of fire. Skeletons found in lava tunnels near the volcano give further evidence for the stories of human sacrifice.

Believing that the crater was the entrance to hell, Spaniards erected the giant cross at the summit in 1529 to exorcise the devil. It's easy to see why. The 500 tons of sulphur gases emitted daily from the crater are so noxious that little vegetation grows for 30 miles east of the volcano. In fact, the name Masaya means "where the grass burns" in the native Nahuatl language. Driving the Pan American Highway, we saw only stunted grasses, cacti, and cabbages, which are resistant to the sulphur. Green parakeets have also developed a resistance to the gases and live in the crater to evade predators.

From our lofty perch at the base of the cross, the Santiago Crater dwarfed the Lilliputian buses and cars in the adjacent parking lot. We could also see the San Pedro Crater (formed by a tectonic collapse in 1859) in the remnants of Masaya's twin, Nindiri. If you want to see this extreme landscape up close, there are a number of trails, ranging from one to one-and-a-half hours in length. One goes to the vegetation-filled San Juan and San Fernando craters. Another goes to the Laguna Masaya (a lake formed by an extinct crater filled with water). A third goes into one of 15 lava tunnels, where, beyond the crystalline stalactites and stalagmites, there's a stone platform early locals may have used as an altar for their rituals.

A museum in the park offers exhibits on vulcanology and history, as well as a restaurant and cafeteria. There are also picnic tables and barbecues for visitors and campsites in the area. Find out more about Masaya online: http://www.nps.gov/centralamerica/nicaragua/home.shtml.

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William Russell
William Russell

William Russell
William Russell

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