Yesterday, Saturday, was my first day hiking a volcano. I was supposed to go with a CommonHope group to climb Volcan Agua, where a man who is affiliated with CommonHope would lead us up the mountain and explain how he made his livelyhood there. Well... the bus never showed. I felt really bad because to these people I represented CommonHope, but I was really just along for the ride. The other CommonHope volunteer, Marissa (who was really in charge) made like 10 phone calls to no avail. After waiting in our designated spot for an hour and a half, the group decided to find something else to do that day. I felt really bad that they didn't get the oppertunity to climb the volcano on their last day in Guatemala, (but I was kinda miffed to! Today was volcano climbign day!).
I was not going to finish my saturday without having climbed a volcano. Marissa and I walked around looking for some tour agencies and I found one that said they were sponsored by Lonely Planet (true? maybe not). 8 bucks later, I was on a bus with 11 other people headed to Volcan Pacaya. The other people were really nice and I met some nice Canadians. One of whom used to live in Hopkins, MN and has an uncle with a house on Lake Minnetonka. Small world!
The climb was more difficult than I expected. As soon as our bus got to the bottom, we were innundated with little boys with sticks and men on horses. The sticks to use on the way up and the horses too. No one in our group caved to using a horse to climb the mountain but a few bought sticks. Our group consisted of pretty young fit-ish people and it took us about an hour and ten min to climb the volcano. Unfortunetly there was lots of fog, so we didn't get an amazing view as was promised. The climb was difficult, and we only stopped twice for water breaks. I think the altitude also had something to do with the difficulty. I am so glad I stopped before going to buy an extra liter of water, I definetly needed it. We started at 1600 feet and went to about 2500 i believe. The guide was very nice and informative.
After climbing an hour, we got to the lava! Some of the girls (from Steven's Point, WI) brought a big bag of marshmallows which they roasted and handed out to everyone. It was a lot of fun to see and hear the cooling lava. It was constantly crackling and chunks were breaking off. Our guide lit his cigarette on one of the little chunks.
After that, we had a very steep climb up some volcanic ash. The path was difficult and visibility was low. It was totally worth it. Once we got to the top, we were able to see a river of lava. my guide said that it had been flowing for 4 years and that the last real erruption(spewing chunks 2K into the air) was about 30 years ago.
On the bus ride home, a bunch of us started talking about wanting to climb to 'sierra de la cruz' this point that juts out above Antigua. None of us had gone because there has been lots of news about robbers. My host dad said i shouldn't go without two men with me... so we decided to all go together. Three girls and two boys. We had no problems and it was worth it for the view. The hike up took about 30 min. and we stayed for about 30 min at the top taking pictures and relaxing. here are some pics from that hike.
What an amazing experience for you! Thank you for the detailed description and the wonderful photos. That's too bad the bus didn't show up, but at least you were able to get a couple of climbs in. What have some of the places (restaurants) that you've eaten at been like - like the food and drinks, etc... Have you tried any daring native dishes (Balut-like??) ;)
ReplyDeleteLove you!
The lava pictures are amazing. Did you feel heat from it as you were close by?
ReplyDeleteSounds like so much fun! Melanie is here and we are chatting about what a fun time you two will have there. Remember, "po-le, po-le" (slowly, slowly in Swahili) as you climb any mountain (literally or figuratively). Love, DM
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments! (it's how I know who is reading :) Tia Mia, resturants have been pretty good so far. I read that Guatemalan fare is typically blander than say Mexican, and that has been the case. On Sat. I went out to eat with another CommonHope volunteer to a tiny, 3 table place. Pretty good food, very filling, and with a grapefruit pop, was only Q34 or like $4.50. I also went out to eat sunday and got egss, beans and tortillas for Q20 or $2.50. Nothing too daring yet, though I ate some sausage with my host dad and found out what was in it later. ew :( pig head.
ReplyDeleteMom, yes the heat was very tangible. It was tough to get close. So glad i wore hiking boots bc the bottoms were very hot.
Thanks for the advice Donna!