Climbing Volcanoes in Nicaragua
This travel article provides good background information on travelling to Nicaragua, but for Walking Stories visitors it's most interesting for the descriptions of climbs on two volcanoes, and the accompanying video.
Gregory Dicum describes Lake Nicaragua - one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world - and the island of Ometepe. It has two volcanic peaks. Gregory and his partner attempted to climb Volcan Maderas, the southern peak, with the help of a guide, but they were beaten back by torrential rain. He recommends visiting in the dry season in December and January, before the country dries out completely.
There's a visit as well to Volcan Masaya, between Granada and Managua, at the centre of a park with guided tours of the volcanic caves and some dramatic volcanic activity.
Gregory was successful in his attempt to climb Cerro Negro, a volcanic cone that only began errupting in 1850, which is so recent that nothing grows on its slopes of black volcanic rocks.
"The climb is a hot slog over crunchy lava on which absolutely nothing grows. The trail leads over the lip and directly into the crater, where smoking fumaroles emit noxious gas, coating the surrounding rocks with sulfur. The ground there is too hot to touch; all reminders of a habitable world are gone. There is nothing but heat and fumes and the sharpest, blackest rock: a visit to our planet before it was ours."
Sounds like somewhere worth visiting - and sending us another walking story!
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