The western coastal plain of Central America holds a line of active volcanoes running north to south. Nicaragua itself has 19 volcanoes, almost all of them protected in National Parks.
Volcan Masaya, located about halfway between Managua and Granada, has a road to the edge of its crater. Visitors look over a stone wall and nearly 1000 feet straight down, into a rumbling smoking caldera belching acrid fumes. Folklore describes this place as the mouth of Hell. Yet, incredibly, flocks of vivid green parrots nest on the sheer walls of the crater, safe from predation. Tours can also be arranged to see a lava tube cave beneath the volcano, where three species of bats hang, and fresh lava glows in the dark.
Cerro Negro, a volcano near Leon, is completely different. The newest of Nicaragua's volcanoes, it began erupting in 1850. Visitors trek through a blasted moonscape of sharp volcanic rubble. The climb is steep, but not too long; it takes about an hour to climb Cerro Negro. From the lip of the crater, the green coastal plain is laid out below, and beyond, the sparkling Pacific. A chain of volcanoes marches into the distance, including Telica and San Cristobal, often with smoke drifting from their cones.
Hikers can continue on down into the crater, where the air is sulfurous and the ground too hot to touch. If arrangements were made ahead of time, it is possible to use a board to descend from the volcano, snowboarding or sledding on the ash. Some people even run down.
Volcan Mombacho, near Granada, offers a cabled canopy tour through rainforest. There is a cloud forest here, and a dwarf forest as well, but the trail to it can only be explored with a guide. Wild orchids bloom on Mombacho.
There are many more volcanoes and many more sights in Nicaragua, all waiting to be explored by adventure travelers who want to see and experience the best of this fascinating land.
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
4 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
5 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.