Volcano Boarding, Giant holes and lagoon swimming...just another day in Nicaragua

“I know…Let’s climb up an active volcano with a flimsy piece of plywood and throw ourselves off!”

You’ve got to be some kind of crazy to do something like that, but someone clearly did, and as with most hair-brained ideas with the potential to die, others followed suit and now it’s a craze. Let me introduce you to….VOLCANO BOARDING!

Of all my 54 weeks of travelling, standing at the top of Cerro Negro in a crazy denim jumpsuit like some kind of escaped convict with penchant for thrills, wind howling around me, contemplating my imminent act of lunacy, was by far my most scary moment...Yes even more than skydiving.

OK so I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to die, but I did think there was quite a big chance I would rip a whole limb off. Or scalp myself. Or grate off my entire skin.   

You start this wild adventure by taking the 45 minute climb up the Cerro Negro (“Black Hill”) volcano which in itself is pretty cool. This is a mountain made of basalt (a light volcanic rock), and just climbing to the top is an experience in itself-it has a really lunar feel and you scramble (there’s no distinct path for much of it) up one edge, then up through the crater with sulfur vents spewing out their eggy gases either side of you. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before and is no small feat with a volcano board on your back and with the crazy Nicaraguan wind buffeting you the whole way up. There are pretty spectacular views all the way up.

Bro first!

Bricking it at this moment!!

(All photos above are from Biz-thanks lady!) :) 

So then you reach the top and have a look at the slope you are due to descend….if I say it was petrifying, I am playing it down. This slope is HUGE and is at a 41 degree angle, AND you can only see so far before it DROPS OFF out of sight. It is simply terrifying. But we’d made such a bloomin’ effort to get there and heard such amazing things about it that my brain decided to over-ride my heart (which was currently shouting “FLEE FOR YOUR LIFE” in my ear like the big giant pansy that it is), and I took the plunge.

Bro went first of course (there was no way I was going to!), and the lunatic adrenaline junkie picked the fast route (show off). I picked the middle speed route which I thought was fairly daring as I apparently had a ‘fast board’. Hmmm. I actually started off at a fairly sensible speed, but as it picked up a bit I thought I’d try out the brakes…aka sticking your feet out and digging in your heels. This had the dramatic effect of making me wobble perilously from side to side, so I rapidly withdrew them and made a firm pact with myself not to try that again for fear of death. Ironically the problem then was that I was essentially flying down the mountain with no brakes, so I just got faster and faster...and the faster I got, the more scared I was, and the less likely I was to try out the scary brake system again. So the second half of my descent flew by in a crazy rocky blur of fear and adrenaline.  I went so fast I even launched off the ground at one point!

(Two piccies above taken from the internet. Thank you internet)

I was so petrified that I can’t say I enjoyed the ride, but I sure as hell enjoyed the surge of adrenaline I got at the bottom, and the overwhelming feeling of joy (and absurdly pride) that I had cleverly managed to carry my poor jittery body to the bottom in one piece, and that there was not going to be a need for a skin graft! Phew!

Would I recommend it? Hell yes! One of the most unique experiences I’ve ever done! Would I do it again?....Hmmm, probably not.

If you want to get a feel for what it's like, have a peak at this video....the actual ride starts at about 1.30 in, and you get a sense of how steep the descent is! (Plus the guy stacks it in quite impressive style at the end!).

****

Once we’d calmed ourselves and made a valiant (yet futile) attempt to extricate the gallons of volcano debris from our hair/ears/mouths/nostrils/insert-random-bodily-crevice, we picked up our insanely heavy backpacks from the jeep and set off on the next part of our adventure. The trek is basically a two-day hike in some of the most outstanding landscapes I’ve had the pleasure of walking through. The hike on the first day wasn’t too long, but it was all uphill and we were carrying what were probably 15kg bags on our backs as we each had 6L of water, two days-worth of food and all of our camping gear. We arrived at our (insanely windy) camping spot about 3.30pm and were rewarded with simply breath-taking views for miles and miles. We dumped our stuff and went to explore the top of the volcano and the giant hole from which the mountain (El Hoyo) got its name. This bizarrely neat circular hole apparently just appeared one day. One day it wasn’t there, and the next it was, and no-one really knows why! It’s about 100m deep, and pretty exhilarating (/scary!) to stand next to and peer in! A beautiful spot to watch the sun go down, and we had a lovely evening snuggled up in front of the camp fire eating far more marshmallows than is healthy (although undoubtedly good for the soul!!).

