The main draw in Leon for adrenalin junkies is Volcano Boarding down the Cerro Negro. That’s right, Volcano Boarding down an active Volcano. For anyone who doesn’t see how epic this is, here’s the story of a guy who broke the world speed record on the exact same volcano (in a latex suit - sexy!).

So…being the daredevil that I am, and constantly on the lookout to test my boundaries and push my adrenalin levels…not, I got myself pumped up to give it a go. Most backpackers book through Bigfoot Hostel, but most hostels will offer the activity. 

Cerro Negro is one of the youngest volcanoes in Central America, formed in 1850, and is one of the most active. Unique in its spouting ash rather than lava, the recent eruptions of ’92, ’95 and ’99 meant there was a perfect surface of ash to board down. It also meant that another eruption was long overdue… hence my panic levels rising. Luckily, I teamed up with a group of gals from the hostel and we all bonded over our mutual reservations. A problem shared is a problem solved and all that.

I was feeling pretty sick, having discovered yellow fur on my tonsils that morning, which in hindsight kinda helped me out. It meant the guide helped me carry my board up the volcano, a pretty treacherous trek over loose volcanic rock, approximately 1000 vertical ft to the top. Also, my fuzzy head made me think about it less and enjoy it more. After the hike up, and several stops to recuperate and enjoy the mind blowing scenery, we donned our sexual boiler suits, goggles and gloves and were ready for action.

Maximum speeds of up to 85mph have been clocked boarding down this volcano, however most of us opted to control our speed by digging our heels into the ash. We’d seen far too many backpackers walking around town with grazes and burns from touching the ground on their way down, or digging their heels in too strong and flying out of control. The problem with keeping a constant speed is the ash gets kicked up into your face and you turn up at the bottom literally chewing volcanic rock.

I don’t know how fast I went but the way down was freakin’ intense! Every so often I’d pick my feet up and dig them back in again just as I felt the board begin to lose control. It was exhilarating flying down the crazy steep slope, looking from the top like it dropped away into nothingness. It was all over way too fast, and I’d have loved to do it over and over. They should really put some kind of volcano escalator up there - that would be ace!

Nicaragua really is the land of volcanoes, they’re everywhere! Two of the most stunning are found on Isla de Ometepe, an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of the Lake of Nicaragua. The island is a well known stop on the backpacker trail due to its magical beauty and laidback feel. 
We went for a few days, travelling south from Granada and catching a ferry across to the island. We got on the ferry just before sunset and were lucky to approach the island under the magical glow of the setting sun.

We stayed at Captain Morgan’s, recommended by Lonely Planet, which turned out to be fantastic. I’m always wary of well known backpacker places, worried that everyone will be on their Gap Yah or worse, but this one turned out to be great. Set in lush gardens and all built in home-made tree house style, we had a romantic double bed in the dorm! They offered a different dinner option each night and had some great advice on things to do around the island.

We hired bikes and set off in search of the famous petroglyphs – ancient rock carvings that are scattered all over the island, dating as far back as 1000 B.C. The island is referred to by archaeologists as the Island of circles and spirals due to the intricate carvings found there.

Unfortunately we set off in the wrong direction – standard, and ended up cycling for 7 hours without seeing very much at all other than the beautiful coast line. On our way back we stopped off at El Ojo de Agua (The Eye of Water), a pool formed by a natural spring. The water was cool and clear, perfect after 7 hours of bike riding hell (Omeptepe has a lot of hills!). We sipped our cervezas and cooled off before getting attacked my mozzies and heading back for some relaxing reading time.

For info on Ometepe click here 

SURVIVAL TIP: 
Check your bikes thoroughly before setting off (a fellow rider had a lot of trouble with his) and plan your route. Any roads off the main highway are extremely uneven so be prepared to take a long time travelling a small distance. 

We had a few days spare so decided to check out The Monkey Hut situated on Lake Apoyo. We’d heard endless fab things from fellow travelers and just couldn’t bear to miss out on this idyllic chill out spot.

Lago de Apoyo is more or less evenly situated 30 minutes from either Managua or Granada. If I remember correctly it’s not too difficult to get to, however it’s better if you arrive with a group to share the taxi from where the bus drops you off. The crater was formed after a volcanic explosion 23000 years ago and reaches depths of 175m. We spent our few days here drinking caprihinas, eating home-made pizza, sunbathing and dive-bombing off the floating jetty. The caprihinas also helped us contemplate and appreciate the amazing feats that nature is capable of.

Furthermore, Lago de Apoyo formulated mine and Lisa’s new found friendship. There’s nothing like turning up to a new place after only knowing each other for a day and there only being a double room left. We laughed for about an hour after asking the owners “Do you have a pet…that’s a monkey?” (you had to be there), and the rest, as they say, is history!

