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Today I was told we were going “extreme” hiking and sledging with Members of the National Council, to celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Sandinista Popular Revolution. I had done sledging in Norway a few years ago and it was great fun, but with temperatures over 30, in Nicaragua this week, I was sure we were not going sledging on snow. I got that bit right, we were travelling in Leon, one of my favourite cities that I visited during my time in Nicaragua and we were were going to hike up the Cerro Negro volcano to sledge down on the volcanic ash!
After a very bumpy truck journey to the base of the volcano, we then faced the hour long hike to the top. Thankfully, I like hiking, although for some people in the group, it was a struggle. The views here were like something out of another planet! It was a real contrast to the lush greenery I’d been seeing on all my previous adventures. The hill is an active volcano and when seeing it for the first time it suddenly crosses your mind that perhaps you should better go home, the incline looks almost vertical, and a long way up. I was wondering what daddy would think of this having gone up Kilimanjaro, as he is trying to persuade my sisters and I to attempt it with him next year.
We were given our green protective suits, goggles and a sledge and headed off up the mountain. The volcano is about 700 M high, it has not erupted for thirty years but the fact that it could only adds too the excitement. The views on the way up were amazing although once we were at the top, the views were totally obscured by the clouds, so the prospect of sliding down into the abyss was somewhat scary. We put on our protective gear, sit on the sledge, you are off and I am sliding down Cerro Negro at considerable speed, a real Adrenalin rush that I will remember for years. The journey down was a lot faster than I expected, and the goggles were a necessary addition to the volcanic stone that sprayed in all directions!
