Hard work in the land of volcanoes

Yes, I was happy to make it to Leon in one piece, even if barely so. After more or less 24 hours of travelling, with a brief few hours sleep in San Pedro Sula (think Bloemfontein, but a lot less glamorous), I arrived in Leon and immediately - on recommendation of Stew and Sally, working-travelling-working Australian biologists - checked into Bigfoot. I need to admit here that I have not quite managed to immerse myself comfortably into dormitory style life. Post having the Israelis return to bed at 2:30 am in a rather delirious mood (and having a Frenchman swear at them more or less at the top of his voice, which they promptly ignored and continued being delirious) I checked out the next morning early and into Via Via across the road - run by Veronique and Bart from Belgium, and much more my style (if paying $15 per night could be called styling it - it certainly still feels like that to me). That same afternoon I took a great 'history tour' with Harry the Dutch guide - who by my assessment made quite some effort to get his facts straight, and accounted for a pretty compelling afternoon. In fact, I was very much taken with his tales (told to him by FSLN prisoner survivors) relayed to us in the old fort laying just above Leon. It makes for a beautiful view; of Leon; of the Los Maribios volcano range that stretches off into the distance to Honduras in the north and Costa Rica in the south, and then the Pacific behind us. What was sad was the state of this historical monument that most Nicaraguan kids visit at least once in their lives - it is literally in ruins and steadily falling apart - the fact that the Nicaraguan government cannot restore and protect this site of such historical importance says a lot about how poor this country really is (or the deep pockets of certain government officials ...). What was totally devastating (assuming here that Harry holds no particular view in favour of the FSLN) are the tales of hardship endured by the political prisoners; and the arbitrary cruelty that played out in this prison over a period of about 30 years during the Somoza dictatorship.

The next morning, I headed off with the guys at Bigfoot for some volcano boarding down Volcano Cerro Negro (it is Nica's youngest volcano - 158 years old; erupts on average every 8 years; is currently two years overdue and finally about 730 meters high now (having risen essentially from the lowlands at sea level)). I had my doubts about this and should have gone with my gut feeling. In stead, it played out as an excited march up; high fives at the top; me and Andreas from Germany off first (out of 8 intrepid boarders); loss of control; a yelp; a flip at about 50km / hour; my face planted in the (admittedly and VERY luckily at this point) fine lava sand; blood everywhere; a loss of sense of humour and a long trip back to Leon. I got a free mojito for my efforts. Tasted bitter to me.

Having girded my loins and, amid much gnashing of teeth, applied disinfectant to my face and right arm, I set off 4h30 one day later on a trip to hike up Volcano El Hoyo. I went with Quetzaltrekkers - a not-for-profit volunteer outfit - very capably led by the very likable Oli (Spanish American studies graduate from England) and Constance (psychology graduate from Germany) - with two other paying customers on this trip - Jason and Araceli from New York. This saw another more in-depth and less painful visit to Cerro Negro, ambling about in its - active - small crater, then a steep and challenging hike for most of the rest of the day up El Hoyo (1050 meters high - and again we climbed from essentially see level) - in this heat I was sweating like two grappling sumo wrestlers in a Turkish bath-house. But what a prize at the top! With the exception perhaps of our Namibia trip earlier this year where we camped in some awesomely beautiful places, this must be one of the best campsites I have ever had the privilege to rest my weary bones. Check out the photos and you will see what I mean. Unfortunately it clouded over within an hour, but we managed to get dinner in over a little fire and - after early to bed (well attempting to sleep on razor thin spongy thingy masquerading as a mattress) we were treated to a spectacular sunrise. We then had a (rather hard and again very hot) four hour hike down to Laguna Asososca - for a blissful swim and great final lunch. I was extremely tired upon arrival back at Via Via but it is cause for reflection what a cold shower and a bottle of Flor de Cana 7-year old rum can do for your energy levels! There was live music that night in Via Via - a local band called Amalgama kept a large crowd of local Nica's as well as gringos shaking their booties like there would be no tomorrow (which of course, there painfully was).

A good summary on the Los Maribios range of volcanoes: http://www.vianica.com/go/specials/9-nicaragua-volcanoes.html