Breakfast was included in our room price, a buffet of cold items, plus eggs cooked to order and gallo pinto. Good, filling, and fast.
At 9:00 we joined a free walking tour of Leon. Hearing about the city's history of revolutionaries and poets from a local was interesting, but the group was large and unwieldy. A big part of the tour was a visit to the local market, where we spent way too long. It was kind of fun sampling the food, though.
Mercado Central
Bulk beans
Overall, the tour was okay and we learned a little, but if we had it to do over again, I think we'd just spend the 2 ½ hours walking around on our own. Guide Leo was very personable, and he collected a big stack of cash tips at the end of the free tour. Good for him.
Tour guide Leo
Grounds of Hotel El Convento
The long morning tour didn't leave us a lot of time before our afternoon plans. So after cooling down for just a few minutes in our room, we grabbed a quick lunch at the hotel before heading back out. Convenient and delicious.
Iglesia de la Recoleccion
We'd signed up with Volcano Day Nicaragua for a sunset volcano boarding tour of Cerro Negro beginning at 2:00. Our small group climbed in the back of a truck for the hour-long ride to the base of the volcano, mostly along a narrow, ash-covered road.
Guides Poppy and Jonas with our transportation
Approaching Cerro Negro
Cerro Negro is Nicaragua's youngest volcano, having erupted out of a cornfield in 1850. It's also one of its shortest - only 726 meters, but still growing. It seems plenty tall, though, when you're climbing up its steep flank or sliding down its scree-covered side.
Our small group
Volcan Cerro Negro
The trail to volcano's rim takes about an hour. You can either carry the heavy volcano board yourself or pay someone $5 to carry it up for you. A bargain! The strong wind catches the boards like sails. At first, it was only Tom and I enlisting Rodrigo's aid in carrying our boards, but partway up the trail, he got two more customers. I can't believe he carried four boards at once!
The steep hike begins
A short history of volcano boarding: In 2004, some nut first decided Cerro Negro's loose gravel cone would be perfect for sliding down recklessly and did so on a variety of questionable objects (a mini-fridge, a mattress, his front door) before finally cobbling together the world's very first volcano board. Today, no trip to Leon would be complete without following in his footsteps, and so we did.
Jana and Tom take a breather
Expansive view
Big sky country!
On reaching the top, we spent a few minutes hiking around the volcano's rim to enjoy the spectacular view. Cerro Negro is still an active volcano, and you can feel its geothermal warmth radiating beneath your feet.
From a high ridge
Warm and colorful crater
After a good look around, it was go time! The slope we'd be sliding down was so steep, you couldn't see the end point from the top. We donned overalls, goggles, bandannas, and gloves to protect ourselves from the sharp volcanic stone. The adrenaline was pumping!
Dressed for volcano boarding
You can control the speed of your descent at least somewhat, and the first couple of boarders went relatively slowly. But then the gal in front of me took off like a rocket. That gave me confidence to go fast too, so I did. It was only when I got to the bottom that I found out that girl had fallen off her board, scraping an arm and leg pretty badly. Well, at least it worked out okay for me...
Jana starts down the steep slope
Jana's wild ride video
Tom brought up the rear, also sliding down at a fun, fast speed. He started his ride with a thumbs-up, though he probably should have been using both hands to hold on tight!
Tom's turn
Tom's wild ride video
Once we were all down - safely or not - the group was reunited, and we toasted our survival with rum and cokes while we watched the sun go down. Outstanding!
We made it!
Rodrigo (facing forward) carried our boards
Sunset from Cerro Negro
Once the sun disappeared, we raced back to town on the truck, where an included dinner of veggie burritos and beer awaited. The guides had taken a ton of pics and shared a link to download the photos. The price of the tour also included a free t-shirt or tank top, and you can get a second free shirt by giving Volcano Day a positive Google review. We didn't need the bribe to leave a good review, but we would take the free shirts, regardless.