City of volcanoes Leon, Nicaragua
León – Nicaragua
This city welcomed us to Nicaragua. Perhaps this is one of the most important cities in Nicaragua between Managua and Granada. This city may not have much to offer you but close to it on the outskirts, you will find a lot to do. Activities such as Volcanoes, beaches and hiking are many of the things you can do in the surroundings of León.
This city has too many churches and one of its attractions is to climb up to the roof of the Cathedral of Leon located in the central park. From the outside, the cathedral may look a little ugly and unstylish but if you climb up to the roof of the cathedral you will be impressed.
The style is magnificent and the white colour makes it look even better. It is said to be the largest in Central America. From there you can also see a spectacular chain of volcanoes.
The food in this city is quite delicious. At the back of the Cathedral of Leon, you can see a series of vendors who every night prepare their tables full of very good food at an incredible price.
We stayed at the Lazy Bones hostel, a good alternative. It is close to the central park, is very spacious and has a swimming pool. Very close to this hostel there is a restaurant called “El Desayunazo” where the breakfasts are excellent.
– También en esta ciudad puedes disfrutar de varios museos como:
- The museum of legends and traditions
- Ortiz Foundation (Latin American and European art)
- Alfonzo cortes Museum (museum of literature)
Just an hour’s drive from Leon you will find an excellent hostel called “The Surfing Turtle”. The hostel is located right in front of the beach and has a great vibe that will rub off on you.
To end the day they usually have a lot of different kinds of mingling which helps you to meet new people. This hostel also rents out surfboards. I didn’t count myself lucky the days I was there because the waves were huge and it became quite dangerous to even swim. I had never seen such big waves before in my life.
León is located close to a chain of volcanoes called Los Maribios which from some points of the city you can see spectacular. Cerro Negro (active, you can ski on its sand), Telica (active), El Momotombo (active and most notorious in Leon), El Hoyo (inactive).
Sandboarding (sand skiing) in León – Nicaragua
Less than an hour’s drive from León you can have the opportunity to go sandboarding on a volcano called Cerro Negro. The experience is highly recommended, however, it is a bit tough.
We had to walk for at least 1 hour to get to the top of the volcano carrying the boards that would help us to get down. Afterwards, we descended in less than 1 minute but it is worth it. You can feel the adrenaline rush and it is a very enjoyable activity.
The volcano is still active but it is not dangerous. You can still see smoke in some parts of it. There are many agencies in León in charge of organising the trip. I did it with a company called Quetzaltrekers, they are volunteers who receive the money for donations.
Here are the photos of this exciting adventure:
