Lago de Coatepeque and Volcan Santa Ana

We were up before dawn on Monday trying to get on an early bus. We had decided not to bike it due to lots of elevation gain. I was up all night being sick again. I had horrible stomach cramps which didn't allow me to sleep. And I had fever, headache and just felt weak and exhausted the whole way to Lago de Coatepeque. Riding buses was not fun for me. We were left behind by the first and second bus because there wasn't room for our bikes. We ended up getting on a truck that had a rack for our bikes. We had to stand the whole way to Sonsonate where we would switch buses. I thought I was gonna either vomit or pass out the whole way. Then we got on a bus in Sonsonate which would take us to El Congo. I slept that whole ride, don't know how long that was, but my neck was killing me yesterday because of it! When we got off at El Congo we had 6 mostly downhill kilometers to ride down into the crater where the lake is. The first 2 km were uphill and were excruciating, and the downhill was surprisingly even worse, because it was potholed so the bouncing shook my headache around in my head, jiggled my cramped stomached and made me want to poo! I was so grateful when we finally arrived. I slept most of the rest of the day and evening. I ended up taking some antibiotics cause I didn't seem to be feeling any better after all the sleep.

Yesterday I was feeling a little better, so we decided to hike Volcan Santa Ana (still an active volcano). It is located just across the lake from us in Cerro Verde National Park. It was a short bus ride to get there. The hike started at 11 and was quite a bit easier than I expected it to be. During the hiking though my headache returned as did the stomach pains, so that was unpleasant. It was a mostly clear day though and the scenery was pretty, lots of agave along the hike. At the top we got to see the lagoon inside the 4 layer crater. It was mint green and very pretty. There crater itself was 1.5 km across and very impressive. From the top we could see Volcanes Izalco and San Salvador (the other 2 active volcanos in El Salvador). We could also see Cerro Verde, Lago de Coatepeque, and several surrounding cities. It was very nice. We spent about 30 minutes at the top, so I reclined on a rock and got a sports bra tan, which turned out later to be a burn! My headache and cramps got worse and worse on the way back and the neck pains from sleeping in the bus started to set in and I had blisters on my feet! So by the time we were back in El Congo, I was in sad shape! We managed to find my favorite store, La Dispensa Familiar, and I got some yogurt and a banana and oatmeal cookies. I should have been more hungry after 5 hours of hiking but I was ill again.

Volcan Izalco

Me with Lago Coatepeque in the background

Me at the Dispensa Familiar having an aloe yogurt!



We are staying at Amacuilco Hostel. It has a huge dock in the back. The water here is very clear, clean and refreshing for swimming. One of the reasons it's so nice is I don't think people are allowed to bathe or do laundry in the water! I'm on the dock now having occasional swims and trying to even out my biking tan lines. The views here are amazing, the lake sits in a volcanic crater, and directly across the lake we can see Volcan Santa Ana. I'm feeling lots better today. Back to normal, but now Craig is feeling sick, don't see how this keeps happening at opposite times.

Tomorrow we start biking again. We head toward La Palma, our last destination in El Salvador before we cross the border. It should take us 2 days and I hope for the sake of my knees that it's not steeper than we think it is.