I only saw one person, a park ranger the whole hike up to the crater. Among the dreadlock rainforest trees it feels like something is watching you and I was pretty sure it was the hobbit. After the first 6 km the rainforest starts to clear and there are small cactus-leaf like bushes. The trail goes down a cliff to a creek then back up, getting exponetially steaper from there. I had to ditch my pack half way up the side of the mountain. The bushes go overhead then finally clear altogether to reveal rolling hills of ground shrubs and volcanic indentation. All I could hear was the wind and my own footsteps. It was like an after life or where faries go when they aren´t on earth. Another ten minutes to the crater along a precipetous rocky path with clouds covering the ground (or lava?) below.
Back on the ground, I highly recommend taking the pathway to to river. There's a great cool clear and clean place to swim that is like heaven after a 16km
trek.
The loop is easy. Someone warned me that there was a jaguar so I went into the forest armed with a buck knife jumping around like tarzan thinking I´d bring home a hide with a herioc tale of man against nature. Instead I found a waterfall, a crater of rapidly boiling goo, hot springs, steaming holes, and some mud pots that reminded me of three old men on a porch. They´d grunt, fart and gurgle as they smoked strong fumes. Occationally, one would burst forth in an intemperant epitaph to which the others would patiently grunt in agreement.