World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Nicaragua
32° | sunny / rainy | km 108
Who needs snow?
on 2017-09-26 in Nicaragua
The border to Nicaragua took longer than expected and once we got our customs papers stamped and our insurance taken care of we were once again faced with a decision. Riding for about an hour in complete darkness to try to catch up with the German group in León or look for a hotel along the way and miss out on the opportunity to get to know some fellow travelers. As you can guess we decided to head to León. As it turned out the road from the border to the town was well paved and further extremely well marked. The lines on the road reflected our lights very well and therefor it was easy riding all the way to the city.
We had decided to stop by the hotel the German group had given us before and check if we could afford a night there. We quickly realized that their budget allowed for a little more luxury than ours, so after exchanging WhatsApp contacts we went on to look for a cheaper hotel for us. We managed to find a nice empty hostel that allowed us to park our bikes inside the reception. After settling in, we set a meeting with the Germans in a nearby restaurant and went quickly on our way. We were greeted in the restaurant by the large group of bikers, five men and one woman from Bavaria! We quickly got along well and had a lot of fun talking about past experiences, how they had met and what their plan was. They were going the same way as us three but in less time which is why they were in quite a hurry to go on. Luckily not this night, after the restaurant had closed we went on to another bar, where we let the evening go out with some more beers and more great stories. We did not expect at first to get along this well which is why we were quite sad to see them leave the next day. But they were on a tight schedule and so they had to get going again. We wish them the best in their travels and we hope to meet each other again for another round of drinks and maybe some riding! You can read their stories here: https://panamericaweb.wordpress.com/.
Our main reason why we had chosen to go to León was that we had heard that it is possible to sled down an active volcano nearby. Sounds terrifying? Well you have no idea! Booking was easy, the price was alright and after worrying for a bit if the weather would hold up we soon sat in a bus on our way to the volcano Cerro Negro. We were lucky our guide was very nice and walked up with us, whilst taking pictures and explaining the area. It was not raining anymore but the fog made enjoying the view almost impossible. But we were not here just for the view. We were here to see how quickly we could sled down a volcano! The tour gave us all the equipment we needed, a big blue onesie, some safety goggles, gloves and most importantly a wooden board with a handle mounted on it. After a brief explanation we set off. Basti was up first. We watched him slowly start sledding down the mountain, it did not look very fast especially since half way to the fog he hit a bit of loose gravel and stopped once more. A bit disappointed we watched him struggle to get going again until he soon disappeared in the thick fog. Denis and Fabi looked at each other and quickly decided that braking was for sissies. The goal now was feet up and lets go as quickly as possible! Denis was next. He readied himself, once the guide gave the signal he went off. What neither Fabi nor Denis knew at this point was that in the midst of the fog was a big hole, one where Basti had actually been thrown off his sled before... Denis unknowingly started as fast as he could, no brakes just lifting the feet up and leaning as far back as possible, once he went into the fog he realized that the sled was picking up a lot of speed. Braking was no real option at this point and so he hit the same hole as Basti... unfortunately with a lot more speed! He and his sled jumped up into the air, flipped and Denis came to a crushing halt on the rough gravel. The guide was immediately quite concerned because he had watched him hitting his head on the fall. Denis quickly shook off his pain though but both he and the guide decided that it would be better to switch lanes. Fabi was still clueless on the top and waited for his turn. It was not until Denis shouted to him to switch to another lane that he realized it might be a little more dangerous than expected. Fabi managed not to crash but his scarf, protecting his mouth and nostrils from all the gravel and dirt fell down during a bump leaving him struggling to catch a breath on his way down. It was a lot more fun and a bigger adrenaline rush than we had ever imagined.
What a great experience! Having done it now we would recommend it to anyone looking for some thrills in Nicaragua.
We had decided to stop by the hotel the German group had given us before and check if we could afford a night there. We quickly realized that their budget allowed for a little more luxury than ours, so after exchanging WhatsApp contacts we went on to look for a cheaper hotel for us. We managed to find a nice empty hostel that allowed us to park our bikes inside the reception. After settling in, we set a meeting with the Germans in a nearby restaurant and went quickly on our way. We were greeted in the restaurant by the large group of bikers, five men and one woman from Bavaria! We quickly got along well and had a lot of fun talking about past experiences, how they had met and what their plan was. They were going the same way as us three but in less time which is why they were in quite a hurry to go on. Luckily not this night, after the restaurant had closed we went on to another bar, where we let the evening go out with some more beers and more great stories. We did not expect at first to get along this well which is why we were quite sad to see them leave the next day. But they were on a tight schedule and so they had to get going again. We wish them the best in their travels and we hope to meet each other again for another round of drinks and maybe some riding! You can read their stories here: https://panamericaweb.wordpress.com/.
