Arriving in Nicaragua brought high expectations. Jonny’s dutch friend Vince, whom he also met in Asia back in 2013 had volunteered here for around three months and had bigged up the whole country to us both prior to our arrivals. Our first stop was his adopted home town of Leon, which is famous for its close proximity to several volcanos, some of which are still active. Arriving late in the evening, all that was achieved that night was a taxi ride out of the centre to our hotel we had booked online and a trip back into town for a bog standard meal before retiring to bed. Booking.com we are sure is many travellers best friend when abroad, when used in the right way. However, in this case we made the rookie mistake of not checking out the hotels location before booking. As we had come from an extremely bad room in El Salvador we had decided to book ourselves into relative luxury (while still maintaining a budget) and got over excited at the prospect of what looked like a beautiful hotel, at such a small price. Everyone these days has heard the term ‘bat shit crazy’ and this is what this check in was.. Literally. We were greeted by a old french man who owned the hotel, Lady M, and shown to our room. Firsts impression was good, the room was a decent size and cool as we entered. That was before he turned on the lights. Upon doing so Hayley noticed some black chunks on the floor and on the bed and questioned the owner. He said, without blinking or being phased ‘oh, that’s just a little bat shit’. Looking at each other in dismay, expectedly at this revelation, we asumed we would be moved room. This was not the case. The owner returned a minute or so later and picked up the bat shit, by hand, and put it into a plastic bag, before telling us they have a bat problem at the hotel (fruit bats, not the blood sucking ones he was keen to add) and that they respected them as it was there territory. With that, he disappeared and left us alone to deal with what we had just been told. Like we said, bat shit crazy.

The next morning, after we swear we were woken by a bat during the night, we made up an excuse and left asap! We had also realised we were the only guests staying in the hotel, which made us even more confused as to why we were not just moved rooms the previous night. We made our way to the main road and boarded our first proper chicken bus. The old style american school buses that have been donated to central american countries to use as public transport. These are all independently owned and usually decked out in whatever paint or patterns take the drivers fancy. It is a cheap way to get around but also a hectic one as we were about to find out. Lugging our backpacks and day bags up onto the bus was easy. Getting them and ourselves off was another story. The buses drive as fast as possible through the streets, taking on as many passengers as possible and literally throwing off people when they request to get off. We reached the centre and stood up to depart. By this time the bus was crammed full with people filling all the seats and then aisle. Hayley squeezed her ever decreasing frame through to the front with her day bag and off the bus. Lagging behind Jonny was struggling. He managed to pass one bag through and down to Hayley who was waiting on the street before the bus began to pull away. Screams of ‘NO, NO, WAIT! My boyfriend is still on the bus!’ didn’t help the situation as obviously they speak no english. Luckily a local woman had noticed what had happened and got the driver to stop and let Jonny finally get off the bus. The rest of the day was filled with finding a new, bat-less hotel, and trying to book some volcano tours.

Quetzaltrekkers is a non-profit organisation based in Leon that donates all proceeds to the children of the city, as well as funding various activities, workshops and projects for them to take part in. This is where the afore mentioned Vince had volunteered during his stay so we had already decided this was the company for us before we found out this information. We had been advised to take the ‘Telica trek’ as this was Vince’s personal favourite, which ascends an active volcano, camps just below the crater, includes a midnight summit to stare into the crater and then swimming in a natural spring the next day as well as the much hyped volcano boarding.

Unfortunately, the Volcano had erupted two days before our arrival so this was a no go. The other possible treks were not available for atleast three days which was too much time for us to waste so we settled for Volcano boarding the next day, not a bad compromise we both admitted. As well as the charity side of this company they are also the only company that give you the option of a second crack at the volcano boarding so if you ever find yourself in Leon, use this company, even if its only for that reason. Believe us, once isn’t enough.

We met at around 9am the next day and piled into the back of a truck ready for our day. After around an hours driving we arrived at our location and were given our equipment for the day. A small backpack with goggles, overalls, gloves and some water as well as the board. We were on our way.

First attempt; we hiked up slowly with plenty of breaks for water and photos as well as to catch our breath before continuing.

