Hiking Mombacha

Hello friends,
Last Thursday my host family, host grandmother, and host uncle/co-worker, and I took the day off of work to go to a nearby active volcano called Mombacha. It is a popular destination with tourists and sits about forty minutes away from Jinotepe.
After paying the entrance fee to the park we drove up the steep assent in our truck to the base of the volcano. At the base there are three different hiking trails you can do. The first is fairly easy and does not require a guide, while the second two are increasingly more difficult and both require a guide. We did the first one with the entire group and then part of us broke off from my host mother, Reyna, and her mother to go on to do the most difficult hike. This one is about two and a half miles of continual assents and descents of wooden or rock staircases that are wet due to the humidity and covered in mud and old rotting leaves. It was quite the hike! But it was also a lot of fun to be outside in nature. We went around one of the craters and then had an overlook of a second. We could also see one of the lakes nearby (Lake Nicaragua the largest lake in the country) and the various islands that lie off of the shore.
The place was incredibly beautiful. The entire hike was in the middle of a tropical rainforest that had over 125 different kinds of orchids and many different kinds of trees. We heard a couple of parrots in the trees and were told that monkeys and pumas also lived in the forest, although we did not have the chance of seeing either of them. My host brother who is nine was especially disappointed that we did not get to see a puma. He thought it would be very fun. We did, however, see some of its recents tracks in the mud just off the side of the trail.
After getting back to the trail head we were all very hot and tired, but in really great spirits from our outting. It was especially nice for a Colorado girl to spend some time in nature. I don´t get a chance to walk much here, so it was nice to walk so much. My host family was rather impressed too at the speed at which I hiked. I just kept saying this is what I do in my free time with my family. By the end, I think they began to believe me.
We left the volcano and went to eat at an authentic Mexican restaurant in another town where I got to eat mole, chips, salsa, and guacamole. It was great and by the end of the day I felt completely refreshed.