Sloth Travel in Nicaragua: Cerro Negro

We have been to Leon several times as day trips, a few overnights. This particular trip we went as part of a Girls Scout outing to hike the Cerro Negro volcano. Meeting point and time was 9:00AM at the UNO by the exit to Managua, 3 hours from Selva Negra. So, we decided to arrive the night before instead of waking up at 4AM. We stayed at the Convento Hotel, it is a lovely, comfortable place to stay. Central yet quiet. Hanna loved the big comfortables beds as well as all the extra pillows, "fancy" shampoo and hot shower. She loves fancy hotels. We went out for dinner to "Al Carbon" a steakhouse down the street from El Convento. We are meat eaters, we eat our vegetables too, but we love a good steakhouse. We shared a massive platter for 4. All the cuts of meat were very thin and lightly seasoned, accompanied by a range of delicious relishes, beans, baked potatoes, and tostones. Nothing green on the entire plate! We loved it, but all decided we needed to eat a salad soon.

Morning breakfast was big and yummy, loves of fruit choices, pastries, omelets, cereal, etc... Fully fueled we met up with the gang at the UNO and headed to Cerro Negro with our guide, Freddy. The way there is easy to find and asking will get you the whole way, so I won't detail any directions. Now, as a sidebar, I'm afraid of heights, I HATE heights, I hate the feeling in my stomach, I hate my squirmy knees, I hate the feeling of helplessness and desperation that it generates in me, but I like a good hike with good friends in interesting environments. The only thing worse than me being up on high places, is me seeing my kids up in high places. I was set to not go at all! I had heard stories from Don and Henry from when they went volcano boarding with the Boy Scouts, and knew this was not for me. I went to watch and take pictures at the bottom, but as it turned out they weren't volcano boarding, but up and down for a good hike. Now I was interested, still scared, but interested. I still have to walk back down. I made a deal with Don and my friends for them to walk near the kids and let me do my own thing. It worked out great. Keeping up with part of the group kept me entertained and my mind off the worst of it. Even so I had a couple of times that I really didn't know how I was going to get out of there. The ground started moving under my feet, the world started spinning and I thought I was going to faint. At one point I even yelled at one of the girl scouts not to talk to me, cause I really couldn't have any distractions if I was going to take another step. The hike up is challenging, it is hot and steep. Walking on big rocks with only a sample of a path to follow. When you get to the top, the walk becomes easier, the views amazing, but the exposure and "near death" experiences begin. Suddenly the wind starts whipping around, you walk on a small path with a rocky fall on one side and a predice to the volcanic crater on the other. Not the fun part for me at all. The way down was tough at the beginning, but became easier as I got the hang of it. Knowing I was almost done was a great help too.

I survived, and grateful for friends who encouraged me to go on the hike. The kids had a wonderful time and it really is a one in a lifetime opportunity. Hiking an ash volcanoe like this one is truly an amazing thing.