September 30-October 2
Hello everyone!
Well, a turquoise lake where there used to be a magma chamber. But it got your attention.
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| Atop Santa Ana volcano |
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| Lake Coatepeque |
A place that gets your attention in El Salvador, this. Lake Coatepeque, which sits at the base of Santa Ana’s volcano. I don’t know where to begin describing such beguiling and contrasting beauty…
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| Plants on the hike up the volcano |
I’ll start at the lake, as that’s where the weekend started. Renting an AirBnB seems to be a popular way of spending weekends away from the big city. Upon first glance, they seem insanely expensive. Large places, mind, so when you get a large group together it makes scenic spots such as this more affordable.
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| The garden was about 100 metres long! |
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| Our house, sleeping 11 for the weekend |
Lake Coatepeque isn’t too far away from Santa Tecla, particularly if you’re able to escape early enough to avoid afternoon traffic. Sitting about 50 kilometres to the northwest of us, this crater lake sits in the shadow of three of El Salvador’s twenty volcanoes, behind which the Sun sets. Well, it sets into the clouds which seem to be permanently planted on the top of the volcanoes, but it creates some stunning sunset colours.
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| It's a lovely drive down to the lake |
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| The Sun sets behind the volcano |
At about 26 square kilometres, the lake is wide enough to offer space and tranquility from other people. The name ‘coatepeque’ translates from the ancient Nahuatl language as ‘Hill of Snakes’. I didn’t see any. Also didn’t see any fish, in spite of quite a lot of people dropping rods. A few jet skis. A few too many jet skis really, but not enough to disturb the blissful ambiance of the lake.
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| I swam round the corner to the left - was further than I thought... |
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| There were a few bars to the right of our house |
A great thing about this lake is its relative cleanliness, meaning it is great for swimming…or doing silly jumps…or getting in a pedalo…
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| Pedalo pushers |
The lake was formed about 50,000 years ago by an ancient volcano (I don’t know whether it became one of the three peaks above), gradually capturing rainfall and filling to the incredible depths it houses today. It is a lovely lake, evoking thoughts of the European Alps…but with jet skis.
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The views from around the lake, often
higher than our house, are incredible |
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| Panorama of the lake |
If you know me, you’ll be aware that I wouldn’t be able to simply sit still or simply swim for the whole weekend. Not when there are volcanoes nearby. Volcanoes you can climb! A large group of us hiked the one which is named after the nearby city, and El Salvador’s second largest urban area: Santa Ana.
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| Our hiking crew |
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The starting point was a place called
Hotel Tibet. Not in actual Tibet. |
You have to take a guide, probably for a combination of security and not getting lost. The hike took us through some lush greenery and past some beautiful flora as we rose into the clouds. This is because you are walking through the Cerro Verde National Park, an area of outstanding beauty in the country.
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| Delfy was our guide |
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| Aloe-like plants were dotted along the route |
On the way up, we gathered that we were actually climbing the volcano on an anniversary. On October 1st, 2005, the volcano erupted, killing two people and forcing thousands to temporarily flee. It is still classed as active.
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| BBC report of the explosion |
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| Internet image showing the eruption (link) |
As you would expect, the landscape changed as we approached the top rim, with lush green vegetation turning to sparsely filled blacks and greys. We got lucky as the clouds dispersed at this point, allowing us to hike the final section of our 2 hour walk in glorious sunshine…
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| The hike wasn't too challenging but became quite humid |
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| The soil on the slopes of volcanoes is often quite fertile |
and then see this…
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| The lake in the Santa Ana volcano |
Stunning, if a little sulphuric if the breeze swung in a certain direction. You can’t get too close to the edge - we were told off by security for doing so, as well as cracking open a beer at the top - but what you can see is absolutely incredible. Turquoise, emerald, whatever colour you see - it seems so unnatural yet so…right.
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| Before the 2005 eruption, apparently the lake was coffee-coloured! |
Flicking your head to the right from this lake-in-a-volcano will set you due east, at which point you can see the lake-formed-a-long-time-ago-by-a-volcano: Coatepeque. It was an amazing perspective on where we had started from and where we had ended up.
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The island in the lake is called Teopan,
apparently an important Mayan site |
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Drone photo from salvadoreantours.com
showing both the volcano and the lake |
One unexpected treat at the top was a man selling ice-creams. No beer - I’d imagine it’s so drunken idiots don’t give themselves a bath in pH 1 liquid - but a well-earned ice-cream was the cherry on top of a wonderful hike.
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As I took this picture, I was told by a security guard to
remove this. I had to pour it into my water bottle... |
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| This dog jogged up with us...the whole way... |
A wonderful weekend as well. My favourite place in El Salvador so far, and one I will certainly be returning to. Let’s hope the ice-cream man is still there…
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| Happy weekend! |
Love you all,
Matt
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