Last week we took a break from school on a Wednesday and took the opportunity to hike up a nearby extinct volcano, Volcan Santa Maria.

The day didn’t start great with getting on the wrong bus and so what should have been less than an hour to the town at the base actually took two. We continued our bad luck streak, or maybe it can all be thought of as part of the adventure, by getting lost about 45min into the hike. We continued to the right when we should have taken a left and to correct our course we bush bashed through some rainforest and across some fields to get back to the correct track. Thank you to the random farmer who helped us on our way.

Once on the right path we continued up and up for what felt like a never ending series of narrow switchbacks. I actually think I had to rest every thirty seconds for the last hour as the climb was brutal with its steepness and the altitude. When we reached the top  (it was actually just 3hrs of hiking including the course correction at the start) we were greeted with amazing views of the countryside from the 3,772m of altitude. The clouds rushed by with the bitter wind as the sweat cooled against our skin under our jackets, what a lovely feeling!!

Some lunch and happy snaps and time to sit hiding behind rocks to be out of the wind and we were ready to head back down. We jogged most of the way down, marvelling at the ease and speed with which we descended to the bottom.