Nicaragua – León and Granada

After traveling through El Salvador on a group tour with G Adventures, our next stop was Nicaragua, where we spent three days exploring the cities of León and Granada.

Day 1 – Making Our Way to León

We had to wake up at 3:30 AM (!) to make our way across the border into Nicaragua. A private vehicle picked us up from our resort in El Salvador and we drove for several hours, making minimal stops along the way. After a long morning, we said goodbye to our driver and went through immigration in El Salvador. From there, we boarded a “ferry” which was really just a small boat. Usually the Gulf is really rough, but we got lucky and the water was calm during our two hour journey.

Once we got to land, we had to wait awhile for the Nicaraguan border agents to process our passports and search our bags. One of the guards decided to only search 4 of our 18 bags which saved us some time. After the immigration process, we took a second private vehicle to the city of León. Our guide had warned us that Nicaragua would be poorer than the other countries we had visited so far, which was obvious during parts of our drive. There were also stray dogs everywhere, although they at least looked somewhat taken care of.

We finally arrived in León around 3:30 PM, where we went on a short walk around the city and then visited the León Cathedral. The visit was actually pretty cool because you could walk on parts of the roof. Later that evening, some of us went to dinner at a vegan restaurant called Coco Calala; my “burger” was actually pretty good. Afterwards, some of us went to Bar La Fabrica. It was a popular and fun spot, but we didn’t stay too long since we had to be up early for the next day’s adventure!

A side street in León

The rooftop of León Cathedral

Day 2 – Volcano Boarding

Some of us were picked up from the hotel the next morning to go volcano boarding, which involves riding a sled down a volcano. I was a little worried because G Adventures doesn’t sponsor the activity due to its potential dangers. At least I had some other group members to share the risk with! The ride to the volcano was pretty entertaining because the drivers played some music for us to sing along to; Shania Twain was our go-to. We drove along dunes made of ash right before arriving at the volcano which was a cool experience.

In order to sled down the volcano, we first had to hike to the top. Thankfully the hike wasn’t too bad, and I wasn’t the slowest one which was a nice surprise. The ground was warm in places and hot in others which was creepy! We could also see steam rising out of the volcano in places (we were on Volcan Cerro Negro which is an active volcano). After awhile we reached the top, where we changed into protective suits and eyewear. I was second-to-last to go down the slope, and the board descended quickly! It was a really fun experience, and all of us made it to the bottom without injury.

Volcano boarding down Cerro Negro

We headed back to the hotel and cleaned up before heading to the city of Granada (we all had tons of ash all over ourselves). The drive was another uneventful one; the most interesting part was seeing a couple of local baseball games along the way. Our hotel welcomed us with some tropical mocktails, and then our guide took us on another walk around the city center. Downtown Granada was really beautiful and had a lot of fun things going on.

Downtown Granada

It was our group’s designated “Big Night Out,” so we went to dinner at Eco, a Nicaraguan fusion restaurant, and had two drink vouchers included with our meal. I had the Classic Nico plate which consisted of meat, plantain slices, fried cheese, and traditional slaw; it was really flavorful! We stayed there for awhile, and then some of us went to a karaoke bar and enjoyed watching the locals sing Spanish classics. We then headed to a reggaeton bar with our guide and had a fun rest of the evening!

Day 3 – A Full-Day Tour

I wanted to make the most of my time in Granada, so I joined a full-day tour with some other group members. Our first stop was the Isletas de Granada where we rode on a small boat around the islands. We saw several howler monkeys as well as bats hanging off a boat. Next we headed to La Merced Church which had some beautiful views of the city. I thought it was funny that the church bells were in the open where anyone could pull the strings if they wanted to.

Boating the Isletas de Granada

View of Granada from La Merced Church

Afterwards, we picked up the rest of the group who opted for the half-day option and headed to Laguna de Apoyo. We had lunch at a restaurant by the lake and then enjoyed the afternoon swimming, kayaking, and paddle boarding. As we were leaving we heard more howler monkeys communicating with one another which was both cool and creepy (they make very strange and terrifying noises).

Laguna de Apoyo

Our final stop was Masaya Volcano at sunset which was my favorite part of the whole trip. It was absolutely incredible! You could see the magma swirling and bubbling down below, and I almost felt like I was on another planet. We watched the volcano as the sky changed colors, each one illuminating the magma in a different way. I could’ve stayed there for hours, but eventually we had to make our way back to town. We ate at a Mediterranean restaurant for dinner and then headed to the hotel fairly early to call it a night. I was really enjoying my time in Nicaragua so far!

Masaya Volcano