Dec 29: Climbing Volcano Concepcion

I was talked into climbing Concepcion over Madeira because it was cheaper. Concepcion is a 18km, 4500ft elevation gain! In other words, it is frigging steep and long. Madeira is 10km and 3000ft elevation gain. But Madeira is 40 min by car away from where I was staying.

I negotiated a $50 group tour for $30 private tour. I ended up giving my guide about $10 of food away I was carrying up the mnt. 

The thing is I only made it 1/3rd of the way up. The trail kicked my butt! It was steep, muddy, slippery, and humid. I am grossly over weight yet conditioned to easily walk 10km on a flat surface. Basically, I walked 3 hours of intense hiking using muscles in my leg I dont normally use. If I was 50 pounds lighter and 20 years younger, I could have done it. Only  25% of hikers complete the summit.

At the point of this picture, the clouds envelop the mountain. So this was one of the last views over Lake Nicaragua. I saw the Motmot which is the national bird. I also saw Howler monkeys, with females having their babys holding on to their mothers backs as they moved across the jungle canopy.