Cerro Negro Volcano

Avg. User Rating:

Cordillera de los Maribios Mountain Range, Malpaisillo, Nicaragua

Category:
Mountains, Outdoors
Not right?
Update Address

Show More Info

Crunchy rock Photo - Cerro Negro Volcano, Leon, Nicaragua

User Reviews

Cerro Negro

by ext212

New York, New York

February 27, 2007

Best of IgoUgo After a long search for breakfast in Leon, we met up with Hector at the Va Pues Tour office inside the Cocinarte restaurant-cum-artist hangout. It was a last-minute arrangement and we couldn’t risk just asking one of the locals for a much cheaper ...Read more After a long search for breakfast in Leon, we met up with Hector at the Va Pues Tour office inside the Cocinarte restaurant-cum-artist hangout. It was a last-minute arrangement and we couldn’t risk just asking one of the locals for a much cheaper ride to Cerro Negro, so we ended up shelling out $90 for the two of us to hike the crater.

We got on the pickup truck and our driver negotiated the dry mud along the way while Hector told us about his life. He was young and energetic and seemed really thrilled that Chinese-looking people like us could speak Spanish. It was a long drive and we only saw one sign directing us towards the volcano. We tried to convince ourselves that we made the right decision in paying so much money to get us there.

As soon as we started our hike up Cerro Negro, I knew it was going to be a completely different experience from Volcan Mombacho or Apoyo. The small stones crunched as we stepped on them. It was like hiking on powdered snow: step up, crunch, slide down, repeat. From afar, we could see how much damage the lava from its last eruption affected the valley. There was no vegetation; only hardened asphalt. Steam was coming out from some of the rocks. I scooped up some to take home as souvenir and was amazed at how hot they were. One section of the hill was completely covered in yellow sulphur.

It was really windy when we reached the top. But the crater was right below us and it was an amazing sight. (Okay, so the $90 was worth it.) Now, this is a crater, I thought. Weirdly enough, crickets and grasshoppers were hopping all over the place. The heat attracted them, but they would die instantly when they would land on the steaming rocks for too long.

After several photographs from the top, we readied ourselves for what was to come next: sliding and surfing down the other side of Cerro Negro. If we paid a little more money, we could have rented mini-boards to suit up and ride down like snowboarders. But we just decided to slide down without any props. It was longer than I expected, but it was so much fun. The stones gave easily and I couldn’t help but squeal every time I slid without interruption.

I imagined our entire surrounding was how the moon would look like. Everything was black and pure. I’ve never seen anything like Cerro Negro before and I’ve definitely never slid down a volcano in my life. Close

From journal A Detour to the Black Hill

Cerro Negro Volcano

What's Nearby?

Nearby Things to Do

Popular Leon Hotels

Popular Things to Do in Leon

Avg. User Rating:

User Reviews

Cerro Negro