Lake Coatepeque, El Salvador

after the beautiful sunny day yesterday to welcome the spring, today we have a rather gloomy now, with some heavy rain that has started a while ago...which for sure is not in the favour of my neighbours who have been trying all morning to pump out the water from their flooded backyard as a result of some pipe defect or something...not to mention that the sound of the tank is so 'pleasant', and it is just like 3 metres away from my window *sigh*...

but oh well, i wouldnt let any of it ruin my intention to show you some really cool cards today, where the first one comes from a new country :D You have no idea for how long Ive been wanting to find someone to send me a written and stamped card from El Salvador!! And finally, one landed in my mailbox thanks to Pat! A million thanks to Pat!!

and it is such a lovely card! (probably coz it bears the name of Santa Ana too:))

The beautiful card shows Lake Coatepeque, which is a large crater lake in the east part of the Coatepeque Caldera, formed during a series of major rhyolitic explosive eruptions between about 72,000 and 57,000 years ago.

(on a side note, Santa Ana is a department of El Salvador in the northwest of the country, with the capital of Santa Ana. There is also a volcano bearing that name, so it would be really cool one day to receive it too :)
Unfortunately, I still havent had the chance to see a volcano in real life...I almost did last summer, but with my luck, it was closed for tourists, coz it was THEN that it decided to get a bit active...so one day hopefully :)

and here are the two cool stamps and the interesting oval cancellation, which I've found to be rather typical for most of the South/Central American countries.
The one on the left was issued in 2009, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the other one is from 2008, from a set of two festivals' stamps.

thanks sooooooo much Pat with this great contribution to my collection!!!

Kilauea, USA

Long time ago (actually at the beginning of my posctcrossing career) I posted some Hawaiian volcanoes, here and here. Compared to those, these are in an active mode and are so bright and colourful :)

the card above is called "Birth Day" and the back of the card says: Almost every day the newest land on Earth is born here on Hawai'i Island. Since 1983, when most recent eruption began on the southeast flank of Kilauuea, nearly a cubic mile of lava has gushed forth, adding some 500 acres of new land - so far: Often, our excitable volcano goddess Pele likes to celebrate with fireworks when she gives birth.

Interesting story and an amazing eruption!
Thanks a lot to Mary for sending me this awesome card as a part of her Vacations RR group. She also used a number of lovely stamps as you can see below:

the two on the right side are part of the four stamps issued in 2011 representing the US Merchant Marine (i really like those); the top left stamp was issued in 1974 as a part of 4, mineral heritage stamps, while the Magna carta stamp below dates back from 1965. I dont know if Mary had these stamps purchased in advance or found them on spot (though my guess bets on the first), but she certainly had put effort in them!

US-1478078

the second volcano came as an official card, and it again represents the Kilauea volcano at twilight and you can see (or not) how lava is flowing into the ocean. 

the stamps you can see hee are the American clock from 2003, the Cars from the Send a Hello series, issued in 2011, and one more ship from the US Merchant Marine series....the owl is a sticker ;-)

Osorno Volcano, Chile

well, finally, the silence can be broken! And no, this is not an April's Fools Day Hoax...it is indeed an update :)
Honestly, it is very hard for me to realize that it actually took me an ENTIRE month without an update! must be my record so far (to which im not proud)...but March was simply an extremely busy month, with loads of work to do and a number of other issues....that in a way, im glad it is over
Also mail was VERY slow in March...both ways! I dont know the particular reason behind this, but it definitely annoyed me...i mean, you come home and you are looking for a small dose of happiness...but your mailbox keeps being empty...for days...for a week...so I really hope April is gonna be better... in all the aspects....
today also the weather is simply AWFUL, so there is nothing better but stay at home...and do an update...AT LAST! :)

and first card comes from Chile, sent by Daniela, for the favourites tag

the view is just amazing! i love this contrast of the houses in the green surrounding, with the caped-in-snow volcano in the back!
The card shows the Osorno volcano, which is a 2,652 m tall conical strato-volcano and is one of the most active volcanoes of the southern Chilean Andes, with 11 eruptions recorded between 1575 and 1869.
The upper slopes of the volcano are almost entirely covered in glaciers despite its very modest altitude and latitude, sustained by the substantial snowfall in the very moist maritime climate of the region.

there are two really lovely stamps on the card, both issued in 2011.
the colourful one commemorates the centenary of UPAEP, while the mailbox is also from the UPAEP series.

