Goodness gracious, great balls of fire

I meant to post this photo a couple of days ago. One amazing thing about the view from our hotel room is the volcanoes that dominate the horizon - there are three or four of them visible from our room. I got this shot on an unusually clear morning, when clouds weren't covering this one. It's pretty awesome when you can see the top of it.

Around that time, I overheard a conversation between an American tourist and a hotel employee in the executive lounge, where I forage for coffee every morning. The American was in the middle of saying "... so do you get any snow on these mountains? 'Cuz it seems that if you did, you could make some good money by setting up some ski resorts out here."

The hotel employee laughed and replied "Oh no, sir - there is no snow at the top of the volcanoes!"

"Volcanoes? Really? Wait 'till I tell my wife you've got dried-up volcanoes out here. She'll get a kick out of that!"

Again, the employee laughed "Oh no sir - they are not extinct. They are very much active - every two years or so one will erupt. It is very exciting - everyone comes out with their cameras to take pictures."

The tourist seemed a bit taken aback by that, and I left with my coffee.