I’m going to condense Panama into one post, just to give you an idea of some of the varying things you can do there. If my memory serves me correctly I did all this in about 2 weeks, although I only covered a very small area of the North of the country.
I started off in Bocas del Toro, a fabulous laid back beach resort, with rasta surf instructors chilling on bicycles. Most backpackers love it for its wild parties. I opted for some chill time on the beach. I might discuss in another post how sometimes being a solo traveler I don’t enjoy the party towns. You feel a kind of weird guilt that you SHOULD be having loads of fun, you SHOULD be getting wasted with all the other westerners, you SHOULD have loads of new carefree friends…I don’t generally like feeling like I SHOULD do anything. But anyway…
The highlight of my time in Bocas was a boat trip to the surrounding islands. There are a numbeof islands each with a different name specific to what you’ll find there. Red Frog Beach, Starfish Beach…and so on. In truth the island are all pretty similar, each a small haven of crystal water and dazzling white sand. The sea was like a bath, and shallow for miles. On Star Fish beach you could eat lobster for around $10. It was a little slice of paradise.

You can easily rent boats to go to the islands yourself, and taxi boat your way back, leaving you more time to relax on whichever beach you prefer, but a trip enables you to see a little bit of everything, and in the laid back Panama style, you don’t feel to rushed to do anything.

After Bocas I headed to Panama City. I didn’t rate the city too much, I stayed in the Old Town which was run down with not much to do. There was an interesting mix of old and new architecture, where the crumbling buildings were getting facelifts and turning into new sparkling boutique hotels. I took a lot of photos of the old next to the new, but other than a couple of days trolling around, there wasn’t much to excite me. Furthermore if you take one turn the wrong way you’re in a shanty town to rival all others I’d seen so far with the stench of dead rats wafting up your nostrils. Bad times.

I went to see the Panama Canal, and was glad that I could tick it off the traveler list. Done. Unless you’re a big fan of boats, or canals, or structural engineering, or something…it’s not too exciting. The museum upstairs is kinda cool, but yeah, it’s just a massive canal. It took years to build and loads of people died and it’s ‘an incredible feat of engineering’, but it just made me think how men with very small penises probably came up with the idea. It seemed a bit ridiculous to me. But what do I know.

To finish up my time in Panama, I went to the Lost and Found Lodge in the cloudforest near David. An eco setup, this chilled out place was a little oasis above the trees. They’d thought of everything, with mac and cheese and noodles available to buy and make, and fresh veggies from their garden, as well as cooked meals should you wish. They had board games, books and films, a labrynth and a treasure hunt through the forest to keep you entertained.

The staff were friendly and welcoming and the whole group got on so well. The sexually orientated board games and copious amounts of alcohol helped the bonding session move a little quicker than we might have expected!

In the day monkeys came to feed and hummingbirds were a regular sighting. I read my book and swayed over the trees in my hammock, a fabulously relaxing end to my time in Panama.

SURVIVAL TIP:
There’s no ATM in the cloud forest and Lost and Found work a Tab system so be careful with what you’re spending!

There were two forms of wildlife I was eager to see when I landed in Costa Rica; Sloths and Turtles. Both sightings bought me close to tears.
We’ll start with the turtles. I went to see them laying eggs on the beaches of Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast. We had to go at night, and were briefed before heading to the beach, no lights and no cameras. The leatherback turtles that we were hoping to get a sighting off would come to the beach in a trance, which could easily be broken if we used white lights. Should this happen, the turtles would panic, and swim back in the sea, whilst still laying their eggs, leaving them to be eaten by fish and birds. We sat silently, and were ushered over to where a turtle was beginning to dig her nest. She had no notion of our presence and went about her business with a sluggish repetitiveness. Funnily enough, the turtle wardens spend most of their time directing turtles to new nesting patches. It seems turtles are rather lazy, and if they see a nest they will go straight to it, sometimes laying over other eggs, sometimes pushing other laying turtles off their nest, to save them the hassle of making their own! As we watched in awe as over 180 eggs plopped satisfyingly from turtle number 1, turtle number 2 tried to take over and we had to beckon it away to start digging its own nest somewhere else. Once our turtle was worn out from laying it began to slowly and methodically cover its babies with sand. The eggs were soft and squishy, like gooey soft boiled eggs, the size of ping pong balls. It was imperative she covered them well, and if she became too tired, the wardens would finish her nest for her, enabling the safety of the hatchlings. Eventually, after about an hour of the process, she turned and headed back to the sea. Watching her edge her way down the sand was mesmerizing, she was so huge I could have ridden her! The group watched in silent awe as she left her tracks in the wet sand and reacquainted herself with the sea. It was such a peaceful, warming experience. Turtles are cool man!

