27 today

Wednesday 8th August
I woke up early and ate breakfast alone - included, at this hotel - while opening a few birthday cards I'd brought from home. (All lovely, thankyou!) I was ready for 8am and left with Jeremy to drive to Cerro Negro - Central America's second most active volcano - to board down the surface of black ash. It was a nice little drive out to the volcano, and we saw some road runners - sadly not red and blue like the cartoon. We stopped off at a little place that had loads of iguanas and then it was on to the volcano. I had the guy take my birthday photo while holding my hastily cut out numbers (he thought I was quite strange until Jeremy explained) and then we hiked to the top.

The walk took an hour (I was red faced and puffing and panting for most of it, and the guy took pity on me - partly because it was my birthday, I think - and carried my board for me after a while). It was far more spectacular in terms of views than Volcan Pocaya had been, as the contrast between the black ash, the nearby green and the blue of the distant water was stunning. There was also a lot more to see in terms of volcanic activity; although there was no lava, you could smell the sulphur and see large areas where gas was escaping. There was quite a lot of heat coming from the ground, too.

We walked to the very top, and then back down a little to where we were to descend via our boards. We got all kitted up: all in one boiler suits, gloves and ski goggles. Jeremy had decided to stand, like snowboarding, and I had decided to sit, so that meant I had to go first. Standing at the top and looking down, it looked incredibly steep and I was very nervous. Afterwards Jeremy said he had felt the same, too. Unfortunately I didn't get off to a good start, as I didn't get enough speed and the front of the board kept burying into the sand. The video of me doing it just makes me look ridiculous! Haha. Once I got stuck, it was impossible to stand up as you would just sink and fall down - it's a lot steeper than it looks - so I had to figure out a way of digging out my board and getting back on it without tumbling down the hill. Tricky. Eventually I got the hang of it and slid down with quite a bit of speed, but I think the guide had grown bored of my failed attempts by that point and had long since stopped filming me. So the world will never know... haha.

Once we were driven back to the hotel I had time for a quick shower and opened a birthday present (thankyou Leanne) before we checked out and were driven to Granada. On the way we stopped at Masaya for lunch - a plate of vegetables for me, hmm - and a look around the handicraft market, where we spotted some rather scary-looking chicken baskets. Not your average holiday souvineer. We also stopped at San Juan de Oriente and La Catarina to get a view of the lake. Finally we arrived in Granada at our purple(!) painted hotel at around 5pm. Too late for Skype etc., I pottered around until 7pm, putting on my best maxi dress (purple with flowers) for tea.

We walked to the restaurant-y area of Granada: a long street lined with places, and lots of tables and chairs outside all the way along. We found a place quite quickly that would suit all of us (with more than one vegetarian option - what a novelty!) - and I had four cheese gnocci. It was DELICIOUS. The best gnocci I think I've ever had, and Rose said it was on a par with her Italian grandmother's homemade stuff. High praise. There was a musician nearby singing and playing his guitar, and at one point Augusto must've signalled to him because he came and sang about seven choruses of 'Happy Birthday', in Spanish and English. At the end of the meal the group surprised me with a little dessert brought out with a candle. :-)

We walked home and I went to bed pretty much straight away, exhausted from a long but happy day.