Our main reason why we had chosen to go to León was that we had heard that it is possible to sled down an active volcano nearby. Sounds terrifying? Well you have no idea! Booking was easy, the price was alright and after worrying for a bit if the weather would hold up we soon sat in a bus on our way to the volcano Cerro Negro. We were lucky our guide was very nice and walked up with us, whilst taking pictures and explaining the area. It was not raining anymore but the fog made enjoying the view almost impossible. But we were not here just for the view. We were here to see how quickly we could sled down a volcano! The tour gave us all the equipment we needed, a big blue onesie, some safety goggles, gloves and most importantly a wooden board with a handle mounted on it. After a brief explanation we set off. Basti was up first. We watched him slowly start sledding down the mountain, it did not look very fast especially since half way to the fog he hit a bit of loose gravel and stopped once more. A bit disappointed we watched him struggle to get going again until he soon disappeared in the thick fog. Denis and Fabi looked at each other and quickly decided that braking was for sissies. The goal now was feet up and lets go as quickly as possible! Denis was next. He readied himself, once the guide gave the signal he went off. What neither Fabi nor Denis knew at this point was that in the midst of the fog was a big hole, one where Basti had actually been thrown off his sled before... Denis unknowingly started as fast as he could, no brakes just lifting the feet up and leaning as far back as possible, once he went into the fog he realized that the sled was picking up a lot of speed. Braking was no real option at this point and so he hit the same hole as Basti... unfortunately with a lot more speed! He and his sled jumped up into the air, flipped and Denis came to a crushing halt on the rough gravel. The guide was immediately quite concerned because he had watched him hitting his head on the fall. Denis quickly shook off his pain though but both he and the guide decided that it would be better to switch lanes. Fabi was still clueless on the top and waited for his turn. It was not until Denis shouted to him to switch to another lane that he realized it might be a little more dangerous than expected. Fabi managed not to crash but his scarf, protecting his mouth and nostrils from all the gravel and dirt fell down during a bump leaving him struggling to catch a breath on his way down. It was a lot more fun and a bigger adrenaline rush than we had ever imagined.
What a great experience! Having done it now we would recommend it to anyone looking for some thrills in Nicaragua.
34° | sunny / rainy | km 301
Surfin' Nicaragua
on 2017-09-27 in Nicaragua
Our guide from the volcano boarding had mentioned that there was another active volcano in Nicaragua where we could see hot lava in the crater. Intrigued by his description we decided to put this on our list of sights, especially because it was more or less on our route anyways.
We arrived in Masaya at nightfall, the volcano with the same name was nearby but we decided to check into a hostel first. We had been hit by another shower and all we wanted was to get out of our soaking wet gear. Our hostel owner was nice enough to call the front gate of the volcano to check if it was open. As it turned out it was not. So we went for dinner, after which we decided to check what opening hours the volcano had. Google told us from 9 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. AND from 5.30 p.m. - 7.30 p.m.. We realized that the owner had called in the hour where the park was always closed. So we quickly jumped on our bikes and tried to reach the crater in time because we had been told the molten lava is best to see at night. Sadly the guard at the gate would not let us pass even though we had arrived 10 minutes before closing time. So we had to give it another try the next morning...
Denis and Fabi took the chance of a late start to check out one of the nearby bars. While drinking their first Rum and Coke (Only 1,50$) two elderly ladies nearby started to gain a lot of interest in them... During the second drink they sat down at their table. The conversation was fun at first but quickly turned into more than we ever wanted. The bar tender had his fun, Fabi and Denis quickly chugged down their drinks and left two very disappointed ladies behind.
The following morning we headed up to the volcano's crater. This time we were allowed to ride up and enjoy the impressive sight and sound of the crater. We were able to spot some molten lava and the orange glow from it. Quite an impressive sight to behold. We were not allowed to walk up to the highest point because the wind was blowing the fumes towards that spot. It was still worth the visit. Just before we wanted to head back down the volcano a couple more buses arrived at the parking spot and unloaded a bunch of teenagers. We saw that a couple of the girls tried to sneak a selfie with us and so we decided to wave them over towards us, so that they could take some closeups with us. The volcano was immediately forgotten and the next couple of minutes we were surrounded by shouting girls trying to snap the perfect picture. After having taken pictures with each and everyone of us we turned on our engines and headed on.
We rode towards a famous surfer town in the South of Nicaragua - San Juan del Sur. We had made good distance the past days and so we decided to take some time off and spend a couple of days in this nice relaxed surfer village. The hostel was great and each morning we extended for another day. We even spent two days in the water trying to get the hang of surfing. Almost a week later we headed on towards the border to Costa Rica. The last country before Panama.
We arrived in Masaya at nightfall, the volcano with the same name was nearby but we decided to check into a hostel first. We had been hit by another shower and all we wanted was to get out of our soaking wet gear. Our hostel owner was nice enough to call the front gate of the volcano to check if it was open. As it turned out it was not. So we went for dinner, after which we decided to check what opening hours the volcano had. Google told us from 9 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. AND from 5.30 p.m. - 7.30 p.m.. We realized that the owner had called in the hour where the park was always closed. So we quickly jumped on our bikes and tried to reach the crater in time because we had been told the molten lava is best to see at night. Sadly the guard at the gate would not let us pass even though we had arrived 10 minutes before closing time. So we had to give it another try the next morning...
Denis and Fabi took the chance of a late start to check out one of the nearby bars. While drinking their first Rum and Coke (Only 1,50$) two elderly ladies nearby started to gain a lot of interest in them... During the second drink they sat down at their table. The conversation was fun at first but quickly turned into more than we ever wanted. The bar tender had his fun, Fabi and Denis quickly chugged down their drinks and left two very disappointed ladies behind.
The following morning we headed up to the volcano's crater. This time we were allowed to ride up and enjoy the impressive sight and sound of the crater. We were able to spot some molten lava and the orange glow from it. Quite an impressive sight to behold. We were not allowed to walk up to the highest point because the wind was blowing the fumes towards that spot. It was still worth the visit. Just before we wanted to head back down the volcano a couple more buses arrived at the parking spot and unloaded a bunch of teenagers. We saw that a couple of the girls tried to sneak a selfie with us and so we decided to wave them over towards us, so that they could take some closeups with us. The volcano was immediately forgotten and the next couple of minutes we were surrounded by shouting girls trying to snap the perfect picture. After having taken pictures with each and everyone of us we turned on our engines and headed on.
We rode towards a famous surfer town in the South of Nicaragua - San Juan del Sur. We had made good distance the past days and so we decided to take some time off and spend a couple of days in this nice relaxed surfer village. The hostel was great and each morning we extended for another day. We even spent two days in the water trying to get the hang of surfing. Almost a week later we headed on towards the border to Costa Rica. The last country before Panama.