After missing breakfast yesterday morning, we were determined to have a 'good' breakfast today. 'Good' in this case didn't specifically mean the food, Cafe de las Sonrisas is staffed only by people who are hearing and speech impaired. In a country like Nicaragua (or Central America on the whole), such a disability could lead to a life of begging and therefore a very worthy cause to support. The menus consisted of pictures and descriptions of the food on offer and it was simply a case of pointing to what you wanted. As it turned out, the food was actually pretty good and so was the coffee.

The other side of this organisation was a hammock workshop. Again, kids who are hearing and speech impaired are taught how to make hammocks by hand and are given jobs. The speed at which they make hammocks is incredible, they can complete a hammock in 2 days and if you've ever examined one you'll realise the amount of work involved. When it started, the organisation gave 2 boys a job, it now employs 48 boys and girls. It is also a non profit making business, the small profits made are used for local education. They do online orders and worldwide shipping so if you're looking for a proper hammock (that David can testify is super comfy and easily takes the weight of a larger person), these are the guys to look to. http://tioantonio.org/

We had walked through the lakeside half of Granada yesterday, so today we walked through the other half. The streets of Granada change quite frequently between very smart colonial houses to ones that are a bit more run down - maybe a bit like Auckland suburbs!! After three churches and the huge bustling market area in the midday heat, we were done. It was back to our room for a wee rest before our late afternoon tour.

We were back with Con Corazon Tours for their late afternoon/evening trip to Volcán Masaya. It was a small group again which we liked, our guide Maria and a Swedish girl, Malin, jumped in the car with us and we headed back towards Managua to the Masaya National Park.

Volcán Masaya is an active volcano even though it's last big eruption was in 1770s. As we were driving up to crater, smoke was belching out the top. Nicaragua's slacker health and safety laws allowed for these up close experiences that you might not get in other countries. There are two active craters and a third one in between which is covered with ash. We were taken to the main crater and looking over the low wall we could see the source of the smoke. There was just a huge hole that looked like the entrance to Hell, this was what the Spanish thought in the 1500s too - they erected a cross, which still stands today, for an exorcism.

We were fortunate that another group, who were being led by a Park Ranger that decided to break the rules and took them to the second crater - our guide told us to tag along behind them. We were led past the "Do Not Enter, Landslide Area" sign on a track which led up to the rim of the second crater.

Our next vantage point was a hill adjacent to the main crater to watch the sun set behind the volcano. It also had views to Masaya lake, Managua lake and Volcán Mombacho. With the sun set, it was time to be led down to the cave system leading into the crater. We weren't going the whole way in, just half way and to experience the feeling of hundreds of bats flying past our heads in the dark. A very surreal experience.