LEON!

Cerro Verde Volcano

surfing boards

Me and the Italian couple

Finally! I am so excited! When I first read about this tour in the guide book I said "YES, I have to do this". So I woke up today around 7 am and got ready. Made myself some pancakes with bananas. Then I laid in a hammock to wait to be picked up from the hostel. They came a couple of minutes late and they brought me to the office to pay and meet up with 2 other people (an Italian couple) who were also taking the tour. Then off we went. Today I am surfing the volcano! The guides offered us 2 options: 1. sit on the board and 2. stand up and surf down. We all chose option 1. We took about a 1 hour ride on some bumpy gravel roads to Cerro Verde volcano. We got out at the park entrance to sign the book (I suppose in case got lost). Then we got back in the car and drove to the parking lot near the bottom of the volcano. The guides gave us our backpacks with the gear in it and helped us put our boards on our backs. Then we followed one of the guides and began our hike up the volcano. The volcano was a little bit hard to hike up as it had some intense winds that made it a little bit difficult to walk especially with the boards. At one point we had to take the boards off our backs and hold them to be able to continue climbing. When we got to the top we put our gear down and took some pictures. Then we began the fun! The guide showed us how to ride the board, slow down, and speed up. Then we were off. When I first decided to do this tour I have to admit I was a bit scared. I don't like heights but I really wanted to try this. And to make matters worse the guides told us of people that had broken bones and hurt themselves. However, after seeing another person do it I realized it wasn't that bad. The guide asked who wanted to go first the Italian guy said ladies first so the lady he was with went first. Then I went. It wasn't scary. You can go slow. When I got to the bottom I got stuck so had to get off the board and walk a little bit down. I had tons of gravel in my shoes and was dirty. When I got to the bottom I wanted to go again but faster! The Italian guy came down the volcano last. Afterwards we changed, emptied our shoes, and packed up our gear. We then ate a snack and got back in the truck. We then rode the hour back to town and I was dropped off at my hotel. 

Afterwards I went and found something to eat. When I got back to the hotel I took a shower and got ready to go to the beach. I asked the hotel staff how to get to the bus stop for the beach and was told I could also take a shuttle from Bigfoot hostel. Bigfoot, for those that don't know, is a party hostel. As it was 10 minutes to 3 pm, and the shuttle leaves at 3 pm, I walked as fast as I could. When I got there I signed up for the shuttle, paid $2, and sat down to wait with the other people. I got to enjoy a couple of drunk kids from Canada and America obnoxiously talking. Then finally when the shuttle came (well after 3 pm) I got to continue to hear the obnoxious group yelling and carrying on. The shuttle took us to the other Bigfoot hostel on the beach and told us not to go over the rocks as its dangerous and to wear sandals as the sand is extremely hot. 2 girls that I had sat next to on the shuttle were going to explore another beach (over the rocks) and I asked if I could go with them. So off we went. The 2 girls are from California and had actually been in Central America for some time traveling. We walked for a good while and then decided that we had walked enough and went and sat under a beach type hut. The girls were trying to find a hostel where they were told they could swim as the water was nice. The water on this beach was rough and it was advised not to swim unless you are a good swimmer as the waves can bring you under. We then got hungry and found a restaurant hut on the beach. We decided to share a meal of fish, plantain, rice, and salad. Unfortunately my camera had died so I could take a picture of this but trust me it was delicious. I actually ate off the same plate with the other 2 girls. For me this is big since I am particular about my food and people eating off the same plate. Around 6:05 pm we got our things together and went to wait for the bus. We decided to take the bus since we didn't know if we would make it to the shuttle (shuttle leaves at 7pm). The bus came late but we had a fun ride. The bus was playing music pretty loud so I suppose they thought it was a party bus.  But overall the music was good and I got to enjoy some Spanish reggae.  At the final bus stop we got off the bus and asked someone how far to the center of town. We were told it was far. When I asked how many blocks we were told 8. 8 blocks is not far so we decided to walk. Nicaragua is pretty safe so its okay to walk. We walked for a bit until we got close to the church and recognized where we were. I said goodnight to the girls and walked back to my hostel.  I took another shower, checked my email, and went off to bed.


Regrets: Not getting to surf down the volcano twice. With Quetzal trekkers you go twice! This is the one I had previously contacted but because I arrived late to my hotel the night before wasn't able to go with this agency.