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!! 

Taal Volcano and Lake, Philippines

a lovely card from the Philippines!

the Taal Volcano is a complex volcano (a volcano with more than one feature) located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
Permanent settlement in the island has been prohibited by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or PHIVOLCS, declaring the whole Volcano Island as a high-risk area and a Permanent Danger Zone. But despite the warnings, poor families have settled on the island, risking their lives, earning a living by fishing and farming crops from the rich volcanic soil.
There have been 33 recorded eruptions at Taal since 1572.

Really ironic....such a beautiful place, yet so dangerous....

the bottom stamp is from a set of 9 definitives issued this year, showing marine life...while the one above is from 2010 from a set of 12, another 'marine life' definitive

Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Next comes a fabulous card from New Zealand...showing the National park Tongariro....

I once wrote about it, so you can read some additional details about Tongariro here. The difference is that on this card the volcanoes are under snow which just makes the view extra beautiful...plus here you can see one more volcano, and that is Mt. Ruapehu, which is also one of the most active volcanoes in the world and the largest active volcano in New Zealand, with its highest elevation of 2,797 m.
The back of the card says: "This tranquil photo belies the fact that these volcanoes have been among the most active in the world in the 20th century".

btw, 'aoteaora' (the caption you can see on the card) is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand

the stamp is from a set of 6 issued this year, under the subject of "kapa haka" which refers to the cultural dance of the Māori people.

Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

After some silence, here I am again...stuck into some period of chaos and uncertainties...hence the fact i havent had the chance nor time to post here for a week...i cant tell how things are  gonna develop in the future, but for today ill post a bit more cards than usual...not coz i wanna catch/make up...but i just have really some nice cards to show.

First one comes from Iceland....a card I was more than lucky enough to win in a lottery! And it shows that (in)famous Eyjafjallajökull volcano, of which im pretty sure you have all heard about...I dont think there is a person who is mail-involved, that hadnt heard about this since your mail was rather delayed...if you had to travel somewhere during this time, there is a great chance you were stranded at some airport...and some business wouldnt have been business if out of this, people didnt think of a way to earn money....this volcano became so popular (even though the majority of people cant pronounce it properly) that it had to be put on postcards, and postcard collectors had to have it! Me as well...and it finally came as a great surprise!
Ha ha, this card is so lovely that it is hard to believe this volcano is capable of being guilty for so much troubles all over :)

there is even a matching stamp, issued this year, in a set of 3 stamps, showing volcanoes of course :)

Ijen, Indonesia

Anyone loves volcanoes?? Well, here is a nice card for you, volcano lovers...I think Marta loved them :)

The Ijen volcano complex is a group of stratovolcanoes in East Java, Indonesia. It is inside a larger caldera Ijen which is about 20 kilometers wide. The Gunung Merapi stratovolcano is the highest point of that complex.
West of Gunung Merapi is the Ijen volcano, which has a one-kilometer-wide turquoise-colored acid crater lake. The lake is the site of a labor-intensive sulfur mining operation, in which sulfur-laden baskets are carried by hand from the crater floor. Many other post-caldera cones and craters are located within the caldera or along its rim. The largest concentration of post-caldera cones forms an E-W-trending zone across the southern side of the caldera. The active crater at Kawah Ijen has an equivalent radius of 361 meters, a surface of 41 × 106 square meters. It is 200 meters deep and has a volume of 36 × 106 cubic meters.

Im pretty sure you didnt need all that volcanic info....