Somoto Canyon Day Trip

Ever since I read about Somoto Canyon, I have wanted to visit. As you know, my Somoto Canyon day trip was intended for Wednesday, but I messed that up big time! I tried again yesterday and the day started fine; I got a taxi and held onto my wallet and bag for dear life.

Chicken Bus Win!

Once I boarded and  saw a woman carrying actual chickens onto the bus, I knew it was a good sign! Some people go whole vacations without seeing a chicken on the chicken bus, and I got two chickens on my 4th chicken bus! The day was going to be good!

Chicken Bus
The woman with 2 chickens on the chicken bus to Somoto
Chicken bus
Zoom in on the chickens
Continue reading “Somoto Canyon Day Trip”

Volcano Boarding at Cerro Negro

Volcano Boarding is one of the top things to do when visiting León, so I signed up to do it almost immediately upon arrival. Why delay? Am I glad I did it because volcano boarding at Cerro Negro is a highlight of this trip and will always be a great memory for me.

Volcano Tour

My hostal offers a daily tour of the volcano through Nicatime Nicaragua. We left at 8am on Wednesday, got to Cerro Negro Volcano by 9am, and started hiking. The uphill climb is only an hour long, but with all the sand and rocks, it’s not easy. Slippery best describes the hike.

Cerro Negro
Our group climbing up Cerro Negro

Cerro Negro means Black Mountain, and that is what it is. This fairly young, still active volcano is a pile of black sand and rock. People have been volcano boarding there for about 17 years, according to my tour guide, Oscar (just kidding, it was Lester – or Luther, damn I am bad at this. I’ll call him Oscar). Now this extreme sport is the primary reason people visit Cerro Negro, and it’s one of the top attractions in León.

Continue reading “Volcano Boarding at Cerro Negro”

A Kayak Tour of Ometepe

One day of rest was enough! Yesterday Lyna and I wanted to get out and see more of the wildlife of the Ometepe Islands. We biked our way to the town(?) of Mérida to meet up with the people at Caballito’s Mar Kayaks for a kayak tour of Ometepe.

Getting to Ometepe

Most people visit Ometepe from Granada or San Juan del Sur. If you’re coming from Granada, here are some tips to get to Ometepe.

Overview of the Day

It was not an easy bike ride or kayak but wow was it worth it. Perfect weather – sun and some wind, and tons of wildlife! I am not an experienced kayaker, so it took me a little while to get the hang of it. For most people, including Lyna, it isn’t hard. The bike ride was also mainly difficult because of the potholed roads and worn bicycles. This isn’t the Alps or anything folks!

Here is a partial list of what we saw: a caiman, turtles, blue herons, monkeys, ospreys, sleeping bats, egrets, ibises, tiger herons, magpie jays, and parakeets. There were more but I can’t remember them!

About the Kayak Tour of Ometepe

The kayak tour took about 3 hours and we paddled from the lake into this beautiful river where we were able to get up close with the birds and other creatures. Once we were in the river, which was very calm and fairly narrow, we went really slowly so we could watch the animals and try to get photos. I did my best! Here are the photos of what we saw on our kayaks.

Continue reading “A Kayak Tour of Ometepe”