Lava & Lake

As there were a lot of new starters at Quetzaltrekkers the directors asked us if we would start in a few weeks, and we jumped at the chance to see some more of the country before settling down.

We headed to Lake Apoyo with Blake and Emma, a couple of aussies we had befriended and were loving avoiding a few hours of chicken bus travel. When we arrived at the massive crater lake in the sweltering heat our first thought was to take a dip in the warm waters and enjoy a lakeside beer. Our camp spot had a poor Pincahu, one of the weirdest animals I've ever seen, which had been cruelly maimed by some of our, at times, horrible race.

The next day we explored some overlooks of the crater and lots of artisanal villages, buying a gorgeous tree frog vase which we love, but is going to be a nightmare to get home in one piece....

After that we went to Masaya, which is a small but recently highly active volcano. We waited for the evening and drove up to the crater edge for our allotted 15 minutes of viewing time, and were mesmerised by the bubbling and spitting lava. Unfortunately you could only see a small piece of the magma, but it was still absolutely awesome and we were lucky they had opened up access again after it was deemed too dangerous for visitors. Camping inside the park still isn't allowed so we parked up at the gate for the night. As usual the photos don't do it justice but it was an amazing experience and probably as close to lava as you will ever get.Read more