Callum Bennfors

We said goodbye to those who were only doing two days one night as they were retracing the steps of the first day as the remaining four of the initial 10 of us to send it towards the crater lake. The descent was very steep, and we pretty much were climbing down, sneaking rocky path, getting overtaken by porters every few minutes as they skipped down the steep incline, somehow unaffected by the 30 kg baskets they carried slung uncomfortably across their shoulders.

After about an hour of steep descent, we began to work across the slope, moving more quickly, but still laboriously with our already-tired legs. After about another hour, we dropped below the clouds and got a first up close view of the turquoise lake that sat in the crater. We knew this meant lunch was close so me and Niils sped off, leaving Sophia and Iris chatting well behind us As we completed the last half an hour of the mild incline in a lush, open grassy land.

We arrive at the lake five minutes before the ladies thinking it was our lunch stop, but because there were people already there, we had to wade across a river to our actual lunch stop.

Yet again, the Porter is cooked up a fantastic chicken, veg and rice lunch which we devoured before heading off again. We ended up having to wait/climb around the side of the lake as the water level was particularly high at this time of year and then we were rewarded after this half-hour effort, with a swim in the crisp azure water.

We didn’t have much time for this now, as it was already 2 pm, as to reach our campsite we needed to regain the 600 m of altitude we’d just climb down. We’ve been told this will take another three hours, which was not good news for our exhausted limbs.

The clouds rolled in across the lake as we swim, so we scaled the first part of the forest surrounding the lake with very little visibility. We were rewarded about an hour in when the clouds cleared, and we were left with a stunning view of the creator, house in the lake and smaller active volcano and a sight of the summit, towering above us. This was one of the best parts of the walk as we alternated between hiking, steep slopes, and practically having to climb near vertical rock faces.

One moment I will always remember is when Niils and I watched a porter, somehow make his way up a rock wall, balancing precariously with each step despite the large pack he was carrying. It was, perhaps the only time I ever saw a porter struggle at all with any climb, and I think they must be absolutely superhuman to do this time multiple times a week normally just wearing flip-flops.

We eventually reach the top and were rewarded one last look at the magnificent view before we had to walk a little bit around the hill to our campsite.

We once again had some great Porter food, unfortunately, without the sunset view due to the clouds rolling in, then I slept pretty much from 7:30 pm until we had to wake at 5:45 to get up and ready.Read more