The base of Cerro Negro

Hiking up Cerro Negro

The Cerro Negro crater

Happy Fun Day!!!! We started the day off waking up at 6 am but the Leaders del Dia (LDD’s) had to wake up a half hour earlier. Since it was a fun day, some of the Glimpsers stayed up a little late the previous night. We were able to seye the tired looks on their faces the next morning.

We started our walk towards Imabete Comedor at around 7am. We were greeted by warm plates of gallo pinto, scrambled eggs, a tortilla, assorted fruits, and the daily juice special. After breakfast, we were escorted by the Quetzal Trekkers who took us on our journey up Cerro Negro.

Before we left for Cerro Negro for our hike and volcano boarding, Peter my partner in crime for the LDD (Lider Del Dia) felt too sick to go on the trip. This meant that I (Jeremiah) had to take more of a leadership role.

So after breakfast, we went back to the hostel to meet up with the Quetzal Trekkers (our tour guides for Cerro Negro).and this is where my day as a leader began. It was a disappointment that Peter wasn’t able to go to Cerro Negro with us, but we all know that his health is more important than one fun day. We missed having Peter with us on the fun day, But, my roommate Eddy and I tried to make it up to him by giving him some volcano rocks and telling him about the adventure.

The bus ride to the Cerro Negro was between 45 minutes to an hour. We had one stop to the National Park visitors’ center to sign in letting them know that we were about to hike up Cerro Negro and board down it. On the way to the volcano there were many bumps on the road messing with people trying to catch up on sleep. After signing in we were all in shock thinking that we are about to hike up and board down a volcano.

At Cerro Negro we see other groups of people taking pictures and getting ready to climb up the volcano. We are instructed by one of the Quetzal Trekkers tour guides about our journey to the volcano and its history. We were informed that since the volcano is active ,in about 5 years Cerro Negro might erupt and there will be no more volcano boarding. On the lowest level of the volcano, we are learning about the supplies needed for out hike. We have a bag with a jumpsuit, gloves, goggles and a two liter bottle of water. With this we are carrying our board during the hike up.

I reminded everyone to drink water before we leave, then we start our journey up Cerro Negro. After about ten minutes we have our first break. One of the Quetzal Trekkers is in the front and one is in the back. As I walk to the stopping point for the first break, I could hear everyone talking about how tired they are or how out of shape they are. It’s funny because me and Naas (we both play basketball) are in front with the one Quetzal Trekkers. We turn around and see a huge gap and people are saying slow down.

After the first break, we continue the hike and it is the most difficult because of how steep it is. Going up the Cerro Negro came with seeing some of amazing views. Next, we get to the second break point and all of us see people at the top of the volcano. Everyone is amazed but shocked that we will be up there and boarding down. Continuing the hike, we can see the end and we are all so happy. When at the top we put our bags on the ground and walk to see the center of the volcano. It came with some amazing pictures. As we walk to our bags it starts to rain.

None of us prepared for the rain. So we get into our jump suits and the safety gear to get ready for boarding down the volcano. Before we take pictures of each other in these ugly jump suits lol. We get instructions about the do’s and dont’s for volcano boarding. Then we start!!

I was the third person to go down the volcano. My experience was fun, but the ending was a little rough. I took a tumble at the end because of the chord breaking. But overall the time at the volcano was amazing. We were able to go down a volcano . It’s like we did the impossible! This is definitely a day I will never forget.

Next up, out first day for CAP 1. Bailey and Simone will be the LDD’s for tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Jeremiah and Peter