Volcano boarding, in all likelihood, is something you probably only do once in your life. But I've done it, and it was, more or less, just as exciting, random, and dangerous as it sounds.

I had left Pearl Lagoon after spending about a month there teaching (as well as a little teaching in Orinoco), and headed up on my own towards the beautiful, ever intriguing Granada. After spending a bit of time there, which I loved, I caught a bus to Leon, which is just about the hottest place I've ever been. I didn't know I was capable of sweating that much - it was, at times, just plain ridiculous. Though, I had a very pleasant time there, and met up with a friend I had met from the Peace Corps while in Pearl Lagoon named Chelsea. We actually ended up watching a bit of playoff hockey back at my hostel one night, so she passed the litmus test for effectively befriending a Canadian. Perhaps I can post a bit about Leon another time, but for now I want to return my attention to Volcano boarding.

Far, but not too far away from Leon lies Cerro Negro, which is actually the youngest volcano in Central America (formed around 1850). The roads to get there were nice and bumpy, something not unusual at all in Nicaragua. I took what was essentially a pick-up truck with a bench in the back with a few others to get to the volcano, then held on tightly while simultaneously putting on aggressive amounts of sunscreen.

When we arrived I thought to myself, "Yes...this is easily as dangerous as I thought it would be," which explained why I had to essentially sign my life away on a waiver before participating.

The ground near the volcano was ashen black, which is appropriate considering it has erupted nearly 25 times in its recorded history, the latest back in 1999.