We had a small group of around 10 people, compared to other companies with had 30+ which is also a huge bonus as everything is quicker. When we reached the top we walked across to the biggest crater and felt the heat coming from the rocks we stood on before being instructed to prepare for our descent.

It is worth mentioning that the views from atop of the volcano are breath taking. 360 degrees of the whole landscape and surrounding volcanos makes for some brilliant pictures and some great stare shots.

Cerro Negro, the areas youngest volcano, which is still active but hasn’t erupted for years is completely black as vegetation hasn’t had time to sprout there yet so it takes the look of one large ski slope from the top. We took pictures and gaped in awe at the slope before throwing on some denim overalls, sitting on top of a wooden board and hurtling ourselvs back down the side of the volcano. The time from bottom to top, 45 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, depending on fitness. Time from top to bottom, less than two minutes.

We had both taken a headband with us to cover our mouths which is our number one tip for this activity and we were very thankful for this straight away.

As soon as you push off from the summit small stones, rocks and dust catapult themselves towards your face. Feet either side of the board only make this worse but without them there is no way to slow yourself down. We must mention that this is only possible at the top section as once past the top third your speed becomes uncontrollable and it is dangerous to try and dig your heels in to slow down. Jonny went first and Hayley watched from the top as he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke being flung from the board at the bottom and face-planting the hard, hot ground. Pulling himself up and removing the large number of stones in his shoes he waited for Hayley’s turn. Fearlessly she flung herself down the mountain, leaning back as far as possible to create less drag and therefore more speed. Unwillingly Jonny did admit that she looked and probably was faster than him.

Both blackened but ecstatic we were offered another run. Hayley unwillingly declined due to the scorching midday heat that we both knew full well her caucasian complexion would not be able to handle, but Jonny jumped at the chance to go again.

This time, only five made the climb up so it was a lot faster, 30 minutes in fact. At the top were another company who we managed to squeeze in front of. Again donned in a bright green jumpsuit, goggles and adapted face-mask Jonny went. This time braving holding the GoPro to capture the footage (this can be found on our Facebook and will be uploaded to the blog shortly). Again, stones and dust covering his face, cheers of enjoyment escaped him as he took in the amazing surroundings and this ridiculous, surreal activity. Once everyone had reached the bottom we reunited with the others and had lunch, provided by Quetzaltrekkers (another reason to go with this great company). This consisted of veggie burritos, help yourself version from a large pre prepared mix. Extremely tired from our day out we returned home for a quiet night before heading to Granada the next day.

Upon arriving at the hotel (again a different one, making it three in three nights) we bumped into three Canadians who we had noticed numerous times since Lanquin, they consisted of a couple and a friend travelling together. Previously we had only said hello in passing but were invited by them for a beer a bit later on. We agreed as it is nice to spend some time with fellow travellers but once back in the room and clean we didn’t really feel up to it. However, after a message from Tyler, the non couple traveller of the three, saying that it would just be him we decided to go as to not let him down and subject him to another night as third wheel with the same couple but let him be our third wheel for the night. We ventured across the road to a local bar and ordered some drinks.

It turns out that we share a lot of the same views on life and travel and much to Hayley’s delight Tyler had an identical opinion to her on how we are NOT ‘lucky’ to travel but it is a choice. Jonny sat there for around ten minutes watching the passionately debate this subject and swap stories of when they had become enraged by people brandishing us ‘lucky’ or assuming that parents pay for the amazing things we experience when travelling. Tyler inspired and impressed us with stories of mountain climbs and life in Canada and after the short few hours we spent together we felt as if we had known him for a lot longer and hoped to cross paths again on our journeys.

When travelling, one of the best, most underrated things is meeting like minded people that understand what it is to drop everything in your life to see the big world that we live in without a second thought, as once you are back home, in everyday life, nobody really ‘gets’ it unless they have also done the same.

Our time in Leon was over, we wouldn’t recommend this city but the Volcano boarding is a must do when travelling central america and made our visit here more than worthwhile as one of those once in a lifetime experiences we hunt for each and every day.

Follow our next post on Granada soon to follow.

Stay schemin’

Jonny & Hayley 🙂