Adventure! Volcano Boarding

Rolling my windows down, to cruise. 

Pretty cool reviews, had to try it! 

Stoked

Nicaragua is a fascinating country because all of the natural elements that comprise it are tremendous. The trees are massive and astounding, the volcanos have created some of the most unique bodies of water in the world, the animals and plants are very diverse, and the people love adventures! This past weekend we decided to try our luck with one of Nicaragua's most unique adventures: Volcano Boarding. Volcano Boarding is so unique to Nicaragua in fact, that it's the only place in the world you can do it.

Cerro Negro

Contrasts 

Noted. 

Exploring solo 

Cerro's crater 

Held up by some crazy winds 

Cerro Negro, the volcano we boarded on is also quite unique. Cerro Negro is the youngest and one of the most active volcanoes in Central America. That's pretty cool. It's a cinder cone volcano which means that it builds on itself with each eruption. Addition through destruction, sounds cool. That means the boarding is only going to get better, that's pretty cool too. Strangely, most cinder volcanos only last 15 years or so as they usually occur on the flanks of other large volcanoes that eventually swallow them. Cerro Negro however, has already been around for 160 years! Cool. In addition, due to their youth, most cinders usually don't grow too high. Cerro Negro however, is over 400 meters high, which means you can volcano board at 70 kilometers per hour. That's most definitely cool!

The ascent 

More crater shots 

Volcano boarding itself was pretty fun, but Cerro Negro was unique enough to warrant a visit. In order to board down the back side we hiked up the volcano, which is really just a massive mound of volcanic ash. From there we got to traverse the spine of the volcano to the crater where the gas is emitted from. From there we felt some of the strongest winds I have ever experienced: you could lay back and they would hold you up. In addition, since Cerro is all ash it is entirely black and there is no plant life whatsoever. All around is luscious Nicaraguan vegetation, a pretty cool contrast!

Suited up and ready to slide 

After our day of adventure we took time to explore Leon, one of Nicaragua's most interesting cities. A college town, Leon had plenty to eat, see, and do.

The view as we departed Cerro Negro 

Just kidding, it was more like this

Leon

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