Day 4: Volcan San Pedro

I woke up early to the sound of birds chirping, excited to achieve another summit. I headed to breakfast where my guides Beanie and Diego were drinking coffee while laughing and chatting. I have found Guetemalan people to be incredibly friendly and fun, always smiling and laughing so I feel like I fit in well. Beanie gave me a huge hug, saying "Morning how did you sleep?" and we chatted over a leisurely breakfast. I was surprised to learn that both guides used to have jobs in the city, Diego working in a call centre and Beanie as a bank manager. I could not imagine them in these roles, but they told me that's why they are so happy as they are grateful to be paid to be in the mountains. The view from the deck where we ate breakfast was beautiful, Lake Atitlan surrounded by mountain peaks with small colourful villages cascading down the slopes.

Today's objective was Volcan San Pedro, towering over Lake Atitlan at 3040m. In order to reach the summit you must be accompanied by armed local policemen as despite how safe I have felt in this country so far, there is possible criminal activity on this climb presenting a significant risk to tourists. In recent years bandits armed with machetes have threatened, attacked and robbed hikers on the route to the summit, so to combat this issue the hike must be undertaken with policemen for protection. We took a ride on the back of an open truck to the trailhead and I met the two policemen who would hike with us, both in uniform with a gun on their hip. Although they looked intimidating, they were really friendly and chatted with me, making me feel safe and settled.

The route began as a gentle climb out of the town of San Juan, where young children locally referred to as "monkeys", due to their ability to climb high into the trees, used large baskets to collect the ripe avocados. As we left town the route passed through cornfields and a coffee plantation before entering the cloud forest. The cloud forest is a tropical rainforest environment that exists at high altitudes, where evergreen trees thrive in the humid air and the temperate climate allows biodiversity to be high. Colourful butterflies danced between the flowers and an array of birdsongs accompanied the hike. The humidity and occasional heavy rainfall creates a unique ecosystem where a variety of tropical plants can be found. Due to the high altitude, cloud forests are characterised by a persistent low-lying layer of mist and cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Diego picked up a hummingbird feather from the path and gave it to me, it was tiny with a vivid green shade. His knowledge of the animals and plants in this area was vast and I really enjoyed learning about this. As we chatted hummingbirds darted between the colourful flowers to consume the nectar that gives them the energy to move at such a pace. They are remarkable to watch as they never remain still. In Mayan culture, everybody is assigned a sprit animal based on their date of birth and back in Antigua I discovered mine was a hummingbird which I thought suited me well as I struggle to stay still too!

After 5 hours of persistent climbing we arrived at the crater. The humidity and increasing altitude had made the climb more challenging than the previous volcano. However for me the terrain was much easier, a series of natural steps formed from tree roots with no loose scree to slide on. The forest still thrived on the crater at 3040m where tree roots tangled around the large boulders that we rested on. We ate lunch on the crater summit and admired the panoramic view, yet again being rewarded by the dramatic eruptions of distant volcanoes. Following lunch we began the descent which was significantly quicker than the climb up. The return journey flew by and we returned to the truck where another policeman gave us cold lemonade before driving us back.

I was covered in dust and ready to have a well earned rest by the time we returned to the hotel. Outside my room there is a hammock over looking the lake so after a long shower, I lay relaxing alternating between admiring the view, drifting off to sleep and reminiscing the wonderful day I'd had.