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Central America 2023

trip | 2023-01-16

Our main goal on this trip was to climb ultra and ribu peaks in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We plan to fill the time between the ultras with P600 or lower peaks. There will be plenty to choose from as we travel along the Pan-American Highway from north to south.

Long flight from Prague to Brussels, then to Chicago, then to Houston and finally to Managua. The Nicaraguan immigration officer at the airport worries a lot about my hotel name, but once I find it and provide it, there are no more obstacles and the rest of the process is quite smooth and efficient. At the airport a driver from the shuttle company with my name on it is waiting for me and we head off to Chinandega. We stop on the way to buy a local sim card and top it up. A few hours later I meet up with Renee and Dave, who had arrived that morning from Honduras, where they had successfully climbed some ultras with Rob and John.

In the morning we drive a bit and start climbing the Volcán San Cristóbal. Perfect weather, nice views of the smoking craters and boring scree higher up. But how nice it was to slide down.

The next ultra on our list is the Volcán Concepción , the most prominent lake-island peak in the world, which we reached by ferry. This is a good opportunity to climb Volcán Maderas, the second peak on Lake Nicaragua. After a beautiful hike in untouched nature, we take the afternoon ferry back to the mainland and drive to Managua.

The third ultra of our trip was Volcán Miravalles in Costa Rica. Good trail to the popular summit and good jungle hike to the true summit. Birds, monkeys and coral snakes.

An innocent hike in the national park to the top of Volcán Barva looks easy… it is, if you don’t plan to reach the real summit, which is almost kilometer away from the popular lakeside viewpoint. I am still trying to understand which hike wins the bushwhacking competition – Gunung Marapi in Indonesia or Volcán Barva in Costa Rica.

The next day Dave and I have different plans. He is going to Volcán Irazu, which I visited a few years ago, and I am going to Cerro Chirripó, which Dave visited a few years ago. Forty-three kilometres to Cerro Chirripó and back, starting in the dark and finishing in the dark. I had a great time walking through one of the most beautiful national parks in the region.

  • Cerro Chirripó

    Cerro Chirripó

  • Volcán Barva

    Volcán Barva

  • Volcán Miravalles

    Volcán Miravalles

  • Volcán Maderas

    Volcán Maderas

  • Volcán Concepción

    Volcán Concepción

  • Volcán San Cristóbal

    Volcán San Cristóbal

Before Volcán Concepción Dave and I head for Volcán Cosigüina, the westernmost volcano in Nicaragua. An easy trail to the tourist point and then a few kilometres off the trail on the ridge to the summit. Later the same day we make a short detour and stop at Las Cumbres.

A shuttle service took us to Liberia in Costa Rica. We also made a short stop at Volcán Masaya. This is the most active volcano in Nicaragua, where people usually come in the evening to see the red lava glowing in the crater. Crossing the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica was fairly straightforward. We have to walk and queue for a couple of hours, but I still think it’s more correct than taking the locals up on their offer of ‘express processing’ for fifty dollars.

I had planned an extra day just in case the weather was bad or something didn’t go as planned, but everything worked out perfectly so I could use the extra day for the bonus summit right next to San José. Cerro Rabo de Mico is a P600 peak with an antenna at the top and a muddy path to get there. Either way, a perfect bonus for a good journey.

  • Cerro Rabo de Mico

    Cerro Rabo de Mico

  • Volcán Masaya

    Volcán Masaya

  • Las Cumbres

    Las Cumbres

  • Volcán Cosigüina

    Volcán Cosigüina

On the flight from Brussels to Chicago, I made sure I got a window seat, just so I could see Greenland again. It was a plan that worked. I did a similar trick on the flight from San José in Costa Rica to Newark in US and had an excellent view of the East Coast for most of the flight. I had a long layover in Zürich Switzerland, which I used for a few hours sightseeing along the Limmat river.

Good food in Nicaragua and friendly people are the memories I will take home with me. Of course we had a good time in Costa Rica too, but I have to admit it has got quite expensive in the last few years. I really wish them the best of luck and hope that one day they sort out their car rental and insurance policies and pricing strategies. Nevermind, looking forward to the trip to West Africa in early February.

  • Zürich

    Zürich

  • San Jose to Newark

    San Jose to Newark

  • Nicaragua

    Nicaragua

  • Brussels to Chicago

    Brussels to Chicago

I had the pleasure of meeting Renee and Dave in Nicaragua. It was great to bond and climb a San Cristobal summit together. Unfortunately, most of the other peaks were climbed by Dave and me alone, but I look forward to more adventures with them in the future. I am very grateful to everyone involved in making this trip possible and to Dave for taking the initiative to organise it.

