Dancing Saddle

It was a 1 am wake up call to get the first shuttle to Leon. I hadn’t really slept and my body clock woke me before my alarm went off. It was now the second time peering into the dark waiting for the shuttle. I was not looking forward to this as it involved two shuttle and a boat ride which many loading and unloading of bicycles. I had already spent the previous day trying to make sure that my visa was sorted which turned up to be a waste of time.

Some random art work outside the border control in El Salvador. Lorraine waiting for her turn to be placed aboard the tiny ferry.

I didn’t have a sim card so I downloaded several podcasts to keep me entertained through the night. Our first stop was in San Salvador. Low and behold one of the passengers that got picked up was George. We had first met in a hostel in Central Mexico and again in Antigua. It is always great to meet someone you got a long well with before. The rest of the shuttle ride was trying to get some sleep. When dawn finally arrived, I had only got about an hour’s sleep.

Taking my seat right at the back of the boat by the captain and engine. Lorraine safely board though expose to the water coiming over the bow.

We arrived at the border control at La Union at around 7am. It was about 200 meters away from the jetty where the ferry was docked. They collected all our passports, and then begun our long two hour wait for other passengers to arrive and for our passports to be processed. There wasn’t much to do in the mean time except chat and pay to go pee. Finally, the last of the passengers arrived, which included some others from the hostel I had just stayed at.

The pier and sand beach that greeted us as we arrived in Nicaragua.

The official who handed back our passports was quite the character and it was quite entertaining hearing all our names and his pronunciation. We ended with a group photo. Which I assume was if the ferry sank and they needed a photographic record of everyone on board. He then escorted us to the jetty. Me scanning for the big boat amongst all the tiny boats at the jetty.

Just to give an idea of how small the ferry was.

It turns out one of the tiny boats were ours. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough space for all our stuff and my bike. But everything fit on even though it meant my bike would get a little wet. It was a perfect windless day to be crossing the Gulf of Fonseca. The water was mirror like. I squeezed into my seat at the back of the boat with my life vest on. The motion of the boat soon lulled me into sleep as we made our way to Potosi Nicaragua and its black sand beach border crossing.

One of the many stray dogs hanging around the customs and immigration area. The cows made for an interesting traffic situation.

It was another long wait for them to process our documents. In the mean time our luggage was unloaded including Lorraine. They did a perfunctory luggage check totally skipping all the luggage on my bike. At the immigration office my visa application wasn’t considered valid, so it was treated as a visa on arrival and I had to pay an extra five dollars. Eventually it was on the shuttle with Lorraine on the roof with the final stretch to Leon.

Many politcal figures are honored along a walk including the most famous rebel of all.

At the hostel I checked in, unpacked and went to go run some errands. First was money then a sim card and finally some food. I went back to the hostel and forced myself to stay awake until it was a good time to go to bed. While I was putting in the good fight, a few people stumbled into the hostel absolutely wasted. I watched them hoping and praying that they weren’t in the same dorm. Unfortunately, they were but they still turn out to be awesome people.

Thhe statue of Paz Hermano Lobo. One of the statues inside Iglesia de San Francisco.

The next day I went exploring around Leon before returning to organize my trip to Corn Island. I was getting excited for this as I had never been to the Caribbean. That evening the hostel organized salsa classes before we headed out to a salsa club with my new favourite roommates. It was so much fun and really missed doing bachata and salsa back in Korea. I couldn’t stay out too late as I would be going to Cerro Negro the next day to do some volcano boarding.

At the salsa club with Remy doing her best to make me look like an adequate dance partner.

We gathered at Big Foot hostel to get a briefing and gear and then it was off to Cerro Negro. It was only a short shuttle ride before the black triangle of Cerro Negro rose above us. It stood out in stark contrast to the lush green on the surrounding jungle. We got given out gear and begun the trek to the top of the volcano.

Cerro Negro dominating the jungle. Our group ready to go boarding at the start of the hike.

The path up was relatively easy with only one steep section near the beginning. The guide stopped occasionally to point out other volcanoes and landmarks along the ring of fire. At the peak we went to edge to look down at the active part of the volcano. There was no lava but the soil was noticeably hotter with zero plant life able to take hold. We geared up in our overalls with our bags strapped to our chest. Buff around our mouths and goggles on. We were given a crash course on how to brake or speed up. Which for me was counterintuitive and I promptly got wrong. We waited our turn while the guide went about a tenth of the way down to take photos and videos. From our perspective it looked halfway. Which meant a large surprise once we went down.

Hoping I look like a pro boarder. The active part of the volcano with the heat rising through the soil.

It was eventually my turn and I had a great time bombing down the volcano. Totally shocked at how steep and high the ride down was. I kept confusing how to slow down and how to speed up and ended up going way faster than intended. By the bottom the pebbles and sand had got everywhere. Especially in my hair and ears. I waited at the bottom watching the rest of the group come down. Some fast, some extremely slowly.

All set and ready to head down the mountain. Probably not nearly as in control as it looks.

Back at the hostel I took a long shower trying to get all the dust sand and pebbles washed off. Especially in my hair and ears. It took a while. I packed up all my stuff and was ready to leave for Corn Island the next day. And lots of diving to come over the next week or so.