The day before yesterday arrived completely becalmed here on the rim,  the air was still and the sun spilled champagne into  the distant haze.

Another spectacular day was unfolding but this one somehow felt different. By the time coffee was finished, the temperature was headed for 30 degrees and beyond, wind velocity was ZERO. The days are usually so comfortable here 2,000 ft. above the lake because of the reliable breeze that fills in and cools the skin.  There would be no breeze today so hammock yoga became the order of the day.

To achieve bliss through hammock yoga a practitioner needs only a well slung hammock, a great view, a good book and a  tall, cool mango smoothie. It is  time very well invested indeed.

We survived the  steamy windless day intact to be  entertained by the nightly electrical storms  erupting across the sky.

Yesterday morning openned with the same pattern but we had a plan.  We packed a day bag and made our way down to Paradiso. (Paradiso or paradise is a small backpacker resort with a private beach  and restaurant right on the lake) .

We wound our way through their tropical garden and established ourselves in comfy chairs just  footsteps  from water’s edge. Within seconds we were soothing in the glorious laguna. The shore of the lake is ringed with soft and inviting sand yet within 12 steps it drops off into the aqua abyss.  Imagine yourself free floating in space with a clear blue sky immersed in crystal jade water.

Floating in the laguna is one of our favourite past times and in one day we can easily pass many hours in the water just relaxing and soaking it up.

As the afternoon sun found its way across the crater we slowly pulled ourselves away from paradise, “maybe there will be wind up on top”? I exclaimed. We dried off and made our way home.

A beautiful dinner was prepared and the dishes done, a sudden gust forms “maybe there will be wind”?

We had just enough time to get the bathing suits of the line when the banana trees  began bending in the storm. Tropical storms here are regular occurrence but this was exceptional.  An eerie cloud engulfed  the crater and we were now  in its  midst, the temperature dropped like a rock.  Lightening  back lit the scene as the winds hollowed and dogs huddled nearby.

I had never seen lightening that fractures and branches off hitting the earth in a dozen places at once. Massive bolts can even travel sideways across the night crashing into each other. Pure sci fi.

Next the thunder came tumbling up. It seemed to travel coast to coast from the Atlantic, over the jungle all the way to the Pacific , the spectacle  was  now complete and things slowly  began  to calm down.

From our comfy bed we could hear the gentle rains as we drifted in the cool soothing breeze.

There is stillness in the crater this morning so the hammocks are slung just in case.

from joyful travellers