I joined Quetzaltrekkers & Lost My Sole!

I waited around Leon, Nicaragua taking spanish classes and just enjoying the city for about a week. The main goal was to hike up an overnight trek through two volcanos which ended in a crater lake swim. With the weather only getting worse I was thinking the trip was not going to happen. Not only did it happen but we ended up having one of the biggest groups Quetzaltrekkers had seen (at least for this trip.) We had 2 guides and 7 total people hiking. Roughly, we hiked 25 miles in 2 days. And to top it off, the hike was also mostly uphill. 

Quetzaltrekkers is a great organization that gives the proceeds to needy street kids and local school organizations. So you get to hike and support the local community! www.quetzaltrekkers.com

The Tour Guides:

This is Bryan from California.

Here Is France from Austria. 

A random LAVA BOMB

Termite crossing. Fun fact: termites make tunnels above ground because they are sensitive to sunlight. 

Before this trip, I thought of a crater of a volcano as a perfect circular dip. Not the case at all. I would say this crater was about the size of a football field. It was jagged, rocky, and constantly spitting out sulfur gas so we could not stay down there very long because it was difficult to breath. 

The monkey face inside the crater

There was this one BEE that would not leave me alone. Who does not love a BEE jig?

 After we saw all the sights from the top of Cerra Negro we got to run down the volcano which proved to be a little treacherous on my knee. 

We were exhausted from hiking maybe 2 hours uphill. Someone had cracked a joke to just set up camp here & I lost it. If we only knew what was ahead of us....

Sometimes I can be a little shaded out by pre-packaged meat. If you have been hiking uphill all day long you will eat ANYTHING!!! I almost even ate TUNA.

We got a little lost from the pack. (It was France's first time on this hike.) I was able to yell loud enough for the rest of the pack to hear us, and eventually turn back to get us. And to think that someone doubted my loud pipes as a teacher....

At the bottom of the ¨last hill¨we collected our wood to make our fire.

This crater along the side of the volcano called El Hoyo was easily 100-150 feet deep. 

We got to our campsite around 3:30. We had been hiking since 6:30AM. I was ready for dinner & bed. Instead we snacked, snacked, snacked, had some tea, watched the bats come out of the near by cave & had dinner at a more civil 6 o´clock.

Gotta love improve when you do not have enough utensils. I was a lucky duck- because I accidentally left my pasta salad dinner at the office. But the guides were smart, & brought the lone soldier with them knowing someone would have really wanted it.

Sunrise in the morning.

We boiled our water for coffee in the morning in one of the warm holes from the volcano.

An arial view from nearby where we slept. We hiked down El Hoyo, and around this other mountain, and went swimming in this crater lake. 

Yeah- We swam in this crater filled lake!!!!

I do not think I have ever had a better Coke in my life.

I joined Quetzaltrekkers and I lost my sole....