Nicaragua is the land of adventure; volcano boarding,
surfing, rafting whatever you want is here.
It is a dry land but beautiful with the usual volcanoes, lakes and
stunning coast that make up this area(I still can’t believe volcanoes have
become the usual).
Leon
Our first stop after an epic 2 day period of travel was Leon,
a typical colonial central American city. Many people pass through here for one
thing: volcano boarding. According to our tour guide this is the number 2 thing
to do before you die in the New York times bucket list. It is also number 34 in
the best adventure travel activities.
Cramming into a bright orange pick up truck, 20-something girls and Nico headed to cerro negro, the
black hill. This is the most active volcano in the world having erupted x23 (the
last one in 1999 and it was long overdue) After a beautiful but rough drive we
arrived to a barren, black landscape, left over from the last eruption.
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| The truck |
The next hour was a hot and sweaty scramble to the top of
the incredibly barren, hot volcano. We fought off alien bugs and got coated in
ash all the way. The land stretched before us, black and dull making way for
lush green planes and mountains. Two large craters spread out with sulphur
spewing from one and the ground hot from the lava beneath. It was a perfect
sunny day but I have to admit I was a bit afraid. Looking down the 600m drop I
was not psyched about speeding down on the heavy, prehistoric sand board I’d
carried up.
We clambered into ridiculous orange jumpsuits that made me
feel like I belonged in prison and put on the ugliest green goggles ever.
Unfortunately after this rough scramble the only way to go was down the steep,
dangerous looking slope. With a silent goodbye to the world I sat on my board,
held the rope and went down. Obviously I lived.
The world record is 91km/h. I made 40km, Jade 20 and Nico
30. After a little lost blood and pebbles engrained everywhere(ears, scalp,
mouth etc) I’m proud of my number. The ride was awesome, amazing and crazy,
such an adrenaline rush.
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| Jade trying to build up speed |
We were meant to leave that afternoon but they gave us free
Mojitos for the afternoon and I was done. We’d made friends so we stayed and
drank, ate and went to a chilled reggae bar for some dancing. An awesome night
and an awesome place.
Ometape
In the middle of Laguar Nicargaua is an island made of two
volcanoes, Concepcion and Maduras. Concepcion is a tough 12 hour scramble and
Maduras is a tough 8 hour scramble but with a lake to swim in at the top.
Concepcion was cheaper and we almost ended up climbing it just due to budget
when we bumped into a pair of brothers willing to take us up. We left early in
the morning and they picked us up in their personal car and drove us from one
side of the island to the other. The climb was awesome, our guide full of fun
facts about flora, fauna, music, beer and other stuff . The forest started as
sparse farm land and changed into more and more dense rainforest until the last
hour when we were scrambling up and down boulders and tree roots.
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| Scrambling |
After a long
climb we made it to a beautiful clearing of green grass with a muddy lake in
the centre, the jungle pressing in around the edges. It was beautiful and such
a luxury to lie down for awhile. Not for too long though, our guide rallied us up
and we headed back for a 3 hr descent. It was a long day but our amigo and his
brother took us to hang out at the beach after for an tranquil swim.
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| Vista |
San Juan Del Sur
While we’d loved Nicaragua, we felt like we were missing something.
The lakes and volcanoes in Nic were good but in Guatemala they were stunning.
The colonial towns were nice but were no Antigua. It wasn’t until San Juan that
I finally got it. San Juan is a tourist town with only gringos there to surf.
It is ugly, the beach sucks and there is a huge drug scene. The first night
there I was ready to leave but we’d come to learn to surf. The next day we
moved out of the party hostel into a quieter one where it turns out all the
normal people were, and booked a surf lesson.The beach we were taken to was unbelievably beautiful. Stark
and grey this place was dramatic; rock formations stood in the distance, steep,
bare hills met the beach with flowered trees covering them and the rough swell
stretched out.
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| Trying to look cool |
Our lesson was fantastic, our teacher had us all standing after
the third or fourth go and we learnt so much. I loved it, cruising toward the
shore on my board, sailing through. I
came back feeling so happy, light and alive, looking for more opportunities.
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| Loving it! |
I
desperately wanted to stay just one more day but we were on such a strict
schedule that there was no extra time. The next day we packed up and headed to
Costa Rica. I hope I can find that amazing feeling from surfing again soon!
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Jade blending in and looking cool as usual
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Amazing
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