Looking back over Cerro Negro from El Hoyo at the start of our hike

Our hike buddies over the two days were the very lovely Biz and Leah-two friends from the States: Morale boosters, stalwart hikers and just wonderful human beings. Biz is volunteering for the hostel (as I mentioned in a previous post, the workers are volunteers so that all profits from things like tours etc. go directly into the environmental and community projects set-up and run by the hostel) and Leah is just over in Nicaragua for a crazy, whistle-stop 4-day trip to Nicaragua to visit Biz…not a bad trip for your first time out of the USA! These girls were a wonderful tonic for two long-term travellers facing an emotional end of a very long trip. Whilst we have tried to keep a tight hold of our sense of awe and appreciation as our trip has progressed, it is inevitable that you sometimes get a little complacent about where you are and what you’re doing. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed experiencing Leah’s wonder and enthusiasm towards every inch of our journey-she embraced everything with a huge smile (even when her feet were covered in blisters) and a giant sense of gratitude that she was able to experience such an adventure in such a beautiful place, and it made me realise once again how lucky I am to be able to experience such things.

Biz, Leah and Bro enjoying the view towards Momotombo, the active volcano

A view of the giant hole that has given El Hoyo its name. This just appeared one day

Here you can see Volcán Asososca and the crater-this is where we walked to on the second day

A sulfur vent-Bro kept scaring me by standing a little too close and throwing stones in to see if he could hear them land

This is Momotombo -She errupts every few weeks and if you look carefully you can see her smoking!

Sunrise from the tent

The dilapidated tent!

After a long night of no sleep (we’d helpfully picked up square tent but a hexagonal overlay which meant that we couldn’t tether it properly so it flapped and slapped against our heads all night long in the crazy gale wind) we had a long, hot trek down the mountain to Volcán Asososca, where we skirted its base to a neighbouring crater where we all dumped our huge backpacks and slid into the beautiful and wonderfully cool lake that has formed in its base -weary, achy, but extremely satisfied!

Our view of the lagoon from our swimming spot

And a few piccies from Bro...

Leon, Nicaragua

Our final stop in Nicaragua….and what a way to finish! This town has much of the Colonial charm of Granada, but with a more shabby, rugged and local-feel and I like it! After traipsing around the town with our backpacks and turning our noses up at the giant party hostels (we must be getting old!!), we settled for a friendly hostel called Sonati. Sonati is in fact a non-profiit organisation where by all profits made from room lets or organised trips go towards environmental, conservation, community or recycling projects in the local area. It relies on volunteers to run it so that funds can be directed into these worthwhile causes (have a look at their work here if you’re interested)-I would definitely recommend staying here if you’re ever in Leon.

Sunset from a terrace bar. From here we enjoyed watching the local kids skateboard and play basketball

We spent a few days in Leon, and enjoyed a couple of trips to the nearby beach (Las Piñatas) on the decidedly over-crowded (but absurdly cheap) chicken bus. On one of these days we did hire a surf-board again, but the waves weren’t really playing ball and I wouldn’t say we were particularly successful in our endeavours! The beach was rather pretty though (although nothing by Costa Rica standards), and it was a nice place to while a few hours with our books.

On our second day in Leon, we enjoyed climbing up the succinctly named Real e Insigne Basílica de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María (or the Real and Renowned Basilica Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin if you care to know) - apparently the largest Cathedral in Central America and it's a beaut! This Cathedral is not only impressive in its own right (and if you take your shoes off you’re allowed to scramble all over it), but it also has spectacular views over the city and out towards the volcano range (Cordillera Los Maribios) in the distance….topped off with azure blue skies and you have yourself a pretty marvellous spot.

If you look carefully into the distance though you may spot a sandstorm-severe deforestation in the region to make way for farm land has contributed to increased desertification and sandstorms are unfortunately a rather unwelcome side-effect.

