#telicavolcano

[givevolunteers]

Goals: Explore all landscapes, say yes to every adventure. . This may be a new view you haven’t seen before among our many GIVE excursions! We added this epic adventure to our Nicaragua itinerary — bienvenidos a Volcán Telica. . After we finish up our volunteer projects, we spend our final days exploring Nicaragua’s coolest corners with a team of local guides. We’ll hike through the forest on your way to the summit of Telica Volcano. The day ends with dinner with your pals as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean, then camping beneath the stars near the volcanic rim. . It’s that kind of excursion that satisfies all of those adventures cravings. So good. We can’t wait for you all to experience it this summer. If you aren’t yet signed up for a trip with us, tap the link in bio to get your registration process started. . #givenicaragua #givevolunteers #adventuretravel #volunteerabroad #discovernicaragua #telicavolcano #volcanocamping (at Telica, Leon, Nicaragua) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ZH6NOHwnd/?igshid=1irart7sieeq1

[thehealthybackpacker-blog]

Telica Volcano two-day hike, Nicaragua Hiking is such a fantastic way to stay fit and healthy while travelling, not to mention the epic natural wonders you get to see that aren't normally accessible any other way. During the past seven months, hiking has been a huge part of my life and essential to keeping me focused, grounded and connected to both myself and nature. Over the next few weeks I am going to write about my favourite Central and South American hikes. Hopefully you will find this an inspiration to get out into nature in addition to a useful source of information for those currently treading the well-worn backpacker trail through Latin America. My hike up to Telica Volcano near León in Nicaragua was an incredible experience. I never in a thousand years thought I would camp only a few hundred metres from an active volcano crater, so close that I could hear the lava bubbling away as loud as a jet engine but as calming as ocean waves. We organised the hike in León through the brilliant Quetzaltrekkers, an organisation entirely run by volunteers with most proceeds going directly to local community projects. They run a number of one day and multi-day hikes as well as volcano boarding which sounds scary but was stacks of fun and I highly recommend so long as you don't mind getting a little dirty! The hike up to Telica started with a delicious and hearty vegetarian breakfast at the Quetzaltrekkers office in León - a delicious spread of stir-fried veggies and scrambled eggs with papaya for dessert (who doesn't love breakfast dessert?). After breakfast we packed our bags with all the essentials - 8 litres of water each and the food and camping equipment distributed evenly among the nine of us. I had never hiked with a pack that heavy before so was a bit apprehensive but those worries quickly disappeared once I was loaded up and we were on our way. We made our way through León's busy marketplace to the bus station and jumped on a short one-hour ride to just outside a small rural village called El Panal from where we started the hike. The landscape during the hike varied immensely and we started off walking through rural farms then found ourselves winding our way through incredible, naturally-formed canyon-esque paths with rocks and trees looming above us on both sides. After hiking on a fairly flat and easy path for about four hours, we stopped in a nice little alcove of trees for lunch where the Quetzaltrekkers guides maintained their reputation for good food. We were served a light lunch of freshly chopped vegetables and beans with tortillas. I never feel like eating much while hiking so this was the perfect meal and definitely energised the team for the afternoon which was set to be a bit more challenging. After lunch we continued walking, stopping after a few hours to collect firewood which we strapped on to our packs. Then the tough part began as we scrambled up a rocky and steep incline to reach the crater of the volcano. My goodness was it worth it! As we neared the edge of the crater we started to hear the lava bubbling away 120 metres below. The sound of the lava is really hard to describe and louder than I had possibly imagined. Once we had gotten over the excitement of peering into the lava-filled crater we noticed the epic view around us - a panorama of volcanoes! San Cristóbal, Cerro Negro, Momotombo, and the Las Pilas-El Hoyo surrounded us, out of this world! We then walked down into the valley just below the crater and set up camp. Hungry cows looked on with curiosity and we were warned not to leave anything we valued within their reach. One girl wasn't so lucky though and found her rain jacket missing both sleeves after being momentarily stolen by one of our animal friends! It was a really fun evening of sitting around the campfire, sharing travel stories while we had another delicious meal prepared for us. This time it was pasta with stacks of veggies in a tomato sauce. I opted to just have the veggies and sauce and was amazed at the flavours our guides managed to cook-up with very limited ingredients. Once it was dark we made our way back up to the crater to see the lava glowing in the dark. It was amazing!!! Literally breath-taking and I feel so lucky to have been able to have that experience. We were all set to wake up early the next morning to watch the sunrise however unfortunately it was really cloudy so we went back to bed for a little more rest before starting the hike down the volcano. We took a different path on the way down which I loved because I much prefer circuits rather than retracing my steps. It was very steep on the way down and once again the landscapes were incredibly diverse. We made our way through jungle paths then felt like true explorers as we pushed through sky high corn crops and fields of beans. After maybe three to four hours of hiking we found ourselves in the small village of San Jacinto, famous for the Hervidores - boiling mud pools resulting from the subterranean lava flow of the Telica volcano. We then ate lunch in a local restaurant and jumped on the back of a truck to make our way back to León. Definitely check out the Telica Volcano hike and other amazing adventures offered by Quetzaltrekkers if you're ever in León. http://leon.quetzaltrekkers.org

[givevolunteers]

“There’s no time to be bored in a world as beautiful as this.” 🌋🌎 #GIVEvolunteers #TelicaVolcano #Rootsofchange #liveyouradventure #nobaddays #liveyourbestlife #bolunteerabroad #chaseadventure #GIVEback (at Telica, Leon, Nicaragua)