Our guide met us at 7.30 for the gentle stroll up volcano maderas. Strolled through an organic farm, mingling with pugs, horses, and bizarrely a raccoon. As we continued skyward, the wildlife continued with howler monkeys, large and colourful butterflies, and (again bizarrely) a crab. We were not expecting to spot a crab whilst walking up a volcano through cloud forest, but the nor were we expecting to have to walk much of the way through a stream. The going was tough as it was, a steep and rocky climb through very humid forest, but when the rain started again it became a steep, slippy and muddy climb. We continued up, up and up and after about 4 and a half hours reached the top and the lagoon which filled the crater - it was difficult to comprehend that we were sitting at the top of the volcano we had seen towering over lake Nicaragua the day before. The way down was, comparatively, a breeze, but weary limbs led to a few slips in to muddy puddles. Lots more monkey spottings, including lots of babies, on the way down helped us beat our tiredness, but we were very relieved to hit the hammocks.