We crossed the lake in a small boat bumping and jumping across the choppy water. San Juan lies at the base of another volcano and the walk up the hill, through the town was steep.

From the start, the colours struck us, in murals, on the ground, in the clothing and even above. It felt such a happy place.

We spent a couple of hours at the Women’s Cooperative. Mainly weaving, but some embroidery too (more detail at Christinas.Craft.Odyssey on Instagram). It’s just so amazing to think that what I do for a hobby, these women do to make a living and supplement the family income. Their work is exquisite.

We met our host, Cecilia. Her English is on par with my Spanish, but good old Google translate helped us through an afternoon and overnight stay with her son and herself.

I helped her prepare dinner, something Lionel is much better at! He played chess, UNO and snakes and ladders with Cecilia’s son.

We also made lots of tortillas…mine were a bit scruffy, and her son knew which ones were Christina’s!

The next morning we wandered back down to the dock after visiting the medicinal plant garden, also run by the women. The murals were everywhere, including the basketball court/ outdoor stage.

This Homestay was definitely a highlight!