Volcanic Zen

I woke up sweating. Despite the fact that two fans had been whirring furiously directly on me the entire night and it was barely 7am, I was sweating.  It was definitely too hot to go back to sleep and I desperately wanted to be much cooler then I currently was.

Thankfully we had fled the oppressive Granada heat and were staying at a 'resort' on the Laguna de Apoyo where the swimming was spectacular. This the third volcano we had been to in almost as many days. Instead of being active, or blanketed in a thick forest, this inactive volcano crater was full of water. Maybe my favourite option of the three!

I slipped out of our room and headed down to the water. The air was hot and thick and sticky but I felt instantaneously happy as soon as I stepped into the lake. I walked out as far as I could touch. The crystal clear water deceptively deep.

I laid back like a starfish and let the water wrap around me like a cool silk sheet. The silence under the water is so complete, its hard not to be instantly relaxed. I looked down at my toes poking just out of the surface. I tried to memorize every detail of the scene around me to re-live one cold February afternoon. The crater rim rising up around me, lush, vibrant, tropical and impenetrable. The tendrils of mist that are clinging to the highest edges, weaving in and out of the tallest reaches of the crater. The sun slipped behind a thin cloud, bathing the entire scene in a silvery, early morning light. The laguna is a mirror. The only sounds are of exotic sounding birds calling to each other from the thick forest. Little fish are jumping a few feet from my outstretched toes. I'm not sure if they are the hunters or huntees until a much bigger fish leaps out of the water and grabs one of the little fish in its mouth. Definitely the hunted. I try to take everything in and make a video in my mind. A tall, elegant white egret lands on the raft floating out deeper. I lie still willing the tranquility to linger just a little bit longer.

But, it doesn't. Employees are arriving for the day, calling out greetings in Spanish. Other guests filter down to the lake, dogs start barking at a neighbouring property...the moment is gone. I slip back under the water and surface  feeling re-energized and lucky that I get to spend another day with the Laguna.