Well, there are certainly easier ways to cross borders but unlikely to be more interesting… Whilst there are airports that have planes flying from El Salvador to Nicaragua, to the organisers, bus and boat was a more exciting experience.

A two hour slow boat ride, jumped the gap between El Salvador and Nicaragua. Driving around the body of water would have added another 10 hours of transit.

A 3am departure from the lavish resort (see La Libertad post), the journey included a 3 hour bus trip to the coast of the south eastern tip of El Salvador. It was here that the passports were stamped and a ten minute walk ensued to the jetty where two derelict wooden boats were waiting. One for luggage, the other for passengers. Before the boats could depart, the Nicaraguan navy needed to provide the tick of approval to accept the passengers on the other side.

Arrival to Nicaragua was different. With the navy standing on the shore, the passengers disembarked by stepping into the shallows and walking up the black sandy beach barefoot toward the navy personnel. They were friendly as we filled out immigration information and handed over passports. After paying the USD13 entrance fee and the mandatory bag check, customs into Nicaragua had been completed. What a unique experience.

Not much happening in Leon. Depending on whether the left or right are in power depends on whether this place or Granada is the capital city of Nicaragua. There was one thing that is worth mentioning…

Volcano boarding !

After a two kilometre hike up to Cerro Negro Volcano, the best and most fun way to come down was on a wooden board. Couldn’t get past imagining the olden days of sitting on a piece of cardboard and sliding down the hill at Brookie Oval. It was much the same but on a far greater scale.

Using only your feet to both steer and brake by pressing them into the side of the volcano, the ride was a consistency of volcano sand and rock flying into every open crevice. Little rocks are still pouring out of the ears and nose.

For those interested, the last eruption of the volcano was in the early 1990’s. Its magma was only 15m below the surface when standing at the top. Scary !