Masaya, White Town and Catarina

Today was a day for excursions. Not raining when we left the hotel for the Masaya Volcano, White Town and Catarina areas.
Masaya volcano is very active and last erupted in 2012. The land around is very fertile, so most things can be grown here. This mountain area also receives the most rain in Nicaragua with 2 meters per year!

Our first stop was to a local Ceramics factory. The pottery is made using pre-Columbian techniques. The clay is sourced locally and very fine sand is added to it. A foot wheel is used to create the article. When the pot has air dried, a sealing coat of very fine runny clay is applied by dipping the item into the solution. Again it is burnished. Ochre dye colours are added in layers. After each ochre dye layer it is burnished again. The pottery item are left to dry for eight days after which they are fired. The high gloss on each pottery piece is achieved not by a glaze but purely be burnishing at each stage.

A viewpoint in Catarina reveals a pristine crater lake called Apollo. A very few small eco hotels are at the edge of the lake. Pollution is strictly controlled on the lake. No power boats of any kind are allowed nor is any kind of fishing.

A quick stop by the side of the road allowed us to see a family if basket makers at work. These baskets are made from fresh bamboo, are used for carrying and selling fruits in the local markets and sell for $1.10 each. Each basket takes at least 20 minutes to make, not including the time needed to cut and prepare the bamboo. The family makes about 17 per day. As you can work out that does not bring in much income at all. Three members of the same family was involved in this operation.

Lunch was a typical Nicaraguan meal in a restaurant called El Viejo Rancheros. We enjoyed the food, however there was a problem with the voucher supplied by the tour group. Inside the chashier's office there were eight people dealing with the meal bills! Paperwork overload! Why the restaurant wouldn't accept the voucher was beyond both us and the guide. It took Alex, the best part of the lunch and then some, to deal with it. In the end the voucher was not taken and cash had to be given. Alex, normally quiet, mild mannered and charming was really peaved and uncharacteristically vented in the car about disorganisation and stupidity. I expect the feedback to the tour company will be less than flattering!

In the Catarina area, anything grows, so we saw many family run nurseries selling exquisite plants.

In the Masaya Artisanal and Craft market, there are wonderful hand made items to buy of every shape and description. A 100% woven cotten blanket costs $15. Beautiful leather goods, hammocks, costumes, cigars, coffee, clothing etc etc abounded. Unfortunately no room in the suitcases!
By this time it started to pour with rain!
That evening, we were due to go on a trip to Masaya Volcano crater. So we drove in torrential rain the the National Park to find it closed. A Yellow alert had been placed on the park by the government. At first we thought that this meant the volcano was deemed too dangerous. But no it was because of the rain. The rain evaporates as it hits the moulten lava and produces steam containing excessive amounts of sulphur which are deemed dangerous to humans. And it rained and rained and rained!
It was dark and still pouring with rain when we reached the hotel. Everything in the central plaza was closed even though it was not much past six o'clock due to the rain. No one was out on the streets. We tried several places to get a simple bowl of soup, to no avail until we reached this group of seedy bars. Yes we were told, we could get sopa de pollo. So we went in to sit under a somewhat leaky canopy with mud at our feet.
Peter started to get quite grumpy, it was cold and wet and not that clean! A person ditting at the nearby table with not particularly good English decided that he would practise his English on us. He told us that he was a doctor at the local hospital, a General Practicioner. He also asked did we know that all medical services in Guatamala were free. I related the story about the monkey and about going to get an x-ray in Leon. Told him my hand was still really sore and that I couldn't move my thumb. So he asked to look at it. In the meantime, his friend, a "Professional" driver came and told me that he was a physiotherapist. So I asked him again, was he a doctor, yes he replied I work in the pharmacy and emergency department and sometimes in radiology. Feeling very perplexed by this time, Peter said, "Do you trust this man?"
Well he said he could fix my hand and as it was really painful and I couldn't move it, thought might as well let him try. So he felt along the tendons asking where it hurt, until he found the really painful spot at the first joint of my thumb. So with that he proceeded to pull the thumb HARD, and swivel. PAIN, PAIN, PAIN!!!!! Breathe said Mr Doctor, deep breathes! Then suddenly POP! "Did you hear that?", he asked. "It's better now!" "And be sure to do this exercise 3 times a day now", proceeded to show me what I must do.
It turned out that my thumb had been dislocated and now was back in position. No pain now and I could move it again!
I turned to his Professional Driver friend and said, "He must be very intellligent to be a doctor and a physiotherapist and a pharmacist etc etc. P driver said "No, he isn't". And with that both proceeded to laugh raucously.
We bought them both a drink, Much to their further amusement.
Don't know for sure, but I think this kind man was in fact a Specialist Physician! He certainly did work at the hospital and he did fix my hand!