Nicaragua: Hiking Volcanoes Near León

Yep, we hiked some more volcanoes.  Central America is just full of them!  I actually never knew that until we came here.  We did a 2 day trek with Quetzaltrekkers León.  You can see more information on our specific trek here, but the summary is: We hiked up Volcán Cerro Negro and volcano boarded down (more on that later), and then we hiked through the Las Pilas – El Hoyo volcanic complex.  We camped near a giant crater, and then the next day continued on to Volcán Asososca and swam in a crater lake before hiking through the jungle to get down.

Definitely check out the photos from this on the photos page.  We saw horses at the top of one of the volcanoes and the view was stunning.  

Volcano boarding wasn't as exciting as I'd expected, and I was FILTHY afterward.  I mean filthy as in COVERED in volcanic ash.  I am literally still scratching volcanic rocks out of my hair and it's been 4 days.  I KNOW.  It is, however, something you can only do here.  And it is somewhat of an experience.  How often do you get the chance to slide down the side of a volcano on a board going as fast as you can handle?  Not often.

The boards are pretty heavy.  You have to carry them and a bag with your bodysuit, goggles, and gloves in them up to the top.  It's pretty rocky, so watch your step for sure.  When you get to the top, you put on the bodysuit (pretty dirty already), goggles (make sure you tighten them - mine were pretty loose going down), and gloves (I don't understand how my hands were still so dirty with the gloves on).  I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I really just want to make sure you know how dirty you will get doing this.  I would still say you should do it!  

When you slide down the volcano, you drag your feet to slow down or you lift your feet up and lean back to go faster.  Your feet dragging throws all kinds of crap back at you.  I wish I could have done it again without hiking all the way back up, and then I would have gone faster and it probably would have been more fun.  

After getting super dirty, we put on our backpacks (now weighing in at around 50 pounds with all of our camping gear), and we hiked to another volcano.  I wish that we had done the boarding at the end so I could have gone home to shower right after, but all in all, I'm glad we did it.  I felt really accomplished after 2 days of hiking with my heavy backpack even though I barely slept at all in a tent (the only time I've camped in the last 5 years has been at music festivals).  

​There might be other companies that do the same type of trek, but I liked Quetzaltrekkers.  They donate their profits, so you're doing good as well as being a tourist.  The guides are all volunteers, and they all seem nice and chill.  

​See our Nicaragua photos here.