Volcano Hike!

My shadow and I are ready to conquer the volcano!

Pre-hike silliness!

And lovey-ness!

We rode a huge 4x4 up to the top of the volcano!  Danni wasn't scared at all!

No seat belts on this rig!

A view of Lake Nicaragua from a coffee plantation.

Looking out over the lake!

Family photo op!  :)

We walked through a tunnel!

There were A LOT of steps on this hike!

Trying to find our big station house from way up high.  

Another pretty view of the lake... but I didn't see it!  ;)

Guess what I had for snack??  (If you picked Oreos, you're right!)  :)

Danni needed a massage when we got back to our Villa ... I happily obliged.

Nicaragua has a couple of volcanoes!  We took a day trip from Granada to hike one of them.  There were a couple of options for hikes.  One was a 10 mile round trip hike and the other was a 3 mile hike.  We chose the shorter one!!  The day started off rainy, and the forest service wouldn't allow the big 4x4 trucks to drive up the mountains in the rain, so we waited out the storm at the base of the volcano.  We had fun chasing chickens and collecting mangoes.  Finally, the rain stopped and it was time for our hike!  We took a long and bumpy ride up the mountain.  It was a little scary at times because they were doing road work, and in some places, our giant vehicle had to drive off of the pavement on the side of the volcano.... Once we reached the top, we headed out on the trail with our guide.  We saw tons of bugs, some monkeys, beautiful birds, and some gorgeous views of Lake Nicarauga.  We also walked through a natural 'tunnel' through the Earth, and saw some steam vents from the volcano.  It was a really pretty hike, and we were all glad that it was a short one!!!