CANOPY TOUR AT MOMBACHO

My Missouri friend, Tami, and I preparing for our ziplining adventure.  Don't we look tropical?

If this isn't a fun-loving face, what is?  Or bat crazy...jury's still out

It's not what it looks like, I promise

My parents are here right now visiting from Missouri, USA, and we've been doing a lot of touristy stuff.  Today, we went with Va Pues tours out of Granada to Volcan Mombacho.  We left the house at 8am and did a hiking tour of the first crater (there are three) of the volcano.  We finished about 11:30am, grabbed a coffee at their cafe (they grow coffee on site) and then started our ziplining adventure.  Here they call it a canopy tour.  Only Tami and I participated in that part while my parents waited in the cafe.  We were finished with everything and home by 1:30pm.  My parents paid $40 apiece for transportation up/down the volcano and a guided tour of the crater in English.  Tami and I paid an extra $20 apiece for the ziplining part.  I had gone before just to do the crater tour with Mombotours, but I really think VaPues was a better deal--they were definitely cheaper once the ziplining was added in.

Ziplining was.....well.....an adventure.  They had us do all kinds of crazy combinations along the way like superchica (Superwoman), an upside-down monkey looking thing, rock & roll where they move the line while you're on it etc.  The instructors were really nice, made us feel safe (it was our first time), and had great English.  We got to see howler monkeys up close and really enjoy the lush volcanic landscape.  It was a nice change from the hike because it had rained and was slippery, so my attention during the hike was almost completely on the ground, and I couldn't focus on the landscape around me much.

If you're trying to decide whether to visit Volcan Mombacho or Volcan Masaya, I'd definitely pick Mombacho.  It's a totally different experience.  While Masaya is desert-like and hot, Mombacho is windy, brisk, and lush.  It's very green and parts of it are a cloud forest.  And they're both active, so don't think that in visiting Mombacho, you're missing out on seeing an active volcano.  You'll be able to experience sulfur-filled fissures and thermal holes.  Check out pictures from my first visit to Mombacho here.

Oh, and if you're thinking of skipping the tour companies and hiking up Mombacho yourself....may God be with you.  It is straight up the entire way and then when you get to the top, you have to hike around an entire crater.  That's just not my idea of a vacation.  I have a friend who did it and it took her 4 hours to get from Guanacaste (where the welcome center is located) to the first crater.  Ouch!

For information on booking with Mombotours click here.  Right now, Va Pues doesn't have a working website but if you're in Granada, their office is in Central Park directly south of La Catedral (big yellow church on east side of park).  They share an office with Paxeo and BiciMaximo.