Masaya is the capital city of Masaya Department in Nicaragua, located just east of t…,...

Masaya is the capital city of Masaya Department in Nicaragua, located just east of the Masaya Volcano, an active volcano from which the city takes its name. The holiday is Feast of San Jeronimo. Good quality latex is tapped from the trunk of Castilla elastica, the Panama rubber tree native to Central America. Latex gathered from Castilla elastica was converted into usable rubber by mixing the latex with the juice of the morning glory species Ipomoea alba which, conveniently, is typically found in the wild as a vine climbing Castilla elastica. Photo by Luis Marden