So Volcano boarding… for those who aren't sure.. is the act of climbing up an active volcano with the intention of hurling yourself down it on a wooden board. Toootally safe, right?

Obviously, new years day was ruled out. So the following day, a truck load of adrenaline fuelled tourists rode the bumpy road out of Leon towards Volcano Cerro Negro. The last eruption of this volcano was 1999, and before that 1995 and 1992. The steep hike (carrying our boards!) up was only made more difficult by the gale force winds blowing against us. The boards acted as a sail and there were a few times when the smaller members of our group nearly took off from the gusts! The view from inside the volcano (yeah, inside the crater!) was awesome. No magma but lots of sulphuric smoke making the place smell veeery pleasant! From the top you can see the different craters from the different eruptions and the line of 4 or 5 volcanoes beyond this one.

After a brief history/ geology lesson, it was time to throw ourselves down the side! We found a safe spot which was shielded from the wind, donned our serial killer Beastie Boy's outfits and queued up to take turns. The ride was everything you would expect from sledging on gravel........fast & dangerous with minimal steering! Good times! We are still not entirely sure how Pete managed to travel twice as fast as everyone else but amusingly neither is he!

The option to go back up in the gale force winds seemed unattractive to some (read as: to myself and Aine) when the alternative was a nap in a hammock in the sun, but boys being boys.. back up the hill they went! We are hoping to get the video up of the spectacular tumble Steve took when his navigation system failed - Peter & Aine, if you see this, upload it for us!!

Once we had collected our free t-shirts (woo! Clean stuff!) we headed back to the hostel to plan our next move… an hour down the road to the beach.