Travel Tidbits

The road through Masaya Volcano National Park in Nicaragua goes through massive lava fields with a moonscape appearance. There are five craters in this park, with one, Santiago, still active with plumes of smoke and deep rumbles. There are lookouts and walks to venture farther if one wishes to. At the entrance to the park was an interesting museum that took about 45 minutes to see and also sold postcards and some souvenirs. — PHYLLIS CORRIGAN, Valley City, OH

On our visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in January ’08, it appeared that most tours in the city were conducted by a single company, with the hotels, Gray Line, Buquebus, etc., all acting as agents. People were picked up at various downtown hotels, and it could take an hour-plus to gather everyone up. It could be frustrating if they tell you the pickup is at 9 a.m. and you’re still waiting at 10 a.m.! When all the hotel pickups are in an 8-block area, it seems having everyone meet in a couple of central locations would be more effective. — KEN GOULD, Clearwater Beach, FL

During the Boer War, the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic was used to house prisoners. On a fall cruise of Spain, Africa and the Caribbean aboard Holland America Line’s Prinsendam, we stopped at the island’s main city, Jamestown, and toured Napoleon’s House, the Governor’s mansion, the cemetery of the Boer War prisoners and this stairway, Jacob’s Ladder, which reaches 699 steps from the garrison atop the mountain to the town below. The ladder is reputed to “break your heart going up and your neck going down.” — MINEKO McCLURE, Fairmont, WV