We stayed in a hostel where we could see the lake from our balcony. It was wonderful. Every day, the pond weeds would move from one side to the other and every night, they would move back. We also took a police escort 'tour' down to a waterfall. The waterfall was dry, but the basalt rock formations were worth the hike.

Suchitoto is where people from San Salvador vacation. It is on the shores of a huge man-made, a tropical version of Lake Powell in Arizona. It is a lovely place to stroll around.

Apaneca is something of a crossroads. It has a lovely square and great food.

Ataco is the next town from Juayua. It is known for good ceramic knick knacks. We made it there in time for a high-school parade. Every town in the area was very colorful and had a wonderful church.

Our second all day hike. We walked along a ridge through cyprus forest and down to a lake. Then we continued through several coffee plantations behind the mountain villas of El Salvador's rich and famous. Finally, we had a little time to sit in a completely virgin hot springs 50 feet from a geyser!

In Juayua we visited 3 waterfalls owned by the electric company. The water was very clear and very deep although the pool was only 20 feet wide.

We traveled a road called the route of flowers (ruta de las flores). The road is strung between 5, or 6 picturesque villages. We mostly stayed in Juayua because there was a food festival and a wonderful hostel.

Next to Volcano Santa Ana a huge crater lake sits where a huge volcano used to be. We made it down no thanks to very tardy buses. Swimming was very nice after a hot day on the road.

At the summit of Santa Ana, there is a large crater lake. Our policeman said he had accompanied vulcanologists down into the crater and swam in the lake. He said it was quite pleasant. There is quite a lot of sulfur in the water which is why the water is green. There were also bright yellow deposits on the rocks.

Some of the vegetation on the slope of the volcano.