Mombacho is an active volcano. Zoe sticks her hand in a steam vent, just to check.

The other day we returned to the cloud forest. First we went on a hike around the main crater of Mombacho Volcano. We got a ride to the top.  When we got there, it was cold and misty.

Perezoso! Did you know they can swim, too?.

About five minutes into the walk, we saw people pointing to something in a tree up ahead and and taking pictures. When we got to where they were, our guide pointed out a sloth in the tree.
It was much smaller than I expected sloths to be. Our guide said that was because it was only so eleven months old. He also said that sloths are great swimmers. That really suprised me!

It’s a porcupine, but it looks fuzzy.

Later on our guide pointed to what looked like a fluffy ball in a tree. I couldn’t figure out what it was. After looking at it for a while, he said that it was a porcupine. It looked soft, not spiny. The guide lead us along a small path to the back of the tree to see its white face. It was asleep.

After the hike we drove down the mountain a little ways for ziplining. I had been looking forward to ziplining for a long time. It was so fun! After getting all our equipment, we drove up to a large tree with a platform. There were eleven zipline segments with platforms and sometimes bridges connecting them. On some of the segments, our guides helped us do special things like getting in a superman position or going upside down. On the last segment, our ropes were longer so we got to swing back and forth. That was my favorite segment.

Lanie did tricks, too, but they’re mostly on video. Look for on on Youtube soon.

A two-week-old goose

The other day we got to tour a canyon. First, we got picked up from the bus station and taken to our guide’s house. They had a lot of animals. One of their cats was trained to jump over their arms. They also had dogs, two bunnies, a donkey, turkeys, and lots of ducks, chickens, and geese. I got to hold a two-week-old baby goose. He was so cute and fuzzy!

The canyon narrows

After seeing the animals, we went into the canyon. We hiked for a while before we swam. The water was pretty deep. The canyon narrowed after we swam a little ways. After swimming, we explored a couple of caves.

Nadia jumps; Franklin watches

Later, we came to a boulder that we could jump off of. Nadia, Mom, Dad, and I decided to jump. I went first. After everyone else jumped, it should have been Lanie’s turn. She decided not to jump because she was afraid that she would hit rocks below. She found another place to jump and scrambled up a rock to get there. Nadia and I jumped there, too. It was hard to climb up because my feet wouldn’t fit into some of the cracks Lanie had used.

There were many cool rock formations in the canyon.

Not much farther to swim

Near the end of our tour, the canyon narrowed into a slot canyon. The sides were very steep and riddled with caves. The river was deep and very cold and there was nowhere to walk so we had to swim. We were so cold! We came to a place where we could jump off a cliff. Only Dad did. I didn’t because I was too cold and didn’t want to get my hair wet.

At the end we rode in a boat and then walked back and ate lunch. We were very hungry and tired but we had had so much fun!

Depiction of the Canyon Somoto on the 50-cordova bill.

On the way back to the bus station, we stopped at a little zoo in the central park of the city of Somoto. We saw a few Nicaraguan animals, but the path to a lot of the exhibits was blocked. We didn’t know why. Then, on our way out, we saw a strange animal up in a tree. It had escaped from its cage. Zoo workers were climbing ladders and trying to catch it. It looked a little like a raccoon. It was a different shade of brown than a raccoon and its tail had orange-ish stripes. It was also much longer and thinner and had a longer nose. It wasn’t a dangerous animal.

In the last couple of days, the whole family took surfing lessons. Nadia and I had the first part of our lessons together so that we could have more time in the water. Our teacher’s name was Ross.

Ross to Nadia: Stand like a gorilla.

First, we had some dry land instruction. We learned how we were supposed to stand on the board, and practiced getting up to a standing possition from lying down on the board. Ross told us to spring up into the standing position and to stand like a gorilla on the board, with our knees bend and our chests thrown out.

After that, we got to start the water part of our lessons. My turn in the water was first. It was a lot harder to stand up on the board when it was in the water! My first few tries, I fell off before I was able to stand fully up. It wasn’t painful, and the water was nice and warm.

Catching a wave

A few tries later, I was able to stand up and stay balanced for a couple seconds. I was so happy! But I still had alot to learn. When I went back out to catch a ride, Ross would give me tips. He told me to try to stand up more quickly. At first, he started the board for me, but later in the lesson, I learned to paddle myself.

Zoe surfs

By the end of the lesson, I was able to get up much faster and stay up much longer. We rented the surfboard for the rest of the day and for the next day, so I had plenty of time to practice.

After the lessons

Excerpt from Zoe’s journal: Day 2, La Finca de Pina

Yesterday we went on an excursion to a pineapple farm. I always imagined pineapples growing on trees, but they don’t. They grow on small plants that have lots of long arms sticking out like yucca or aloe. The pineapple looks like it doesn’t belong on the plant. It perches on top, in the center of the plant.

The pineapple farmer told us all about how pineapples are gown. he spoke only in Spanish, so someone who came with us from La Mariposa translated for us. There were lots of exotic flowers around. The farmer picked some and gave them to us. One of them was really strange looking. It hung upside down from its plant and had a long tail hanging down with a tassel-y thing at the end.

At the end of the tour we got some pineapple samples. The pineapple was a different kind than what we eat at home, much softer.  It was lighter color and very sweet and juicy. it was very good.

I learned that farmers have to wait a year and a half to get the first fruit from a pineapple plant and even more time to get the second. I will think differently when I eat a pineapple from now on.

Some more flowers from farmer Wilmer’s garden.