Time to stretch the legs.
San Marcos is one of 13 village at the lake so it was time to see some of the others. We took the boat to San Pedro for a mosey around but mainly to hike to the top of the volcano that looms over the town.
One of the downsides of travelling alone is that sometimes you can be left with no option to join a tour depending on where you want to go. This time was different however as I had met some great people in San Marcos who also wanted to hike/camp San Pedro Volcano. Not a tour group in sight – bliss
Armed with enough food for a week, and feeling fresh we decided to walk from the town itself to the volcano base. It took us away from the main drag and gave us a a brief glimpse into the less touristy parts of town which are always good to see.
The trail isn’t as diverse as the last hike up Acatenango but it’s not without its own charm. The volcano is dormant so much of the land is farmed. We walked through coffee crops, cabbage patches and maize before ending up in the dense tropical forest. The trail itself while not too long at 3.5 hrs to the summit is steep and unforgiving. So much so that at times I think I endured it more than I enjoyed it!
We decided to camp on the volcano to catch both sunset and sunrise. But it wasn’t too be.Ā Sadly the view from the summit was shrouded in cloud each time.
But not to worry we got to camp! Nothing beats talking crap around a campfire with a sky of stars above. Also I learned something new, I now know how to light a camp fire properly! Ā One of the girls is actually a forest fire fighter in real life!
Every cloud has a silver lining, I know bad joke but I couldn’t help it š
Niamh on Leave 