Renee
Dave
Me
Peak Altitude Prominence ↓ Isolation Distance Elevation Gain Time
Central Central America 49.2 km 4329 m 23h33
Volcán San Cristóbal 1,745 m 1,665 m 115.2 km 9.8 km 1,254 m 6h40
Volcán Concepción 1,610 m 1,579 m 69.4 km 11.2 km 1,452 m 6h20
Volcán Maderas 1,394 m 1,354 m 15.0 km 15.6 km 1,232 m 6h25
Volcán Cosigüina 859 m 828 m 43.3 km 8.7 km 309 m 3h10
Las Cumbres 950 m 670 m 38.5 km 0.0 km 1 m 0h03
Volcán Masaya 632 m 189 m 6.9 km 3.9 km 81 m 0h55
Costa Rica-Panama Ranges 74.4 km 5017 m 32h20
Cerro Chirripó 3,819 m 3,755 m 877.4 km 43.0 km 2,848 m 18h30
Volcán Miravalles 2,028 m 1,528 m 99.0 km 13.4 km 1,491 m 7h30
Volcán Barva 2,906 m 1,406 m 28.4 km 12.6 km 316 m 4h30
Cerro Rabo de Mico 2,428 m 768 m 13.7 km 5.4 km 362 m 1h50
123.6 km hiked and 9346 m elevation gained in 55h53
  • Trips overview
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Mountain Ranges

Anatolia
Central Anatolia
Pontic Mountains
Southeast Anatolia
Taurus Mountains
Western Anatolia
Andes
Puna de Atacama
Atlas Mountains
High Atlas
Northwestern Atlas
Central America Ranges
Costa Rica-Panama Ranges
Central Central America
East China
Taiwan
Eastern Europe Ranges
Southeast Baltic Plains
Iberian Peninsula
Cordillera Cantabrica
Castile Ranges
Portugal-Galicia
Pyrenees
Intermountain West
Great Basin Ranges
Korea-Amur Area
Taebaek Sanmae
Malay Archipelago
Java
Nusa Tengarra
Sulawesi
Sumatra
Mid-Atlantic Islands
North Atlantic Islands
Mongolia Ranges
Altai
Gobi Desert Ranges
Hangay Mountains
Northwest Europe
Great Britain
North France-West Rhine Area
Pacific Ranges
Cascade Range
Northwest U.S. Coast Ranges
Sierra Nevada
Central and Southern California Ranges
Philippines
Central Philippines
Luzon
Mindanao
Southeast Asia
Malay Peninsula
Southeast South America
Pampas
Sierras de Cordoba
Southern Africa
Malawi Highlands
West Africa Mountains
Bight of Benin
Cameroon Mountains
Guinea Highlands

Countries / regions

Algeria
Ain Guezzam
Ain Salah
Aïn Témouchent
El Bayadh
Ghardaïa
Oran
Ouargla
Saïda
Sidi Bel Abbès
Tamanrasset
Argentina
Catamarca
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Córdoba
Jujuy
Salta
Tucumán
Belgium
Brussels Capital Region
Flemish Region
Cameroon
Southwest
China
Taiwan
Costa Rica
Alajuela
Cartago
Guanacaste
Heredia
Limón
San José
Czechia
Prague
Denmark
Greenland
France
Hauts-de-France
Occitania
Germany
Berlin
Niedersachsen
Indonesia
Bali
Jambi
Jawa Tengah
Jawa Timur
Nusa Tenggara Barat
Sulawesi Tengah
Sulawesi Utara
Sumatera Barat
Lithuania
Vilnius County
Mongolia
Bayankhongor
Govi-Altai
Khovd
Omnogovi
Ovorkhangai
Ulan Bator
Zavkhan
Morocco
Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Drâa-Tafilalet
Fez-Meknes
Marrakesh-Safi
Souss-Massa
Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima
Mozambique
Zambezia
Netherlands
Gelderland
Noord-Holland
Zeeland
Nicaragua
Chinandega
Managua
Masaya
Rivas
Philippines
Bicol Region (V)
Cagayan Valley (II)
Calabarzon (IV-A)
Central Luzon (III)
Cordillera Administrative Region
Davao Region
Metro Manila
Soccsksargen (XII)
Western Visayas (VI)
Poland
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Masovian Voivodeship
Portugal
Castelo Branco
Leiria
Lisbon
Madeira
Santarém
Qatar
Ad-Dawhah
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé Province
Sierra Leone
Northern Province
Western Area
Singapore
South Korea
Gyeongsangnam-do
Seoul
Spain
Aragón
Asturias
Castilla-La Mancha
Castilla y León
Catalonia
Islas Canarias
Switzerland
Zürich
Turkey
Antalya
Bitlis
Erzincan
Hakkâri
Igdir
Isparta
Kahraman Maras
Muğla
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
United States
California
Delaware
Florida
Maryland
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Utah

TRIPS

2024
Southern Africa 2024
Mid-Atlantic Islands 2024
North America 2024
Anatolia 2024
Korea-Amur Area 2024
East China 2024
2023
Mongolia Ranges 2023
Philippines 2023
West Africa III 2023
West Africa II 2023
Iberian Peninsula 2023
West Africa 2023
Central America 2023
2022
Andes 2022
Northwest Europe 2022
Malay Archipelago III 2022
Malay Archipelago II 2022
Anatolia Mountains 2022
Iberian Peninsula 2022
Atlas Mountains 2022
North France-West Rhine Area 2022

archaeology (3) climb (157) food (2) hike (155) p30 (17) p50 (4) p100 (24) p300 (12) p600 (17) p1000 (11) p1500 (76) ribu (10) sight (46) summary (16) trig (44) ultra (76)

1 591 km walked, 121 298 m climbed

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