Described by the Spaniards as the gates of hell, Volcán Masaya National Park, just outside Granada, comprises two volcanoes with five craters. Crater Santiago is still active, smoking and steaming continuously. According to legend young women were thrown into the boiling lava to appease Chaciutique, the goddess of fire, and skeletons of human scarifices have been found in nearby lava tunnels. A cross overlooking Crater Santiago is said to have been placed there by the Spanish in the 16th century, hoping to exorcise the demons within the volcano.
This time I don't need to hike for hours to reach the crater. A van takes me and the others to the rim. After sunset we don gas-masks (due to noxious fumes) and peer over the edge to see a hole bubbling with red-hot lava.
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