At the volcano

Happy burned toast day to any mothers who might have children like mine. We had a really nice breakfast of fruit, granola, yoghurt and coffee today thank you. So far the Guatemalan coffee has been best.

At 8 we left for a boat trip on the lake. Some of these bird guides need to learn to stop saying “over there” and say “10 o’clock, third branch up”. However I did see a kingfisher, a tiger heron, a blue walking on water bird, several osprey and some others, as well as some howler monkeys and a ginger monkey. It was so lovely to glide along in the water, among little islands with the backdrop of volcanos, with the local cocktail of Magua in hand, provided by Ramon our local guide. It’s made with white rum and various fresh fruit juices.

As the blaring boom boom music outside our room did not stop till gone 3am, Mr C had a snooze when we got back and I read my book in the sun for 5 minutes till the heat drove me in. Some of the others asked us to go for lunch with them but we just had a packet of nuts - we decided we’d wander out after we got back from seeing the volcano in the dark.

It was interesting to see the same volcano crater as yesterday but in different conditions. When we first arrived it was just the same, a crater with steam coming out but as the sun set we began to see more and more of the magma in the bottom of the crater. It was obviously nothing like what people see in Hawaii or Iceland but thrilling enough for us.