Tag > Leon

Mar 8, 2013
Nicaragua
Leave a comment

Safe (probably)

Cerro Negro and Volcán Telica, Nicaragua

Nicaragua is already a country of volcanoes, but León is positively surrounded by them.  In fact, the old city of León was buried by an eruption and the current, rebuilt León is 30 km away from the old one.

I joined three people from my hostel on a day trip to Cerro Negro.  The rural road we were on wasn’t made for automobiles, clearly – aside from sharing the one “lane” with horses and cows, it was extremely bumpy and worn to the point that we got stuck a few times, needing to back up and speed across a hump or giant rock or tree root. Continue reading →

Mar 7, 2013
Nicaragua
Leave a comment

Stories

León, Nicaragua

León is in the lowlands, the hottest part of the country.  I thought it was hot enough already…but then I arrive to find 37ºC weather!  Given that, I found a hostel with a pool and spent a lot of time there.

León is a very colonial city, like Granada, with whom it has shared a long rivalry – both cities have been the capital of Nicaragua at some point, until the neutral city of Managua was finally picked.  Aesthetically, they’re similar (though León is a little bit more rundown), but politically, they couldn’t be further away from each other – León is the hub of the left, and Granada for the right. Continue reading →