We had our earliest start yet this morning which helped us beat the heat as we climbed Llamatepec, also known as Santa Ana. It is El Salvador’s highest volcano at 2381 metres.

The climb took us through three zones. We started up through a pine forest which gave way to agave cactuses-many of which had sent up their flowering stocks.

Near the crater, there was no vegetation only small pebbles/volcanic rocks. Looking down into the crater (which is actually four craters) was breathtaking because of the turquoise crater lake at the bottom. The crater lake is 300 metres deep and was churning and bubbling.

We also got fleeting glances of Laguna Coatepeque (an enormous crater lake at the foot of Santa Ana)when the clouds parted. Izalco and Cerro Verde were visible as well allowing us to reflect on our previous day’s climb.