other volcano we had seen , and I was looking forward to discovering it for ourselves ! Fiona on the other hand had little interest in carrying a board up a mountain . She is a real adrenaline junkie , and the thought of sandboarding didn ’ t excite her much at all . It seemed like a very touristy activity to her , and she was happy to give it a miss . It looked like I was going by myself !
There were tours leaving from most hostels every single day . I am somewhat allergic to booking organised tours , so I was determined to make my way to Cerro Negro independently . I asked our kind hotel receptionist for directions , but he was absolutely horrified that I was even entertaining the idea of getting there myself and urged me to book onto a tour . He told us that the road leading up to Cerro Negro required us to ride many miles across deep volcanic ash . He insisted there were no markings with a labyrinth of dirt roads leading in all sorts of directions and it was extremely easy to get lost with nobody around . He looked genuinely concerned for my safety . Then he glanced over at our BMW F800 GS which looked quite beasty with all the additional crash bars and off-road customisations . “ Please take a tour ”, he repeated . Of course , this wasn ’ t enough to change my mind , even if I appreciated his helpful advice . I was absolutely terrified of sand and reaching Cerro Negro was clearly going to be a challenge . But I also felt that this was the perfect moment to face my fears head on . In addition , Fiona wanted to sit this one out , so surely it would be easier to be riding solo through sand .
We started speaking to more locals with each conversation going a similar way . Essentially asking us to book a tour !
“ The road is difficult , but it can be done ,” finally we met someone who confirmed it was possible to get there ourselves . That was the most encouraging thing we ’ d heard all day , followed by some good local advice .
“ There are many roads and many ways to get to Cerro Negro . No matter which road you take , they will all lead you there ”.
That was good enough for me ! Fiona however started to get worried . I had never gone anywhere without her since we started this trip . I wasn ’ t a confident off-road rider and I often struggled to pick up the bike without her . She didn ' t feel comfortable at all at the thought of me going by myself , potentially coming off the bike and most likely not having anyone around to help me . And so , she decided to come !
I was happy she was coming with me . But I was also conscious that riding through sand two up would be significantly harder .
It was settled - we were going together and leaving early the next morning .
The last tours usually returned early afternoon and we were advised to make our way back before them . After the last tour leaves there is literally nobody around . In the evening we had a lengthy debate of whether to leave our panniers on . It would of course be easier to remove them and make sure the bike was as light as possible . It would also avoid dangerous situations like trapping your foot or ankle underneath them . But we also knew that picking the bike up with the boxes was a lot easier . Safety won so we decided the boxes were coming off no matter how many bike drops we would have to deal with .
The next morning , we left the hotel around 8 am . We had an early breakfast , popped our fully vented gear on and rode the bike out of the reception , down the few steps leading onto the street . From here we rode on tarmac for less than 20 minutes , before turning onto the dirt
leading to Cerro Negro .
The sand was compacted and although I wasn ’ t exactly comfortable , I felt like we could do this . Google maps was lost almost immediately and just like the locals predicted there would be many different turn offs to choose from . I reminded myself that all roads eventually lead to Cerro Negro , and we randomly took turns . My decision was mostly based on which way looked less sandy . Because the further we rode , the sandier it got .
Now and again , we ’ d pass locals with cattle . And occasionally , a local
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