Reporting from Altagracia, Nicaragua — On the road south from the international airport in Managua, Nicaragua swooshes by, unfurling in buzzing, humid green. Fields of swaying banana trees ...

Volcan Concepcion towers 5,280 feet up from Lake Nicaragua, Central America's largest lake. (The lake is also known as Lake Cocibolca, the cha-cha-line name I prefer: Co-ci-bol-ca — hey!).

Beating the heat: Concepcion (5,282ft) The last 20 metres or so were the steepest. A 60-degree slope of loose soil and rocks after a five-hour slog but upwards, ever upwards.