Bayuyo, second visit

When we first time went to Bayuyo, the old volcano nearest our village, we went with a group of other walkers, lead by a guy who knew exactly how to go. As I said before, you can hardly miss it, so the idea was to make use of his knowledge for least painful approach. This Sunday we went with kids, believing that we remembered the way. In reality, we didn't - we missed a turn somewhere and went along a different path. Surprisingly, it worked out somewhat better than the path our guide used. The problem with his route was that for a while there was no path - he probably cut a bit of distance that way, but walking across extremely rocky malpais is not my favourite experience. On Sunday, almost as soon as we realized that we missed a turn, there was a path leading in the right direction, with some cairns along it. We took it, and it lead us directly to the path that runs around the caldera.

We were lucky with the weather this time - not too hot, quite a lot of wind, and the shadows of the clouds were running fast across the landscape. There were no other walkers this time but one, surprisingly, a runner (!), who we met at the top, where he was having a little break. I am not sure how safe this type of exercise is, especially when you are on your own.

Behind the Bayuyo there are several more calderas lined up; the whole system probably has a name, but I don't know what it is yet. I liked the small corral at the bottom of the first one.

Saw a pair of those birdies circling quite far above. Didn't have my telephoto with me, but this image turned up pretty sharp. I have an extremely limited knowledge of birds, but those things were a lot bigger than kestrels, which are around pretty much anywhere.Maybe a hawk, but dunno really.

Given the strange habits of local runners, the interest they were taking in humans is probably gastronomical.

Here's a little video of clouds moving over the landscape. It's a bit shaky, maybe I should take a tripod next time. Music is there to drawn out the background conversation that happened to be of egg sandwiches.

pics of Bayuyo on shutterstock