Leon, Nicaragua
Monster Mercedes Ride
Think tobogganing on high grit sand paper at over 50 km/hr after you spent an hour hiking to the top with all your gear in tow! By the way, it’s an active volcano and a hot humid 90-degree day. Do you dare? Welcome to Volcano Boarding outside Leon, Nicaragua on Cerro Negro. Not what us northerners think of when tobogganing but such a blast and rated #2 on CNN’s thrill seekers list. The original Bigfoot Hostel owner Daryn Webb invented and cultivated the
sport in 2004. For about $30 US which includes all gear and an end of day cocktail at Bigfoot Hostel bar you are set to go. We climbed in to the Monster Mercedes for the 60 min trip to Cerro Negro which stands 2388 ft high. That’s about 900 ft taller than the CN Tower in Toronto and considered a baby volcano. The high-speed trip on I guess you call roads in the back of the big orange beast was worth the $30 alone. Arriving at the park the Nicaraguan military was highly visible which I later learned were guarding the baby Iguana’s because they are the tastiest and protected until they get older and tougher. Our young female guide from Moncton, NB living in Nicaragua explained to us that we’d take about 60 mins to hike up and would stop every 20 mins for a rest. The hike was tough, the crater was steaming, the views were incredible and I made it to the top and took a well-earned rest
before quick trip down. Dawning our gear and listening to the instructions I’m feeling quite nervous. We are high up, the monster truck at the bottom is looking quite small and there is only one way down. Loading onto my piece of plywood toboggan with an aluminum bottom my fear was turning into excitement and away I went and suddenly I couldn’t get going fast enough as the speed gun at the bottom clocked me at 37 km/hr. I make it in one piece, as there were a few wipe outs with cuts and scrapes. The fastest slider of the day was a 100 lb young girl that hit 84 km/hr! Man I wanted to go again and get more speed but it was time for the trek back so we loaded up knowing there were some cold drinks waiting for us and I had another adventure under my belt. You can’t have much more fun for $30 Dare yourself.
- Big Foot Hostel
- Del Banco Procredit, 1/2 Cuadra al Sur
- Leon, Nicaragua
- http://www.bigfoothostelleon.com
