I'd seen it on the TV before I left home. Ed and Dara had made a programme about
travelling through Central America, they made it look good. One of the things that stood out, was their
visit in Nicaragua to Cerro Negro, a still active but dormant volcano where you
can go volcano boarding. So I thought as
I were here I would check it out.
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| Cerro Negro |
I joined a small group of friendly people all prepared
to throw themselves down the side of a volcano for fun. The journey to the volcano passed through
fields and volcanic plains as we left the appealing city of Leon and headed
toward the ridge of volcanoes located only 40 minutes away. Helpfully our guide asked the driver to stop
so we could take a good picture of the volcano from the bottom and so he could
point out the tracks of other sliders.
It looked very steep, and nervous chatter from the group clearly meant I
wasn't the only one who was now reconsidering what they had let themselves in
for.
The volcano stands out from the others in this area as
its black. Black volcanic lava has
created a near perfect cone shape, with a hollow crater in one side and finer
black sand and grit on the other. The
edge of the last lava flow stops abruptly at the base of the volcano, clearly seen
where black rubble gives way to green scrub.
After stopping to register that we were climbing the
volcano in the observation hut we pulled into the car park and got ready to
climb. The boards are pieces of plywood
with a piece of thick rope to hang on to and a piece of metal attached underneath
to make you slide faster. The best way
to carry them up to the start point was horizontally between your back and the
rucksack of jump suit, gloves and goggles needed. Slightly uncomfortable but not
impossible.
Group photos done we started the climb. Circling round the back of the crater at
first climbing over steep piles of rocks and at times struggling to keep our
footing. Half way up, the climb got
easier as the gradient smoothed out and the path became more gravelly. Despite the heat of the afternoon, there was
a cooling breeze, and a couple of places to rest in the shade and admire the
view. This is what made the whole
experience worthwhile. Vast volcanic
grasslands spread out below, the light of the afternoon sun spreading a warm
glow across the whole area. And the best
part, no sign at all of humans, no buildings, villages or towns. Just space for as far as the eye could see.
At the top we dumped our bags and boards and finished
the climb to the top and rim of the crater.
The volcano gave off gas constantly, reminding us we were standing on an
active time bomb! The views from here if
possible were even more spectacular, 360 degree vistas. Volcanoes in the chain formed a line in front
of us, the refreshed green landscape of trees and natural scrub blending with
the sky which appeared huge. And in the
distance a glimpse of Leon, a city that sometimes gets covered in ash as the
landscape around them lets off steam. It
all felt like such a privilege to be here and share this view with just a few
others.
But we could put it off no longer. It was time to slide. Large yellow and green jumpsuits were
provided which didn't really fit anyone but promised to stop us getting scratched
on the way down. A briefing followed,
sit down on board, slide, feet down it you want to slow down. That was it, short and to the point. The sense of anticipation grew, then it was
my turn, as I waited for the wave meaning it was safe to go I felt positive
about this, gloves on, goggles down and I was off. At first it's exhilarating, then the speed
kicks in and you start to think about what you're doing. Half way down I started to come off the
board, I got grounded and stopped, the front of the board dug in the gravel. Managing to get going again, all thoughts now
were of just getting to the bottom as quick as possible. I picked up speed, despite feet down I wasn't
slowing. Gravel flew at my goggles, and
my leg, scratching it like sandpaper.
Aghhh, I wanted to scream, although I couldn't as we had been told to
keep our mouths shut in case gravel flew in!
Then the end came and in a far less glamorous end than start I was flung
off. Ouch.
Others came down with interesting degrees of success,
one thing in common being the dirty black faces and white goggle marks and sand
in places there shouldn't be sand. But we
had all survived and hobbled back to the bus with various injuries, for water
melon and beer!
Stopping once again at the volcano monitoring station to
sign out we were treated to one last amazing spectacle. A platform into the trees opened up to a now
dark sky, not tainted by light pollution but stars beautifully clear, constellations
like the song, diamonds in the sky. This
place it seemed just kept on giving.
Check out the YouTube link below to see a footage shot
by some lovely Americas who took on this challenge with me. Thanks guys.
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