Volcán Masaya, Nicaragua

Last year I received a number of Nicaraguan cards. This one should have arrived then as well, since it was also posted last October...but it decided to take a different route and arrive this year. But as they say, better ever than never :)

the card is a lovely surprise from dear Sissel and from one of her stops during her awesome trip last summer!

here you can see the Volcán Masaya, and in particular, the Santiago crater, which is one of the earth’s most accessible volcanic craters – and one of the most active.

The volcano itself is a shield volcano located 20 km south of Managua, and is Nicaragua's first and largest National Park, and one of the country's 78 protected areas. Its lava pool is one of only four in the world that has a constant level, neither receding nor discharging but perpetually threatening cataclysm.

the funny thing about it is that Local folklore of the Masay Volcano revolve around the belief that the volcano is a gateway to Hell

here is even an episode about it....in case you understand Spanish, you may want to take a look at it

another great part of this card are the fab stamps!!

the souvenir sheet is just AWESOME and is a part of two issued in 1994, showing the Graf Zeppelin over the Pyramids and the Sphinx in April 1931, while on the stamp of the s/s you can see Dr Hugo Eckner, manager of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin during the inter-war years, and commander of the famous Graf Zeppelin for most of its record-setting flights. The stamp next to it was issued in 1999 but i cant find some details about it except that it has something to do with a Japanese school...

thank you sooo much Sissel!!