Mombacho

On Saturday we hiked up another volcano called Mombacho. It overlooks the city of Granada and part of Lake Nicaragua. We got to experience first hand a rare wonder in the world! We hiked through a cloud forest! I've been fascinated to learn about cloud forest so here's what I know. A cloud forest is a rainforest that traps condensation of evaporated water in a cloud above the forest which then provides it's own rain back to the forest. A true cloud forest normally forms on the back of a mountain that serves as a collection basin for the condensation and for clouds that naturally blow by.

We invited our friend Carla and her 2 sons to join us on the adventure! They were super excited!

Layne actually walked much of this hike himself! It was no easy hike either! Most of it was 25-35% grade up or down. 

This "tunnel," or more like a fissure, was originally formed by seismic activity and then enlarged by water erosion. 

Everything is so green right now! Rainy season is coming to a close and everything is so lush and beautiful! The rains also help keep the suffocating heat in check. It's been a lot more pleasant lately! One evening recently I even felt chilly while sitting out on our patio.

Enjoying a pit stop for water and trail mix

This is one overlook where we could see out to Granada, Lake Nicaragua, Managua, Volcan Masaya and even to Lake Managua in the distance. It was spectacular! This picture shows the many of the 360+ Isletas off the coast of Granada in Lake Nicaragua. We visited one of the Isletas on our Pico de Garza adventure in July.

We don't take enough selfies of just us. I love this guy! Thank goodness he's adventurous too!

The whole group after about 30 minutes of our 4 hour hike.

We saw lots of gorgeous plants as we hiked. This time we hired a guide to take us along. Luis was very knowledgable and really fun to have with our group. He knew which plants we could eat and which were poisonous. I got a kick out of one poisonous plant. It has pretty large salad plate sized rounded leaves. The leaves can cause a blistering rash on contact with the skin, like poison oak/ivy. If the leaves are eaten the toxin can damage the vocal chords and you can lose the ability to speak for two weeks or even forever! It's believed that some poisonous snakes eat the leaves and roots and extract the toxin to produce venom. The name of this plant is "Lengua de Suegra" or Mother-in-law's tongue. I found that funny. I have an amazing mother in law though, shout out to Kitty!

We also saw and heard lots of wild life. Of course there were birds calling and singing, there are even impressive parrots that live in these rainforests! We saw a group of howler monkeys pretty close to us. There were 2 males that were grunting and hooting at each other. They are territorial and one or the other had apparently gotten too close to the other's territory. We also saw a momma with 2 babies! Baby monkeys might just be the cutest thing on earth! **Maybe. My own babies are pretty darn adorable!** Our guide had seen a sloth earlier that morning and I really wanted to see one in the wild! When we got to the spot he had vacated the branch though. Bummer. I'll keep looking! Also, there is a specific species of salamander who's only habitat in the whole world is Mombacho Volcano! So neat! Redick found a "parade of ants" that were each carrying a giant piece of green leaf! On the ground it looked like a bunch of leaf fragments moving along a conveyor belt.

This hole in the ground is leaking scalding hot sulfur gas from deep in the earth! Even though the last eruption of Mombacho was in the year 1570, these "fumarolas" or sulfur vents are a reminder that the volcanoes in this region are alive and thriving.

We made it to the second highest point on the mountain. 1,222 meters up!

This little fern was all over the place. Luis showed me that when the plant gets startled it curls up and sleeps as a self protection mechanism. I thought that was cool.

For now Layne bids you goodbye! There are only so many hours in the day and he doesn't spend enough of them in the pool. We are having fun and learning lots!