Days of hiking volcanoes!!!

Wednesday, March 7th

>Early to rise, and up the volcano we go! We got up to a wonderful breakfast, all set out for us, at 6am, but held off on scarfing down the food- wouldn't want to stuff ourselves during our hike! At 6.30 our friend Sam joined us, along with our guide Solomon (another child of Tito's). It was a cold morning, but we had dressed well and filled our bags up with snacks and water to keep us happy for the hike. When we left the moon was still high, which made for very gorgeous and striking views along the way, as the sun rose.
>The hike was a mixture of terrain, involving a lot of volcano sand, rocks, and steady climbing. I had never done hiking like this before, so it was very exciting and fun. We had each other to keep company with, and although some people might say that six people makes it go slower, we all felt to the contrary, and made sure that one another stayed well hydrated and we all got the rests that we needed. Different parts of the hike were challenging for different reasons, but well worth it indeed.
>By around 11am we made it to the top, where it was cold but sunny (happens when you go that high up!). We all felt very accomplished, as well as very hungry, and in no time we broke out our peanut butter, crackers, cookies and other goodies to chow down and enjoy the incredible view. The volcano we hiked hadn't errupted in over a thousand years, but was still a very impressive sight, and took you higher up than the crater surrounding, so it gave an awesome view, including one out to the ocean. I don't know if I've ever been that high up on land before!
>Getting down the mountain was quite another story. For this one, it's all about speed. The guide showed us where, and once at the right point, we could just run down the side of the volcano, tearing through the black volcano sand- but beware, you can be easily scratched! Some parts thrilling, other parts scary, it was the most unique way I've ever gotten down from somewhere- you usually have to be so slow and cautious!
>Once back at the auberge, we all fell dead asleep, after rinsing the black sand off of us (our shoes were absolutely filled to the brim with rocks from the run down) and having a good lunch. Sam stopped by to wake us up- and to be sure that we picked up wine for dinner that night before the shops closed- phew! Wouldn't want to miss out on that. Jessie and I volunteered ourselves up and went out for a stroll to get ourselves some locally made vino.
>That evening we joined Sam in his quaint lodgings and he made us some tasty curry with rice. Apparently while you're in the peace corps you get a lot of time to learn how to cook well- even in the most interesting of set-ups. And he was more than happy to cook for us, since we provided such pleasant company (and the wine). All in all a great, and utterly exhausting, day.

More about hiking next time!