Apart from the Copan Ruins and the Bay Islands, Honduras doesn’t have a huge amount of tourist infrastructure so we decided to head south to Nicaragua. The only long haul international bus from northern Honduras leaves at the really inconvenient time of 5.30am, meaning that unfortunately we had to spend another night in our not-so-favourite town, San Pedro Sula. This time though we stayed at La Hamaca Hostel, a huge improvement on Tamarindo Hostel.
After a stop to pick people up in the capital, Tegucigalpa, we headed to the border with Nicaragua. Ticabus sorts out all the paperwork for you when you cross an international border (sneakily charging an extra $5 for it) but even so the border crossing was a very slow, very hot, 3 hour process!
We were pretty glad to finally arrive in Leon, although it was a bit of a surprise to find that our dorm room had two week old baby kittens in one of the lockers, even if they were ridiculously cute.
After a stop to pick people up in the capital, Tegucigalpa, we headed to the border with Nicaragua. Ticabus sorts out all the paperwork for you when you cross an international border (sneakily charging an extra $5 for it) but even so the border crossing was a very slow, very hot, 3 hour process!
We were pretty glad to finally arrive in Leon, although it was a bit of a surprise to find that our dorm room had two week old baby kittens in one of the lockers, even if they were ridiculously cute.
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Climbing up
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Peering over the edge
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Leon is an old colonial style town. Due to the university presence it is a bit of a student town, but apart from the biggest church in Central America, doesn’t have a huge number of attractions. The main draw here is boarding on Cerro Negro, an ominous charcoal-black volcano. We were excited to find that our travel buddy Kylie, from Cuba, and another couple we had met in Semuc Champey, Christine and Nick, all arrived on the same day so we all signed up for the next afternoon. Bumping our way along the dirt road everyone in the back of the truck admitted to a few nerves about what lay ahead.
Volcanoe boarding is rated as number 2 on CNN’s thrill seeker's list and basically involves flinging yourself down the side of a volcanoe on a piece of plywood as fast as you can. While Im a bit sceptical about the order of some of the other activities on the list, this definitely deserves to be on there somewhere! After a steep 45 minute walk up the gravely path, where at one point the wind was so strong I felt like I was going to be blown off the side, we made it to the top of the volcanoe. Donning our sexy prisoner-orange jumpsuits there was time for a few photos before our safety and instructions briefing and then it was time to go! Peering over the edge it looked so steep! The descent starts on a 38 degree slope, increasing to 41 degrees as you go over a drop halfway down. Tyro, the crazy bastard, hit a top speed of 85km / hour, winning the title of fastest guy! Only 5km slower than the Guinness world record! Despite her nervousness beforehand Christine took out the title of fastest female at an awesome 75km / hour! Speedy demons! I on the other hand clocked a rather more moderate speed of 25km/ hour – although I swear I was going faster before I reached the radar gun!
Back on the truck we all toasted ourselves and the champs with some ice cold beers, before a few celebratory mojitos back at Bigfoot to finish off the day. A massive bucket list tick!
Next stop: Granada
Volcanoe boarding is rated as number 2 on CNN’s thrill seeker's list and basically involves flinging yourself down the side of a volcanoe on a piece of plywood as fast as you can. While Im a bit sceptical about the order of some of the other activities on the list, this definitely deserves to be on there somewhere! After a steep 45 minute walk up the gravely path, where at one point the wind was so strong I felt like I was going to be blown off the side, we made it to the top of the volcanoe. Donning our sexy prisoner-orange jumpsuits there was time for a few photos before our safety and instructions briefing and then it was time to go! Peering over the edge it looked so steep! The descent starts on a 38 degree slope, increasing to 41 degrees as you go over a drop halfway down. Tyro, the crazy bastard, hit a top speed of 85km / hour, winning the title of fastest guy! Only 5km slower than the Guinness world record! Despite her nervousness beforehand Christine took out the title of fastest female at an awesome 75km / hour! Speedy demons! I on the other hand clocked a rather more moderate speed of 25km/ hour – although I swear I was going faster before I reached the radar gun!
Back on the truck we all toasted ourselves and the champs with some ice cold beers, before a few celebratory mojitos back at Bigfoot to finish off the day. A massive bucket list tick!
Next stop: Granada
In our sexy getup haha
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Represent!
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Ready, set, GO!
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