Masaya Volcano and the downside of its gases

The Spanish christened the active  Masaya Volcano "The mouth of Hell" when they encountered it, even planting a cross at the crater's lip in the 1500's in an effort to exorcise the Devil. It was to no avail- Masaya is still spewing, rumbling and emitting hellish gases.

On Friday, Isabel was overcome by the volcanic gases  after horseback riding in the 'meadow of the volcano'. 

After neurotic searching, I'm going to bet it was the hydrogen sulfide that was the culprit based on her symptoms.  Each day 6,000 metric tons of gas waft up and out of a 'conduit' in the center of Masaya's inner crater. I learned from experts that unlike other volcanos, Masaya vents gas that has not been filtered by groundwater. That means that the gases are coming directly from underlying magma. Yep. being near Masaya means you are getting a direct whiff of and look at  Earth's plumbing system. 

Gigi and Zoe had gone riding at 8 am after switching their classes to later that day. They had a great time and were luminous when they returned.



 They quickly  dashed off with Bergman Jr. for some machete training in the back 40 of the property. The girls  had rallied for equal opportunity machete lessons despite some raised eyebrows! 

Baby-O and I waited for what we thought was an appropriate amount of time for blade handling and set off to find them for some pictures. Way off in the distance I saw Zoe running at us at breakneck speed. 

She zigged across a bean field and zagged through a banana tree stand until in horror, my brain registered she was running not for pleasure but to report an emergency. "Something's wrong with Gigi!" she shouted with an expression on her face that won't leave my mind for a long while.

My first thought was that Gigi had lost a finger to the machete so I asked Zoe to stay back with Baby-O already picturing a bloody scene. I started running on the path until I saw Bergman Jr. supporting a slumped Gigi and broke off the trail tearing through low underbrush hoping I wouldn't step on an iguana, snake or anything else.

 I will never forget coming upon her and yelling 'sit down and put your head between your knees!' She looked so terrible my fear was that she was imminently going to faint and hurt herself. Bergman Jr. helped sit her down and as she lifted her head and looked at me I knew Bergman Jr. was right when he said, 'we need to get her back.'

Gigi was the color of a corpse and her body was so strangely cold it was as if she'd been packed in ice. Yet later on, she said that she was sweating buckets even though she wasn't hot. 

Her eyes were moving two different directions and she was unable to speak other than faint yes or no mumbling. Bergman Jr. who is as tall as Gigi was sweating bullets as was I two minutes later while we made our way back to the hotel. 

We stopped at a wooden shack for her to lie down for a moment, her 'bed' wasn't the most comfortable.

WOODEN SHACK 

The lovely kitchen staff crowded around her door to peak in on her, and Bergman Sr. asked them to bring her orange leaf tea and orange leaves to inhale. They had a pitcher of neon purple juice waiting for her.

Gigi went on to sleep the rest of the day and by dinner was able to join us. Betsy's lungs were still sore the next day and she had her own moment of ashen corpse-ness without the passing out fortunately.

Gigi's episode makes me grateful for the gift of the oxen for the community of Panama even more.  Although locals say, 'They're used to it.' Living directly in the path of Masaya Volcano's gas plume means lung diseases, teeth decay, headaches and an inability to grow enough food. They may be used to it but it doesn't make it easy.

This morning we're off to spend some time with Don Pablo to learn more about oxen, their work and their training so we can better report back to each of you who donated money and goodwill. Gigi is almost perfect now so not to worry back home. The only remaining symptoms are stinging eyes.

Thanks again for the notes that keep coming in with donation pledges. I plan to wire in the money directly in one fell swoop so just let me know how much you want to give and we'll settle up once we get back home this week. I am so honored to know such generous people.