Charlie is now in Nicaragua the largest of the countries in Central America, but it is also the poorest with a lot of interesting history. Charlie thought Nicaragua was a beautiful country and he spotted many lakes and volcanoes. It also has areas where you can find copper and gold buried in the ground. Charlie put on his pirate hat and went searching for gold in a recommended river, but he had no luck!
After a long day searching for gold, Charlie got talking to a local and learned that the people of Nicaragua, have suffered many years of war and hardship. Nicaragua was originally inhabited by Native American tribes. The name Nicaragua comes from the Chief Nicarao who was the leader of the tribe that lived near Lake Nicaragua when the Christopher Columbus first arrived. He is often thought of as the first European explorer to discover the Americas, although other historians say it was the Vikings.
The Spanish then settled in Nicaragua and it became part of the Spanish colony until 1838. Not long after the Spanish left Nicaragua, it became an independent country ruled by one family. For over 40 years, the Somoza family ruled Nicaragua as dictators. This means the family had complete control over the country and decided on all of its rules.
The Somoza family made people follow many strict rules, such as taking land from the poor farmers to give to the rich families, and they even closed all the schools. They said the people were oxen (large working cattle) and they didn’t need to be educated. Eventually, this family lost its power and for many years the country was in Civil War while they tried to decide who and how the Government should work.
Today Nicaragua is a safe place to visit with lots of exciting things to do. Charlie was excited to try Volcano boarding! Volcano boarding is when you walk up an active volcano and then board back down, a bit like sledging but on volcano ash instead of snow!
This wasn’t a trip for the faint-hearted. We had to hike up the Volcano Cerro Negro, which took about an hour. From the top we were treated to views of inside the Volcano crater, the ash cloud was rising into the sky and the ground was hot to the touch from the magma deep under the surface.
Then the real fun began you could slide or surf down the 728 meter high volcano in less than 3 minutes and the speed… well Charlie decided to sit with Mr Broadway because he promised to surf down as fast as possible!
After this fun-filled adventure Charlie decided to have some time relaxing. He discovered the perfect place, a warm water lake. This Lake also happened to be a crater lake, just like the one he discovered in the USA, but this time the water was the perfect temperature for a swim.
If you would like to learn more about Volcanoes look at the website below
Adventure Freeway.. Alaska to Argentina 