Coming from Costa Rica which on the whole we found rather clean, we have been disappointed to discover that Nicaraguans have an appalling approach to litter. On every bus we’ve been on in this country we have noticed that people simply throw their litter out of the window-probably more so than anywhere else we’d been. It’s quite horrifying to watch and I even tried to catch one little girl’s bottle as she flung it out of the window, but wasn’t quick enough so gave her a feeble (but stern) finger waggle instead in the hope that I might have some impact….wishful thinking though I suspect.

Our favourite spot for some street food

On a similar thread, Lake Managua (Lago de Managua)), one of the largest lakes in Nicaragua is often referred to as “The World’s Biggest Toilet” as the Capital City’s untreated sewage has been draining into the lake since 1927! The Government have started to do something about it (in 2007 they opened the first sewage treatment plant, although this still only treats 40% of the city, and apparently a plan is in place to improve the quality of the water) but they have a mind-boggling task in front of them!

This guy was a street vendor and had a fascinating story. And such a wonderful smile!

We also went to the Nicaraguan Revolution Museum. It was fairly interesting considering the fact that everything was written in Spanish and we were shown around by a Spanish-speaking Nica (I forget his name so for the purposes of convenience I shall call him Jose). It's amazing how much he could communicate with us considering our shoddy Spanish and his non-existent English, but as we've discovered before, it's quite amazing how much you can communicate with a spot of charades, the help of a giant bazooka, and a little context! There were also lots of historical photos taken in Leon during the revolution, and the museum actually employs ex-revolutionaries (like Jose), so it was an interesting experience and we actually learnt quite a lot.

Jose is one of the two boys at the front

Jose is 5th from the left....aged 14!!!

Jose...no longer a 14-year old, but just as patriotic!

Jose showing off his bazooka!

God knows what this is. It really is quite petrifying.

Granada

Gorgeous sky!

What a beautiful city! Nicaragua is as hot and dry as Costa Rica is humid and wet, and this means it is noticeably crisper than CR, and therefore not nearly as lush (actually, I am speaking only for the region in which I have travelled, and in actual fact I think vast areas of the North are decidedly lush and wet, but I’ve not seen those parts). However, what it lacks in wildlife it makes up for in architecture, and this city is just beautiful and in stark contrast to CR’s towns which are on the whole decidedly non-descript.

We spent a few days here enjoying wandering round the old streets and sipping coffee in front of old colonial buildings imagining we were in Europe. We also caught the local bus to Laguna de Apoyo with a jolly Dutch couple and a German girl where we bobbed around on the waves in rubber tubes, sunbathed and ate overpriced pizza (camera left at home).

Probably our most surreal experience in Granada….we decided to treat ourselves to a chocolate massage!! Yes that’s real edible, delicious, locally-grown chocolate! You basically lie down naked and get covered in warm melted chocolate, then the lady sprinkles you with sugar, rubs it in and leaves you for half an hour to let you stew.

Now this is supposed to be relaxing but if you know me, you know I have a very sweet tooth. Therefore lying still whilst smothered in what is essentially a pudding, with its delightfully sumptuous aroma drifting into your nostrils is far from being relaxing! There’s no way to dress this up, I spent the entire half an hour surreptitiously licking myself in ways that I imagined wouldn’t be noticeable by the masseuse. Whether I succeeded in my pursuit or not, the end the session arrived and I joined my betrothed to have a shower (yes they cover you in chocolate and then let you share a shower).

Our conversation went something like…

Me: “OHMIGOD-YOU-GORGEOUS-YUMMY-GIANT-CHOCOLATE-MONSTER-LET-ME-EAT-YOU!!!”

Bro: “WHAT-THE-F**K-EMS-THAT-LADY’S-RUBBED-IT-IN-WITH-HER-HANDS-YOU-CAN’T-EAT-THAT!!”

So it turns out that whilst I’d been gorging myself, Brodie had been serenely stretched out as he was supposed to and the thought of having a nibble hadn’t even crossed his mind.

So that put a stop to my romantic and comestible notions but we did enjoy the experience, and definitely left a lip-smacking aroma in our wake for the rest of the day, which if we’re honest makes a change!!