Day 6
Volcano Day
BEEP! BEEP!
BEEP! The alarm clock screamed out at 6:30. It was an earlier start
than most mornings, but we were willing to drag ourselves out of bed, because
today was volcano day. We ate breakfast. We loaded up the trucks. Then we
drove. The drive was about one hour long, and half of it was on dirt roads.
While most of the dirt roads were nice to drive on, there was the dangerous
hazard of random tree branches, and the occasional unexpected bump. After
paying for entrance, we entered into the park, and began the hike. It started
off easy enough; it was just a casual up the hill a little bit stroll. As we
continued, the rocks got larger at some points, and even formed large piles
that were necessary to climb. The hike was going perfectly smoothly, and it
didn't seem like it would be too challenging. Then, we got to the point right
before the halfway mark. Here there was a much larger pile of rocks than there
was down on the lower points, and to make things worse a few of the rocks were
a little bit unsteady. As far as I am aware, no one fell on this section,
because of our expertise in maneuvering. Immediately after this section,
there was soft gravel up a fairly steep trail. Upon trying to apply the
necessary pressure to walk, your foot would slip out from underneath you, so it
was fairly slow for that period of time. However, after all of these obstacles
we finally made it to the top, and I must say that the view was gorgeous. After
admiring the view for a long time, it was time for the true reason that we were
all hyped . . . The Descent. Personally, I took a sled down the mountain. I
don't know how fast I was going, but I know that Kyle hit 30 M.P.H. Before we
left, Joel was telling us that he had made it down the volcano in 1 minute 6
seconds. This caused Tim to challenge the record himself. Ultimately, he
failed, but the tumble into the dirty gravel truly made his beard POP.
Sadly, we couldn't run down the volcano again, so we headed back to the church.
We went back to our hosts, cleaned up, and ate lunch. The afternoon consisted
of us finding children to play with, and this was primarily at the park. One of
the children that played futbol with us, soccer for those of you who haven't
just spent a week in a Central American country, was named Derek (As if I don't
know enough of them already). While he was much younger than us, he was
definitely more skilled at the sport. Finally, we headed to the beach, so we
could watch the sunset. The sunset was stunningly beautiful. No other words to
describe it, just stunningly beautiful. We then got to go to a restaurant that
served seafood, here I ordered Camarón de la diabla, which is just really spicy
shrimp. On the way back to the mission, we stopped to look at the stars,
because we were outside of the city, and could see them wonderfully. We finally
got back to the mission after a long day, and reality finally sunk in. Tomorrow
we would travel home. It had been a fun stretching week, but it was already
over. So, we will bid adieu to Nicarageua, but the memories will be with
us for a lifetime.
- Derek Zimmerman
