by Alexander Van Terheyden

Created on: February 03, 2009

Stansfield: "I like these calm little moments before the storm. It reminds me of Beethoven. Can you hear it? It's like when you put your head to the grass and you can hear the growin' and you can hear the insects. Do you like Beethoven?"
Malky: "I couldn't really say."

Those that appreciate their movies will immediately recognise those immortal words were uttered by Gary Oldman in 1994s Leon. I came to be reminded of that film when I found myself in an old colonial town (once the capital of Nicaragua) but now so much more because it is no longer that capital. I was in Leon. The only similarity to the movie: maybe there are one or two unsavory french men walking around but other than that the similarities fade.

While in Leon, I stayed at the charming "Bigfoot" Hostel (set up by 2 Aussie chaps a few years ago). It's cheap, clean and has a good vibe, and sets the tone perfectly for a town that reminds me a little of Antigua (Guatemala). The town Leon is surrounded by many many active volcano's however none are erupting today, and hopefully none will be tomorrow as I've arranged to go Volcano boarding, this is where you trek up a volcano with a cheap snowboard and proceed to make your way down the steaming hot ash volcano.

Firstly it would only be fair to indicate that I survived the journey up to the top of Volcano Negro (Carre Negro) Nicaragua. Obviously I did - Im writing this! Carre Negro is a young volcano by volcano standards, a mere 157 years old. One day the local farmers of Nicaragua were out hearding their cattle when an earth quake hit the North Eastern part of Nicaragua - and before they knew it these farmers suddenly had a volcano in their backyards (not the greatest land to graze cattle on). In those 157 years the Volcano has reached its 7th cycle (vulcanologist's will probably be able to tell you in more detail what that means - but it sounds impressive). Basically, the volcano has erupted many many times, the last major eruption happened in 1998 when the volcano spewed out a load of fresh lava and rocks from its inner depths, to this day it continues to shake and smoke.

My journey to Carre Negro began from the Bigfoot hostel in the colonial town of Leon - the hostel is the masterpiece of 2 very energetic and happy go lucky Aussies who have taken Nicaragua's Leon to be their new found home. The main reasons, Leon isn't that far from good surf beaches & there's a big volcano near by, perfect for Volcano Boarding! Discovering that these chaps from down-under

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