Nicaragua

Back in September last year I was off to explore this Central American hotbed of revolutionists, coffee, rum and volcanoes.
One month with Lizzie, intent on climbing and hiking, mixed with local culture and cuisine, Whakaari safe n secure in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.


We met up in Managua, Lizzie in from Colorado, me straight from a turtle nesting/ kite surfing beach on the border with Costa Rica, picked up a rental car, and after some luxury R&R at the Hilton Managua headed out on a hastily planned circuit of this diverse, yet tiny country of 6.2 million proud people.

First stop, Volcan Masaya, an active and easily accessible complex with bubbling lava and sulphurous gases, actually inside a massive ancient crater El Ventarron, where we hiked around the rims of the two main cones.

Laguna de Apoyo

Below we could see our base for the next two days, Laguna de Apoyo, a sapphire colored 200 century old crater, the country's deepest and cleanest, with undersea fumeroles.

Granada Church

Our accommodation (purchased and upgraded very recently by a fun loving German who fell in love with the place on a backpacking trip ) was just perfect, on the lakeshore, kayaks free to use or just dive in.

Spider Monkeys on a Las Isetas isle

From here we visited the gorgeous colonial town of Granada, took a panga tour of the unique Las Isetas, and climbed Volcan Mombacho

One of the 365 islets of Las Isetas 

Something unusual - freshwater bull sharks still exist in Lake Nicaragua, feared for their viciousness just like their saltwater cousins, but also farmed and harvested for decades.

Our Mombacho Guide

Simple form and function in the Cloud Forest
We encountered track workers on Mombacho and chatted
with the park manager who was really in tune with his environment

Lizzie found a finca (farm estate) called Selva Negra (or Black Forest) to check out and we ended up staying there for two days horse trekking, walking their cloud forest trails and touring the estates orchards, stock farm and coffee plantation. The restaurant featured food grown on the finca, and seemed popular with both locals and tourists.

From there we headed for the northeast corner of Nicaragua to climb the country's highest peak Mogoton, (6910')on the border with Honduras.
A guide was essential as the ridge to ascend Cerro Mogoton had also been access for the Sandanistas, and had been covered with land mines in the 1980s. A narrow strip had been cleared but you didn't want to stray off the trail.

The day started at 6am, meeting our guide at Ocotal's central square, and happily a coffee cart already busy with local customers.
Our rental 4x4 was perfect for the scoured sand track ( a logging road now) to the trailhead, involving several river crossings and avoiding major slips off the track down into the steep forested gorges.
The route started at a family's small coffee plantation, and after a courtesy call at their simple cabin we plunged down into the Achuapa riverbed of house boulders and fast flowing water. Soon the real climb began, taking a direct line through cloud forest jam packed with bromeliads, up to the main ridge. Monkeys fed noisily above us as we steadily gained the ridge.

Sticking close behind our guide, passing the occasional survey peg marking the Honduras- Nicaragua border, we reached the summit at
midday
                             
With no view, and rain clouds threatening, it was a quick stop before retracing our steps. We'd climbed 2680' over five hours, and enjoyed the whole experience.

Back in Ocotal we revisited the square which had become a town icon as a previous Mayor had developed the grounds with fantastic landscaping, and now spent his days care-taking his pride and joy.
From there we took the back roads through the region, making our way to Somoto and then onto Leon where we'd base ourselves to climb a number of volcanoes.
The drive was fascinating, especially as it was a Sunday, and various activities were underway along the route- markets, family picnics, drunkards on the road, a motocross event, horsemen strutting their stuff. Judging by the looks we received, foreigners are seldom seen in these parts.
The region was experiencing a drought, and times were hard for the farmers,their crops failing. But because the rains hadn't come, the Somoto Canyon was 10' lower than usual for October, and canyoning trips were still on, so in we plunged.

The family had a great little operation, with the youngest son clearly the mover and shaker. We were met at a cafe in the town without any directions or locations being exchanged- we'd been noticed and word was out. The canyoning package included meals at their home, a menagerie of typical animals, and Cabinas too if you needed accommodation. So all the family had a role, tho Papa took the easiest, surveying proceedings from his hammock and cracking jokes for the touristas.

Recommended, we stayed in Esteli at a B&B and visited the Cuban run Horizon Cigar Factory that does custom orders for clients. The boxes, labels, shape of cigar, and the leaf used are all made or selected to order. The staff, and the atmosphere, surprisingly relaxed and friendly.

Leon's central Plaza

Sandinista Revolution Museum

Heroes of the revolution

Leon is a tight grid of churches, casas , eating places, once the capital of Nicaragua, and proudly the HQ for the Revolution. As such it's a destination for many visitors. There are a number of outfitters and guiding operators taking tours to the numerous volcanoes, and the nearby beaches of Ponelaya and Las Penitas are popular.

Las Penitas Beach - Pirate Bar

QuetzalTrekkers loaded up and ready for adventure

We had heard about Quetzaltrekkers, an organisation that gives all it's profits to local school projects, and staffed with volunteers. We decided to book with them, and were soon signed up on three trips - a moonlight hike up Telica (3481') an active stratovolcano, an overnight trek to three separate volcanoes which started with volcano boarding on Cerro Negro, and a challenging ascent of San Cristobal, the country's highest volcano at 5,725', and recently active with devastating impacts on the local villages.

Telica Crater Rim

I even managed to ski Cerro Negro,
making some passable parallel turns on
volcanic ash on an old pair of Fischer
skiis with seized Marker bindings-what a hoot!

Skiing down Cerro Negro on very fine volcanic ash

Cerro Negro

Gathering firewood en route to our overnight camp

Momotombo 

El Hoyo Vent

Swim time after walking off El Hoyo, in background

Playing in strangler figs at our finca campsite below Volcan San Cristobal

Summit of San Cristobal 5725'

San Cristobal's denuded slopes -excellent glissading and a fast descent 

We had summited eight volcanoes, hiked for hours & hours, and driven the length of the country. A fast busy month touring Nicaragua, and unfortunately for Lizzie, not without a dose of food poisoning. Recovered enough to fly, Lizzie headed home to New Zealand and I took buses back to Whakaari, to provision for the sail north to El Salvador.

Nicaragua's coastal range of volcanoes from Whakaari