Leon
By Jaimy de Vries
Leon was the highlight of our trip in Nicaragua. It’s a beautiful colonial city and has many hidden treasures. The city is Filled with history, delicious food, lots of outdoor activities, volcanoes, and nearby beaches. I was surprised by the diversity of this city.
Crossing borders
We took a shuttle from Guatemala to Nicaragua. We were a bit anxious crossing 3 countries in central America in one day. But it was cheaper than flying and you get to see something from the other countries. The bus was good, not luxurious but not bad either. It was a long drive of 16 hours. The border crossing in El Salvador and Honduras went
smooth. Right after we crossed the border in Honduras I heard other travelers talking about bringing a drone and that it’s highly forbidden in Nicaragua and you’ll get end up with a big fine or even getting in jail. Well I didn’t knew that and definitely not going to take that risk. I gave my drone to someone when we stopped at a tank station. He was very happy. Well and the drone had given me so much already. I had two years of fun and took many nice videos in many countries. I knew it’s always a risk bringing a drone across the border and there would be a chance of losing it at customs. Goodbye dronie! The crossing at Nicaragua was a bit scary. We were in a rush, because they close at 8 pm and it was already quite late. The border crossing is also long, because they will check all the bags. It took us approx. 1 hour. But we got in without a problem. We arrived late by bus. But saw a first glimpse of Leon. It looks quite similar to Antigua, but the weather is way better: sun and a nice tropical temperature.
A tribute to my drone, bye amigo!
Turtles walking on the property of the hotel
Exploring a new city
We had a good nice sleep at Hostel Tortuga Booluda. We woke up from the children playing at the swimming pool in front of our room. We were still very tired from our bus drive and the volcano tour. We needed some rest. We did everything a bit slow today. We started with some work on the laptop, like finances and planning. We didn’t set our planning for Nicaragua yet, but now we got a chance to do so. We booked our stay at the beach on the pacific ocean with lots of turtle nestling and hatching activity and we booked our volcano boarding tour. While working on the planning there were small turtles walking around the property, so cute! In the afternoon we went out to the city center for lunch. The prices are so nice here. For just 6 euro we had an ice frappe and a big sandwich close to the main square.
Nicaraguan culture
First we walked to a museum called “museo leyendas y mystico”, a museum in an old prison about the Nicaraguan legends and mystical stories. It was just 50 cordobas (1,30 euro). It was not a very fancy museum and in desperate time of renewal, but it was unique and interesting. It is in an old prison that was build in time of dictature. People started to rebel and they were imprisoned here and tortured. You could see it was a scary and very minimalistic prison. Not a good place to be. They had horrible ways to torture people what they explained at the museum. In 1979 the rebellions (guerillas) won. You can find lots of tributes to the rebellions of that time everywhere in Leon.
Another subject at the museum was about legends and mystical stories, the Nicaraguan folklore. It plays a large role in the Nicaraguan culture. Many of its stories, songs and dances tell tales of mysterious and often frightening characters known by all Nicaraguans. We read stories about the white and black dog representing good and evil, about mistreated women who became witches hunting womanizers, and about Pancho a feared thief. Nicaraguans often use these figures in common phrases. For example if you’re robbed, it must have been Pancho. At the museum they presented these stories with strange and a bit creepy looking figures. Later we saw them in other places too. Nicaragua doesn’t have a known old native culture, but we read there was an Indian native culture living in Nicaragua before the Spaniards conquered central America.
Locked in a jail. Luckily Jaron saved me
Walking on the catwalk
Creepy looking figures
Pancho, the notorious thief
The white cathedral
Walking on the main square the big white cathedral is not to miss. Visiting the white cathedral and going to the rooftop is THE thing to do in city Leon. The best time is in the afternoon before sunset. The white cathedral is called: Cathedral-Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Well let’s keep it to white cathedral, a bit shorter. The white cathedral is big! It’s the biggest cathedral of central America. Besides its size it has a special beauty. The cathedral is all white and is a mix of different types of architecture. When we reached the rooftop we needed to put our shoes off, so it stays clean and undamaged. It was a big rooftop that offers amazing views over the city and the surrounding volcano’s. There is also enough place to make some nice pictures. We stayed there for an hour and enjoyed the sunset.
Volcano day!
Today is volcano day! Early in the morning we were picked up for a volcano boarding tour. We had a big and fun group what set the mood for that day, everyone was happy and excited and a bit scared once we saw how steep the volcano was. Everyone, around 30 people, got out of the truck once we arrived and we received a bag with an overall, goggles and hand gloves. We also put a 2 liter bottle of water in our bag what they recommended. Because it would be very hot. We got a board and needed to carry this ourselves to the top. It was not a very easy climb with lots of slippery gravel and that while holding a board and the sun burning on your skin. But it was a short climb of 45 minutes. At the top we had an amazing panorama view over many volcano’s and the San Cristóbal volcano, the biggest in Nicaragua. We also walked a bit
Going hard
further to the crater. If you scoop away some gravel with your feet and then put your hand above the sand you could feel it’s burning hot. Then it was time to dress up. We needed to put our bag in front of our chest underneath our overall. It looked so silly. Everyone had a big belly and a huge yellow overall. We turned into fat minions. We got a nice motivational speech about people going down on bicycles, fridges and matrasses and one that broke every bone in his body. Thanks Tony😅.Then we walked a little bit down for the starting point of the slide. We got a quick explanation how to go down and what not to do. First: don’t put your feet on the board, because crazy enough it will slow you down. Second: you need to lay down and pull hard on the string and the third: put your knees up and keep your feet flat. Then you’ll go faster. If you want to slow down break with your feet.
The first people went and we saw many people struggling to actually slide down. Many got stuck even though they wanted to go fast. We went as one of the last, but it was actually nice because we saw so many sliding down we had an idea what to do and what not to do. And our observations and long patience were rewarded. We went down fast! It was so much fun!! Once down I had volcanic sand and rocks everywhere: in my shoe, my back, my hair and even in my mouth and nose while wearing a bandana. Back in Leon we got a nice cold refreshing drink and exchanged some stories with other backpackers. We had a quick lunch and went quick to our hotel. We felt so dirty we wanted to take a good and long shower.
The group
Hiking up
Looking into the crater & an amazing view
Vamos a la playa!
We went to a remote place at the beach close to Poneloya. It was an adventure to get there, but a lot of fun! It’s located on the beach. It has palm trees, hammocks and its own restaurant with a cocktail bar. Besides how nice that all sound, it gets even better: there is lots of turtle activity there. And I just love turtles. We were surprised we were the only tourist there. It’s a great place and were wondering why it is so quiet? We couldn’t find an answer. It was awesome and we had seen so many turtles. It was our little paradise! We are thinking about coming back someday.
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Feeling free and relaxed
My guide for your Leon trip
We stayed in Leon for 4 days and 2 days in Poneloya. But afterwards I would rather love staying longer in Leon than in Granada.
- Recommended duration visit: 4-6 days
- Best places to eat: mi Casita, Hollywood pizza, pan & paz cafe for nice sandwiches and coffee.
- Highlighted things to do: visit the white cathedral, Museo leyendas y mystico, volcano boarding, hiking, visit the crater lakes, visit the beach, 1 or 2 day trip to Somoto canyon
- Our accommodation: Hotel Tortuga Booluda & Surf turtle lodge
- My favorite activity: Volcano boarding & stay at Surf turtle lodge