1st day continued---the volcano

We then went to the active volcano Paos. It has I think 4 craters, and we saw one active one and one inactive one (looks like a lake and is called a lagoon). We hiked through the cloud forest whose trees are covered in moss and their growth is dense and also formed by the chemicals from the volcano (sulphur and something else). Paos is a stratovolcano or composite volcano. I think it has a calderas based on my layman's understanding of it. It erupted December a year ago and I think the guide said it mainly shoots rock and water into the air. It was emitting smoke and when we came for a second look after hiking to the lagoon it was totally covered in smoke so it was no longer visible. I was glad we had gotten there when we did. from wikapedia: A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano,[1] is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic explosive eruptions and quiet eruptions, although there are some with collapsed craters called calderas. We hiked to the crater in the 2nd photo below as well as to the inactive volcano (lagoon) also see 1st photo below. We stopped for fresh strawberries with chocolate and sweetened condensed milk (luckily we walked a lot today so hope that didn't set me back health wise!) which were delicious. It was then off to the La Paz Waterfalls and Animal rescue park and butterfly garden which I'll write about in the next post.