Volcano Alley
I am awoken this morning by an earthquake, the building is shaking, the wardrobes are rocking all at 6:30 am. I set the alarm for 7:30. I roll over and go back to sleep, the walls were not crumbling!
At the large airport we manage to get hold of someone to take us to the airport. There was a little hassle with security and customs but nothing to bad, it was security who find our guide. We filled out the flight plan, discussed the weather and confirmed that Honduras did not have any airspace out to sea near the Gulf of Fonseca. We noticed that there was rain to the south of the gulf and by the Volcano Cosiguina. The rain looked light and typical for this region for this time of day. What was our charge for landing etc? it was a less than $20. This probably made El Salvador one of our cheapest stops.
So of to Managua, Nicaragua. We wanted to remain outside of Honduras airspace so we stayed close to the coast having confirmed that Honduras did not have any airspace at the opening of the gulf of Fonseca. We cut over the sea at the mouth and headed towards Volcano Cosguina. We saw the rain, it was heavy but we could see the other side. We wanted to remain in the coast and we decided to pass west of the Volcano, as we closed in the Volcano it began to get darker, the clouds were beginning to close in us, unlike yesterday when we were near an electrical storm we did not hear nor feel the static electricity, (yesterday by MGGT we flew under a cloud and heard crackles on our radio and felt the hairs on our arms before we saw a flash of lightening). The rain was heavy and then BANG! a flah of lightening, there was a beach below us just beneath the Volcano, we turned towards it but via the long way as we had alot of height to lose. during our turn I decide to try and pass the Volcano on the land side. The land side, on the east was rainy , but it did not look as dark and surely the moisture was being pushed up the Volcanoe from the ocean, the land side would less likely be thunderous. We covered our bets though and kept an eye out for a landing spot, we also got low and slowed here down. The visibility was poor, but if we went slow we could still just about see the telephone towers and other objects that would bring our journey to a premature end. My palms were sweaty but my nerve was steady, keep her slow and find your way through to the other side. Landing was looking like a strong possibilty, but this would not be pleasant either nor easy as this area looked really marshy and we also wanted to land away from persons (the may have guns etc.) Peter hurriedly contacted Eddie and informed him of our possible decision to land. I decide to crack on, I am sure that it looks brighter ahead, am I just kidding my self of is it. The truth is it was, it slowly brightened up and soon enough it was clear air and we now had a clean helicopter!
We continued towards Mangua passing over Chinandega. From Chinandega to Managua and beyond there is a line a active and extinct volcanoes, these are impressive and are perfectly formed. We flew over them a spotted their caldera lakes and coild see that some had recently erupted, (the black lava flow still raw with no vegetation).
We were met by one of Peter's contact, actually his son who help our progress through customs. We were driven to Granada about one hours drive away. Peters contact, who he met some years ago in Belize took us out for a late lunch, our dinner and the off for a few drinks. We arrange to meet him Tomorrow at noon.
At the large airport we manage to get hold of someone to take us to the airport. There was a little hassle with security and customs but nothing to bad, it was security who find our guide. We filled out the flight plan, discussed the weather and confirmed that Honduras did not have any airspace out to sea near the Gulf of Fonseca. We noticed that there was rain to the south of the gulf and by the Volcano Cosiguina. The rain looked light and typical for this region for this time of day. What was our charge for landing etc? it was a less than $20. This probably made El Salvador one of our cheapest stops.
So of to Managua, Nicaragua. We wanted to remain outside of Honduras airspace so we stayed close to the coast having confirmed that Honduras did not have any airspace at the opening of the gulf of Fonseca. We cut over the sea at the mouth and headed towards Volcano Cosguina. We saw the rain, it was heavy but we could see the other side. We wanted to remain in the coast and we decided to pass west of the Volcano, as we closed in the Volcano it began to get darker, the clouds were beginning to close in us, unlike yesterday when we were near an electrical storm we did not hear nor feel the static electricity, (yesterday by MGGT we flew under a cloud and heard crackles on our radio and felt the hairs on our arms before we saw a flash of lightening). The rain was heavy and then BANG! a flah of lightening, there was a beach below us just beneath the Volcano, we turned towards it but via the long way as we had alot of height to lose. during our turn I decide to try and pass the Volcano on the land side. The land side, on the east was rainy , but it did not look as dark and surely the moisture was being pushed up the Volcanoe from the ocean, the land side would less likely be thunderous. We covered our bets though and kept an eye out for a landing spot, we also got low and slowed here down. The visibility was poor, but if we went slow we could still just about see the telephone towers and other objects that would bring our journey to a premature end. My palms were sweaty but my nerve was steady, keep her slow and find your way through to the other side. Landing was looking like a strong possibilty, but this would not be pleasant either nor easy as this area looked really marshy and we also wanted to land away from persons (the may have guns etc.) Peter hurriedly contacted Eddie and informed him of our possible decision to land. I decide to crack on, I am sure that it looks brighter ahead, am I just kidding my self of is it. The truth is it was, it slowly brightened up and soon enough it was clear air and we now had a clean helicopter!
We continued towards Mangua passing over Chinandega. From Chinandega to Managua and beyond there is a line a active and extinct volcanoes, these are impressive and are perfectly formed. We flew over them a spotted their caldera lakes and coild see that some had recently erupted, (the black lava flow still raw with no vegetation).
We were met by one of Peter's contact, actually his son who help our progress through customs. We were driven to Granada about one hours drive away. Peters contact, who he met some years ago in Belize took us out for a late lunch, our dinner and the off for a few drinks. We arrange to meet him Tomorrow at noon.
Comments
Post a Comment