Day 13 - Volcano boarding?! Really?!!

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Today was a crazy memorable day! We hiked and slid down a volcano! I didn't even know this was possible!

Cerro Negro appeared in 1850 and is the youngest volcano in Central America and is 730 meters high. This young kid is also one of the most active volcanoes in Nicaragua and erupted 23 times since its birth, with the last eruption being in 1999. If you do the math, it's an average of 1 eruption every 7 years… and the last one was more than 20 years ago so chances are that it will erupt shortly. And since their seismographs is more than 30 years old, apparently, it can only predict an eruption 3 minutes in advance...

So, there were 2 ways to see things… either it was too dangerous since the volcano could decide to activate today or it was a unique opportunity since maybe tomorrow, there would be no more volcano boarding on Cerro Negro… tough decision... in fact, not really. How can we miss the opportunity to do this extreme activity when it might be our only chance!

In 2002, a French man descended this volcano on his bicycle at a speed of 172 km/h and crashed. He had multiple broken bones and was hospitalized for months. Then, in 2004, an Australian was very determined to find the best way to slide down this volcano. Apparently, he tried a door, a picnic table and the legend says he also tried with a fridge. Eventually, I don't know if it's because he was out of furnitures, he invented the first volcano toboggan, made of plywood and metal. So, Cerro Negro was THE place on Earth to try volcano boarding!

Our ride picked us up at our hostel early in the morning. We all stopped for a good coffee and we had a 45 minutes ride to the volcano.

Once there, obviously, before sliding down, we had to hike up the volcano. By the time we started climbing, it was about 11AM and it was a 45 minutes to an hour hike. And this volcano is the exact typical image that I actually had of what a volcano is… black sand and rocks, no vegetation and a steep hill. And we had to carry a small backpack with what we needed for the descent and our board. We had a guide with us and 2 boys were also there to carry the boards of people who didn't want to carry it. The guide encouraged us to hire them if we wanted because it's their livelihood. But hey, I have my ego! I can carry my own board! And I'm sure I don't need to mention that there was absolutely no way that Steve would ever show a sign of weakness by asking someone else to carry his board… so we started climbing the volcano. And found out that the wind was hysterical! Have you ever tried to hike, with a massive piece of plywood, a second pushing you down and the other second, pulling you to the side of the path? Well, I put my ego aside and accepted the offer to carry my board. I decided I wanted to fully enjoy my hike. But, of course, Steve, who was also struggling, categorically refused. So it was a cool hike for me and a quite challenging one for Steve.

But once at the top, we were both very happy. I was happy I enjoyed it and he was happy he took up this challenge and made it to the top. Youppi, for his part, decided to remain in my pocket for the hike but he still wanted to admire the view from the top!

Once there, we took a few pictures and put on our super sexy suit. 

Now was the time to slide down this crazy hill. Wow! It was pretty steep! And huge! Nobody told me it would look much worst from the top! Steve was super excited! I, on the other hand, was trying to convince myself that I was super excited! Damn! Now, I have no other option… ok, I can do it… Youppi and I took place on the board and not long after, I got the signal to go and then, heard this little voice telling me "Now! You have to do it now! Do it! They are all looking at you and waiting for you to go! You can do it! Go!". It was Youppi, encouraging me from my pocket. So I lifted my feet just a little bit and started sliding. Whoohoo! OMFG! This is so amazingly cool! I was the only person on Earth for a few seconds. Nothing else existed other than this black hill, the sound of the board on the sand, the view from the other volcanoes and the thrill of going so freakin' fast! I was sliding down an active volcano at a furious speed! This was unbelievable!

After maybe 1 minute, I reached the bottom and felt like I had done something that would remain in my memories for the rest of my life.

And not long after, Steve went down too and mastered his descent. Just to comfort Steve's ego, the reason why I went first is not because I'm braver, it's because I told him that I wanted him to go after me so if I die on my way down, he could pick me up on his way.

I don't know what else to say that would really describe this crazy experience and I think everyone needs to try it before they die. Actually, it's the #2 on the CNN 50 most thrilling and daring things you can do on vacation between being a jet fighter pilot for 1 day and the cage of death in Australia. 

After this incredible adventure, we went back to León, had lunch and a beer, went back to our hostel and showered. We had black dust and rocks everywhere.

We spent time at our hostel, by the pool, and met a nice couple from Quebec city. We chatted for a little while.

Steve and I had dinner, made research for the next leg of our trip and went to bed.