Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

After my rather tedious journey to reach Nicaragua, my first stop was the city of León – known for its revolutionary history, sizzling temperatures, and one particularly unique activity: volcano boarding.

I stayed at Bigfoot Hostel and Volcano Boarding, one of the most popular hostels in the city – it’s loud and sociable.

Volcano Boarding – Cerro Negro

I signed up for Bigfoot’s famous volcano boarding tour of Cerro Negro, the youngest and most active volcano in Central America. It cost around US$35, which included transport, gear, and a party on the chicken bus.

At the base, we were handed our bright orange suits, goggles, and a wooden board to carry to the top. You can pay a local US$5 to carry your board for you. Being an avid hiking-hater, I chose to carry my board myself as I knew I would hate it either way.

The hike up took about an hour, and as a non-hiker I didn’t find it too taxing but the loose gravelly terrain definitely made it more difficult.

Once at the summit, we suited up and listened to a quick safety briefing: dig your heels into the ground to go slow and lift them up if you want to go faster.

The guides clocked our speed with radar guns and apparently, there’s a “special prize” for the slowest. Needless to say, I was determined not to win that one.

The ride down was a chaotic blur of black sand and a few spectacular tumbles (most of my group wiped out at least once).

At the bottom, we dusted ourselves off and piled back onto the chicken bus, now transformed into a mobile party with music, dancing, and beers passed around. Later, we stopped at a local family’s home for dinner and toasted marshmallows.

Pub Crawl & City Life

That evening, Bigfoot ran a pub crawl (around US$10) which, like most hostel pub crawls, took a little while to warm up but turned into a fun night of backpacker chaos. León itself has a buzzing student population and lively nightlife, so you’ll never be short of a bar.

Walking Tour

The next day, I decided to balance out the adrenaline with a bit of culture. I booked a walking tour through Guru Walks, and since it was the low season, it ended up being just me and the guide. He tailored the whole thing to my interests, mainly history, and we delved into León’s role in Nicaragua’s revolution and the city’s impressive cathedral (one of the largest in Central America).

In my group the fastest speed was 54kmph and slowest was 26kmph. How fast do you think you could board down an active volcano? Let me know in the comments!

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Still finding volcanic dust in my shoes,
Aelfgifu