The sloths were a different story all together. Although also slow animals, sloths have a sort of inbuilt inquisitiveness and excitement that I wasn’t expecting. After seeing a video about Baby Sloth Wranglers, I was definite that I was visiting the sloth sanctuary.

I arrived a little late which meant I could only make the short tour, which also made it cheaper. I just wanted to see the baby sloths, and I did! We watched a video on sloths and their environment, and the terrible things that deforestation is doing to their environment. Many sloths are found electrocuted or burnt on the roadside after trying to use electric cables and wires to get across to areas of the forest that have been split up by new highways. Once their hands are burnt they cannot climb anymore which is their whole life, how they eat and survive in the wild. Many sloths at the sloth sanctuary will have to stay forever for this reason, whereas others that may have been previously kept by local families as pets, can be released back into the wild after observation and teaching activities. After the video we got to meet some of the residents, young and old, have a little cuddle and watch them play. If I were to be reincarnated I think I’d be a sloth. I don’t think I can do the whole turtle thing, swimming all those miles every year to lay a shit load of babies that you’re never going to see, and doing it every year for 100 years or more? Sloths are furry and playful and cute, and though I’m not sure how many babies they have, it can’t be that many?! Yeah, I’d be a sloth, plus I might even end up being the variety that looks like Chewbacca from Star Wars. That’d be pretty sick!

Medellin, Colombia’s second city and birth place to famed drug lord Pablo Escobar, has had its fair share of bad press. In recent years however, the city has been completely rejuvenated and is the shining diamond of all South American cities, by far one of the most cosmopolitan I visited in all of my travels. I was lucky to be there during the annual Flower Festival and had a friend to show me round.

The Flower Festival dates back to 1957, when ‘silleteros’ from the nearby Santa Elena district were invited to show the flowers they were famed for growing. The name ‘silletero’ comes from the Spanish word for chair, as the farmers would create elaborate decorations from flowers and carry them on a chair like contraption on their back.

The festival lasts for 10 days and is a spectacle of colour and pattern. The parades go on for miles with men and women carrying huge flower swamped chairs for hours. It really is quite special to see. Overall, however, it’s a big excuse to drink on the streets, something the Colombians don’t need much of an excuse to do under any circumstances! There are huge flower installations located all over the city, from Art Galleries to Museums and a number of events to keep you entertained. I got treated to some free live music and I also went to the Botanical Gardens to see some of the winning flowers, such as orchids and multi-coloured roses.

I was super excited for my parents to come and visit me in Colombia. My parents (my mother especially) love a holiday so it didn’t take too much to convince them to come and visit me on the other side of the world. My Mom tried to cover her fears when she realized that the only time they were available was when I’d be in Colombia and for several weeks before the holiday she had sleepless nights over taxi kidnappings and ride by shootings. Luckily, we faced no such obstacles.
My first thought after embracing them both in the clammy heat was the list of goodies I had asked them to bring across the waters with them…marmite!...baked beans!...clean socks!...YAAAAAY! It’s amazing the things you miss from home.

After spending a couple of days seeing the sights in Bogota (all by air conditioned private vehicle of course), they flew to the beautiful sea side port of Cartagena to meet me. Cartagena is definitely the most expensive city in Colombia and there are many western tourists strolling the streets and plaza’s but it is truly beautiful. Areas of the city are still to see development and the old Spanish walls have been beautifully maintained.
We spent our days sipping cerveza’s in shady squares and looking at the stunning fading architecture. My father busied himself in the ships and war museums while Mom and I shopped for souvenirs.

There are several excursions you can take around the city, and we booked all ours through the hostel I was staying in, The Chill House. Dad opted out of the trip to the mud volcano, an experience which wasn’t quite as relaxing as we’d have hoped, but an experience none the less. You drive up to the mud volcano, a massive lump of mud with a slippery climb to the top. Hop in with up to 30 other tourists and bake in the sun as a Colombian man rubs you down. The thick, sticky mud feels strangely calming, and the inability to stay afloat is somewhat unnerving, ending in giggling from all parties as you float off from your group unintentionally and struggle to ‘swim’ back. After negotiating the dangerous climb back down, the group heads to the river where you can pay someone to wash you down, or as we preferred, simply do it yourself. I was finding mud in my ears for the next 3 days so whether you pay someone or not, you’re not gunna get properly clean for a while!

The other trip we went on, which Dad joined, was a day trip to one of the stunning offshore island beaches. I can’t remember the name now, but I will endeavour to update this blog post with more accuracy soon. Most backpackers head off for an overnight stop here which I think is much advised. The tours take you to a few other stops throughout the day which are basically excuses for you to buy things, and leave you with a very short amount of time on the white sand beach which is the bit you want to relax and enjoy. Furthermore, once all the boat loads of tourists have packed off back to town and the beach vendors have given up trying to sell you things, an evening in your hammock or thatched hut would be very close to a slice of paradise.