Cerro Chato (the water volcano)

Early start today as we set off on the challenging hike up Cerro Chato - the water volcano!

At 1600m elevation the hike is a 6km round trip- doesn't sound like much, but we had been forewarned that it is not for the faint hearted. One person actually claimed they thought they were going to die twice on the hike. After conquering Torres Del Paine we consider ourselves "expert" hikers now so were ready to take on the challenge!

Cerro Chato is the little sister of the famous Arenal volcano and has been dormant for over 3000 years. The best part about it is that it has a 500m diameter green lagoon sitting in the crater of the volcano which u can swim in once you get to the top!

The hike was great! It didn't disappoint. The steep climb, uneven track and high humidity gave us a good workout. Many of the steps/ boulders were over knee height. Suki got stuck in knee deep "quick mud" at one point. Once you get to the top, there is an approx 150m climb down to the lake crater.. and that's when things got really tricky! Some of the steps were over shoulder heights and badly eroded. Lots of fun!

The best part was getting to the lagoon. Beautifully green. Was great to have a refreshing swim in there! Home just in time for lunch and an hour before the thunderstorm hit... Some other guys we met on the trail said it turned into a torrential mudslide. Win!

We also picked up two hitchhiking locals today, to "pay it forward" and bank some hitchhiking credits for the future :-)Lue lisää