International Mankini Challenge

As I told you in my last post, Nicaragua was proving a tough nut to crack. And with Leon my final stop before the journey to Honduras, the pressure was on to Mankini Nicaragua by boarding down the Cerro Negro Volcano, all 728m of it!

Traveling from Matagalpa, known for it’s great little organic chocolate factory (El Castillio del cacao) and it’s coffee region (Selva Negra offers hikes and tours), I was a little worried. Not only was the pressure on because Leon was my last chance to Mankini Nicaragua, but I’d been stuck in bed for two days with a high fever and diarrhoea and thus had delayed my bus journey for a day. As you can imagine, with the territory the Mankini tends to tread, a bout of the runs is the last thing you need!

Fortunately my current able photographer, Abbey, works in healthcare (when she’s not travelling or taking pics of me in the Mankini) and was able to patch me up. Whilst I was in good enough working order when we arrived, the opportunity to wear the Mankini in the ring at a local cock fight (pardon the expression) had to be passed upon. However we signed up with the Bigfoot Hostel for the volcano boarding the next morning, despite mates saying I couldn’t, or shouldn’t, attempt it in the Mankini.

Having taken the truck out to the Cerro Negro volcano and climbed up with our boards and protective suits under our arms, taking in the sulphur vents and crater on route, we gathered at the summit of the 41 degree slope we were to board down. The laughing and joking notably subsided and everyone listened intently to the briefing on how to safely navigate down to the bottom as quickly and safely as possible. What had taken us 45 minutes to climb would take us less than a minute to descend thanks to speeds of up to 80 KM/H being reached!

The plan was that I’d go last so that I didn’t hold anyone up getting the videos and pictures I needed. It was also in the plan for me to change into the thick orange protective jumpsuit at half way before the fast and most dangerous section kicked in. However plans are supposed to be flexible right?

Kicking off from the top I felt a lot more confident and comfortable than I had been peering over the edge with the advice of my friends ringing in my ears. I was in full control of the board and its speed, and though I knew that could all change in a second if I hit one of the larger volcanic rocks, I was pretty sure I could control any mishaps and minimise any injuries. What I couldn’t control though was the amount of lava rock that was gathering in the ‘gusset’ of the Mankini (you see evidence of me clearing this out at the end of the video below). While my goggles protected my eyes, nothing was protecting my… Mankini!

At half way I stopped and convinced the chasing guide that I’d be fine doing the whole thing in the Mankini. To be honest I’d have felt a fraud if I’d only done the top section, and so I kicked on again into the fast section. Unfortunately this didn’t quite go as I planned. Hitting a big rut early on sent my board off in one direction with my weight going the other. A corrective leg was thrown off the side of the board to try and right my angle of descent, however an over correction on my part meant that the whole of the fast section was a battle to stay straight and fully planted on the board.

I was met by a generous round of applause from my co-volcano boarders, who recognised that coming down a 728m rock covered slope in little more than dental floss was a decent, if not weird, achievement. However I was disappointed I hadn’t brought out a big finish and been able to fly down the ‘fast’ section to register a surprisingly fast time on the speed gun.

Nevertheless, I achieved what I set out to and I hope you enjoy the video below as evidence of Nicaragua having been Mankinied!

See the pics here

N.B. My thanks must go to Joe Smith who I met volcano boarding in Leon and who edited various videos taken on the day to make the one you just watched!