We had a long one-day tour from our marina to El Viejo and León to see a couple churches and other sites. Then we went volcano surfing! Muy peligroso! Dont tell our mothers!
El Viejo is a little town that has its own basilica. That’s about as close to the Vatican as you get in the Catholic church building hierarchy. December 7 is a crazy celebration day. We will miss it by a week, probably for the better as thousands of people will be making pilgrimages to this small town.
We also went to the city of León. We visited the main cathedral. They buried Nicaragua’s most famous poet Rubén Darío in one of the columns. His brother stole his brain after Rubén died to sell to scientific study, but that caper did not end well.
We also visited the roof of the cathedral where we had to walk barefoot – no shoes allowed. On the roof, we had great views of the ranges of active and not-so-active volcanos surrounding the city.
We also got to tour a museum that was a former prison for political prisoners. It had a disturbing history. But it also had a section of local myths – those stories your grandmother would tell you so you came home before dark, you did not consume alcohol, and you did not flirt with the opposite sex!
And the tour finale! Surfing an active volcano! We were by far the oldest kids on this trek! Active volcano verified – we dug a couple inches into the ground and the dirt was HOT!
Sailing YO-D-YO 