Volcano Boarding in León

Upon arrival in León, we first looked for accommodation and then explored the city a bit. León is probably the most beautiful city in Nicaragua, along with Granada. There is a beautiful park right next to the grand cathedral in León. Both locals and a lot of tourists hang out in the sun here. You can buy drinks, ice cream, and snacks everywhere. In general, the streets around the cathedral were relatively crowded and bustling.

The next day was volcano boarding. We booked this with a relatively new provider recommended by other travelers.

We were picked up at 8 in the morning and first taken to the organizer's office, where everyone who had booked volcano boarding for that day gathered. There, we were allowed to choose our free t-shirt first, so that we were all somewhat dressed uniformly. After some instructions from our guide Matt, we got back into the trucks and headed to Cerro Negro. The ride took about 50 minutes. At the volcano entrance center, we had to sign a list and then take a brief look at the iguanas in the backyard, which are being repopularized there. Since iguanas seem to be a specialty for some people, a little species protection is being carried out here.

Afterwards, it was finally time to make our way to the volcano. At the foot of the volcano, we were given backpacks to store everything we needed, including our suit for later. We also needed gloves, protective goggles, and of course, our boards. We had to carry the boards all the way up. It was partly through some unstable volcanic rocks to a height of about 700 meters. The ascent was actually quite manageable. We also took some breaks in between to take photos of the truly breathtaking surroundings. There are several other volcanoes around Cerro Negro, which offered a great view.

Once at the top, we briefly set our boards aside to take a quick look into the crater. It was interesting that the ground at the crater was very warm and steam was rising from the ground in many places. Cerro Negro is still one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

But then it was finally time for volcano boarding. After slipping into our suits and storing our backpacks underneath, we were ready to go. Our guide's instruction was: "Better start fast, you can brake later." So we did. Unfortunately, I went a bit too fast, so that braking was no longer possible at some point. This resulted in me not making it all the way down unscathed😉. Kathrin managed a little better. However, it was a lot of fun and it was definitely worth it to make a stop in León.

After the return journey, everyone got a free beer and we toasted to the great excursion. We can definitely recommend the Volcano Day agency. The tour was really well organized. The next stop is Little Corn Island in the Caribbean.