View from the house
Finally the rain stopped and Santiago and I were very lucky as we were invited by Edwin and Selena to visit them in their lake house on Lago de Coatepeque. It turned into a beautiful day with some sun. The weather was amazing with beautiful clouds, rays of sun piercing the clouds and reflections on the water. The air temperature was very warm. The drive was a little over an hour from San Salvador. The highway is under renovation so in the future this will be a nice drive. The last 2 miles are on a dirt track so 4x4 is advisable.
Lago de Coatepeque is without a doubt the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. It is only about an hour drive from San Salvador and is a volcanic crater lake with a large island in it. The lake is an all sport with jetski, waterski, scuba dive, sailing, etc.
I wish I could do this well
The area of the lake is 26 sq km with a maximum depth of 120 metres. The elevation is about 750 metres above sea level and it not so high as to be uncomfortable. Coatepeque is the lake to be on while Lago del Ilapango is less developed but larger. The lake is surrounded by three volcano's (Santa Ana,
Volcánico Izalco, Cerro Verde). If we have more time we would have trekked in the volcano's. The volcanic caldera is beautiful and I would have taken some amazing pictures. One of the treks ends with a long slide down the inside of the crater on the old lava. Also the views from the volcano's include the Lage de Coatepeque.
We arrived to the private house via a dirt mountain road, and passing through the non-descript gate we entered paradise.
Misty Volcano's
The property is elevated above the lake, giving fantastic views of the lake from the terrace as well as the pool. We immediately headed for the boat and started a fanastic, warm day of fun on the water. For Santiago and me this was the first time to waterski and what a fantastic experience to waterski in a volcanic crater. Our friends were excellent slalom skiers and put on a very good show for us. I drove the boat so Edwin could ski. We ski'd all around the island and got to see all the new development on the island. Twice we got 'buzzed' by helicopters coming to land at other personal houses. Unfortunately, I didn't have the digi ready for those surprising moments. Wow the houses are amazing. The lake, we had to ourselves with only two jetski's and one ski boat for company. The water was almost perfectly smooth at times creating some amazing reflections of the crater rim. We all ended the day tired, so we let the boat drift in the middle of the lake and performed dives and swimming in the clear water. Many thanks to our wonderful friends for sharing their paradise with us.
