Alegría Things to Do

In the crater lake ,I saw an activity which is bubble coming up from the bottom.I can see it very close to a shoreline.The water was cold ,same as other area,so it should not be the steam .It might be only gases coming up through a small fissure.

I found this volcanic shape rock on ground during walking.It's on the west side of the lake ,same area that I found those sulfur mineral.It looked so interesting,so I took the picture.I guess it might be some kind of "basalt" may be "olivine basalt". Olivine is a yellowish green mineral composed of silica,iron and magnesium.I can see the yellow color and the porous(holes) in it.So I 'm pretty sure that it might be olivine basalt"

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The name of this lagoon used to be "Tecapa" same name as the volcano.Laguna de Tecapa means lagoon of stone.But now the name has been changed to be Laguna de Alegria according to city name.The highest point of volcanic cone is 1603 meters and the lowest is at 1275meters.We can see some yellow crystalline sulfur mineral around the area,especially at the west side( walk about half way).Those sulfur is metemorphic minerals that form only at high temperature and pressure, and was deposited as the result of volcanic action.

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At the time I arrived the lagoon,(november 2010)the water level was a bit higher than average.Some part of the path around the lake was flooded.It made some part of the loop inaccessible ,but if you don't worry about your shoes and can walk bare foot through water and mud,it can be fun though.Some kids did,and looked like they had fun.Otherwise you can do a little hike above it but it 's quite muddy in some part.

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I like these rocks and threes ,it must have been looking eerie at night ,that's why some people may have some immagination seeing a woman with long hair and long arms sitting on the rocks at night !!!!! : )

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The entrance fee for the lagoon is 0.25 $ per person.There was a staff standing around the gate waiting to collect the entrance fee,but if you find no body ,he might be in a small kiosk on your left hand side if facing the gate.At that kiosk ,they provide some seats for customer to sit ,they have some snacks and drinks.We can see some part of the lagoon from there ,it's beautiful.

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This lagoon located about 2 km. south of Alegria.Time to get there by walking can be 30 to 60 minutes depend on how fast we walk.It's a pleasant uphill walking because the view along the way is so beautiful,passing through coffee plantation,and see Alegria from high level.The path along the way paved by big rocks,so it can be rocky for driving up there.There were some cars passing me by ,they are kind asking for a ride but we prefer to walk.Good for exercising ,take deep breath ,get clean air and seeing such a nice view.

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My first impression to Alegria was the people.When I arrived central park ,I said hello to poliemen hanging around in front of police station which locate at one corner of the park.Not long after said hello to them ,one of them approached us and try to open the small museum that actually already closed that day because we arrived quite late .He even try to be the city guide for us ,telling little story about things in the museum,..how nice.. In the museum ,there are some old stuff like pottery,stone and other things that found in the area.I like one thing,the Alegria book ,the size of book is quite big (shown in the picture)The book contain some articles and old pictures about Alegria,very interesting.