Volcano Maderas mud hike to hell - and back

We got up early this morning. Our hike was supposed to start at 6:30 so we were all more or less ready at 6 AM - only to realise that our guide was a bit late, there was a couple of guys signing up late, and well - island time.

Eventually we headed up the hills, through the forest and enjoyed the first hour of hiking on a small trail listening to and looking at howler monkeys. Then it suddenly got a bit steeper and a bit more muddy. Malene asked our guide whether it would get more muddy towards the top and the answer was a clear yes. So she decided to turn around and head back to town not feeling like skidding up and down the mountain on a narrow footpath. The rest of us decided to push on - stupid but we didn't know that.

The next three hours turned out to be less hiking and more survival as the mountain got steeper, the mud got more slippery and we all tried to stay on our feet. It was fun, tough and back breaking to hike one step at a time. Eventually we made it to the top and then hiked down to the lake for another ten minutes all thinking about how we eventually had to hike the same way back.

We had a lunch stop at the lake with around 40 other hikers, all of them looking like they had rolled down a pool of mud. After a short lunch break we headed back to the top of the mountain realising that we were all tired and sore and that we had at least three hours of mud hiking ahead of us.

Mikkel was the first one to be back a the "civilised" part of the path where the mud stopped and it was easy to walk back to town. Waiting at a place where the howler monkeys jumped around in the afternoon sun Matilde and Michael caught up with him. We didn't know where Frederik and Berit were, only that they were with the guide somewhere up the mountain.

We hiked slowly back to the town and they caught up with us. All of us exhausted, covered in mud and completely drained for energy. But we made it to the top and back. Malene was waiting for us in the garden at the hostel, having had a nice day in town. We just wanted some dinner and an early evening in bed but the local cafe offered nice Sunday BBQ so we waited patiently for the food to get done while sharing a lot of beers and a lot of stories about today's mud adventures. What a hike and what a day.

Casualty from last nights party in the village

Ready for the hike to the laguna

Howler monkey

Mud

More mud

Extra mud

Finally at the top

Muddy lunch

BBQ getting ready

Looking for big snakes - and fishing for sharp teeth

A big thunderstorm hit the area in the middle of the night. First the flashes lit up the sky, later came thunder, rain and lots of wind. Staying in houses mainly constructed from wood and palm tree leaves meant that it felt pretty close to us. Nothing happened though but the show was impressive.

Waking up at the lodge in the early morning gave the opportunity to watch and admire the alligators on the banks of the river below our board walk. They would float around in the water trying to sneak in on competing alligators and suddenly they would fight - one of them loosing and having to flee. And then also listen to the cacophony of the birds singing in the morning each trying to overdo the other.

We had breakfast and were given rubber boots. We were going out in the fields to look for animals particularly anacondas. The fields turned out to be very muddy after last nights rain. In fact they turned out to be more like a flooded swamp. Given the limited supply of big rubber boots our new Australian friend - Roger - decided to wear only his hiking shoes. Big mistake. He was the first to get stuck in mud and loose his shoe. And then get reunited with the lump of mud that was now his shoe.

Our guide found the smallest possible Anaconda for us after a few minutes. It was trying to swallow a fish three times the size of its mouth. They start early. We hiked on in search of a bigger snakes most of us trying to maintain balance. Suddenly Malene lost balance and soon after Jes. Being a bit soaked and very muddy is apparently a guarantee when hiking the pampas.

Suddenly there was a big splash since our guide had disturbed a big alligator and it was now all over the place twisting its body and tail violently. Everybody ran for their life - mud not being an issue.

We did a big detour around the alligator not to disturb it and then headed further into the swap still looking for a big anaconda. After some three hours and our guide being all over the place we returned home not having found it. Muddy and with tired legs.

After lunch it was time for a short siesta. We had spent a lot of time looking for snakes and we still had to head up river this afternoon to fish for piranhas and catfish. We sailed a bit up the river and our guide found a place that wasn't too crowded with alligators where some of us could fish from the boat and others from the bank of the river.

We got fishing lines and hooks and the most important - meat. And then we realised how quickly meat disappears in a muddy river in South America. You just felt a little pull in your fishing line and by the time you recovered the hook the meat was gone. And so it went on for some time. We did catch some fish, many of them being too small to keep so they got back in the water.

Mikkel caught one that was just big enough for dinner so it was kept together with a few others. Not the biggest meal tonight we expect. We headed back to the sunset place and watched another Pampas sunset before dinner and heading to bed. Long day and tired legs.    

Alligator guarding its place on the river

Morning view from the lodge

Ready for the pampas

Mud+shoe+stuck=not good

Flooded muddy pampas

Small but hungry anaconda

Pampas chic

Getting deeper

Mud, water and where is the next alligator

Storch

Angry alligator bubbling from its nose

More bubbles - time to leave

Nothing to see here

Back in the camp

Fishing for piranhas

Caught one - too small

Just big enough for dinner

No fish and no bait

Back at the lodge

Another pampas sunset