The best way to justify extending your stay in León, our favorite city in Nicaragua, is to sign up for some of the day trips and activities you can do around León including Cerro Negro volcano boarding, the Flor de Caña rum tour, the mudslide memorial at Casita Volcano, and León Viejo.
As you approach Cerro Negro Volcano you can clearly see why it got that name.
Volcano boarding down Cerro Negro
It should really be called volcano sledding, however, that’s a lot less sexy. Anyway, you huff up a steep trail for about 40 minutes, suit up in day glow coveralls in a vain attempt to keep from getting an involuntary full-body exfoliation, sit your butt down on a piece of wood, grab the “steering” rope at the front, then plummet down the black pumice-covered slopes of Cerro Negro Volcano, hopefully wearing a helmet.
An orange-jumpsuited traveler goes volcano boarding down Cerro Negro in Nicaragua while a dude at the bottom clocks his considerable speed using a radar gun.
Cerro Negro is an active volcano and the youngest in Central America. Time has not worn down its slopes and the thing is steep–more than a 40-degree grade in places. The volcano is 2,388 feet (728 meters) tall and it take most boarders about a minute to slide, swerve, and sometimes wipe out from top to bottom. One woman topped out at 54 miles (87 km) per hour. In 2002 “high-speed specialist” Eric Barone smashed his own world record for fastest downhill speed on a bicycle when he reached 107 mph (172 kmh).
We drove to Cerro Negro but we did not go volcano boarding. However, our friend Matthew over at The Expert Vagabond did and (barely) lived to tell the tale.
Here’s our video of volcano boarders on Cerro Negro.
Our truck at Cerro Negro Volcano in Nicaragua. The dust trail on the left of the slope is a volcano boarder.
Flor de Caña Rum Tour
We also drove about half an hour north of León to check out the tour offered at the Flor de Caña rum distillery in Chichigalpa where we learned why Nicaragua’s years of war and revolution were good for their rum, why you might want to think twice before buying a rum made using the “Solera” method (check your labels people), and how to spot top quality stuff (hint: wash your hands with it). There’s more in our story about Flor de Caña tour.
This steam engine, once used to haul sugar cane from field to factory, now greets guest taking the Flor de Caña run tour in Nicaragua.
This bar, gift shop and small museum is part of the tour at the Flor de Caña distillery in Nicaragua. The building’s design was inspired by rum barrels.
Outside the barrel aging room where the rum magic happens.
Rum barrels waiting to be filled and filed away for aging.
The mudslide memorial at Casita Volcano
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch dumped 67 inches (1,700 mm) of rain on the area around the Casita Volcano triggering a massive mudslide that killed more than 2,000 people.
This strange pyramid-like creation is a memorial to the more than 2,000 people who died in a massive mudslide in this area in 1998.
Now there’s a small museum on the site which includes an eerie diorama which shows the path and scope of the massive flow which came barreling down the volcano at 40 mph (65 kmph). A local man in the museum told us the slide happened in seconds.
This diorama in the small museum at the site of a deadly mudslide in Nicaragua shows how the 6 mile (10 km) slide traveled from the rain-swollen crater of Casita Volcano down through hillside villages.
A few months after the slide,then US President Bill Clinton toured the destruction and a plaque in honor of his visit has been placed on a boulder that rolled down the slope.
A plaque commemorating the visit of former US President Bill Clinton to the site of the deadly Casita Volcano mudslide.
You can still see part of the path of the deadly 1998 mudslide on the slopes of the Casita Volcano (right). That’s San Cristobal Volcano puffing away on the left.
And don’t forget to visit the first León
About 20 miles (32 km) from modern León lies the site where the Spanish originally settled the city in 1524. Now called León Viejo (Old León), earthquakes forced inhabitants to abandon the area in 1610. The ruins of the city, which is one of the oldest Spanish settlements in the Americas, were excavated in 1960 and the place was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.
This grisly statue in León Viejo stands in memory of a brutal attack that happened there in 1528 during which the Spanish government used dogs to kill 12 Indian hostages.
Some of the excavated ruins of León Viejo.
Excavated areas inside what was the Cathedral of León Viejo.
León Viejo was founded at the foot of Momotombo Volcano.
Here’s more about travel in Nicaragua
How was the Flor de Cana rum fresh out of the distillery? Tasty I’d bet!
Actually, Hans, the point of rum is that it should be aged (not fresh out of the barrel) and during this tour you do get to sip on some very, very old rum indeed.