Volcano Pacaya!

Hey, there, kids!

This week's post is a short account of my trip up Volcano Pacaya. Pacaya is one of the volcanoes in the area outside Antigua. It is a well-visited destination in the area and was a great experience. With all the volcanoes near our place of residence, it seemed a shame to not climb one of them! We did a bit of research and found the safest volcano, contacted a guide service that would guarantee a safe ascent, and scheduled our day of climbing! Saturday at six in the morning, we met up with our guide service and headed about two hours away from Antigua to the base of the volcano.

When we arrived at the base of Pacaya, we were offered climbing sticks and marshmallows to roast at the top, as there are natural heat vents that get quite warm. Another luxury that was offered at the bottom of the mountain was a "taxi." Although a taxi up a volcano seems nice, we can all see how this may be a little problematic. By "taxi," these fine gentlemen meant horses. Riding a horse up the volcano was an option that we all decided against. Although I have not quite been keeping my cardio in tip top shape, I decided to take the hike on foot.

The first ten minutes of the climb was, by far, the hardest for me. Between the altitude of the mountain and the steepness, my body had its work cut out for it in getting used to a new environment. After the first bit of the trip, my muscles warmed up and climbing became easier and easier. There were several dogs that followed us up the mountain looking for food and we also had the company of the men on horses, determined that someone would decide to reconsider their offer. Along the way, we were able to see many sights (see pictures) that became more amazing the higher we went.

When we reached the top, we were able to see many different towns and cities. Another noticeable change as we got higher was the ground on which we were walking. The earth changed from dirt to black porous volcanic rock. We were so high, that the fog obstructing our view turned out to be clouds. As we looked over to other mountains, we could see that we were at the same height as the clouds surrounding them.

This is the lake near Guatemala City.

On the other side of these three volcanoes is Antigua.

Unfortunately, we were not able to go all the way to the mouth of the volcano. Our guide informed us that there are areas where seemingly stable ground can collapse quite easily. Because of this, we were only able to view the top from a safe distance.

Steam coming out a natural vent.

Corey and I one of the vents.

This is what the path looked like on the last bit of our trip.

One of the hotter vents that accommodates the mallows!

Part of our experience, unfortunately, included an emergency that came in the form of a nasty spill into quite a porous rock! A young lady from Belgium, while running down a less-than-solid trail, fell down into a large sharp stone. In doing so, she cut her head a little bit and her knee a lot bit! As she was unable to walk, a stretcher was made out of the walking sticks that some of the group had rented and jackets. Our guide contacted help and an actual stretcher was brought a little later. The problem was that there was no way to get an ambulance up the mountain, and the girl was in too much pain to ride a horse. So we were asked to help carry her down the mountain. As the hike up took around an hour and half, we realized this may be quite difficult. Luckily our guide knew a short cut and we were able to make it down a bit more quickly. The quicker route, however, was a bit steeper and covered in rocks so that we had to basically slide down the mountain. All ended well, however, and everyone was safe by the end.

For a general update, I can just say that all is well! Work is going swimmingly and school even better! We have been enjoying the company of a couple of friends that came to visit from Michigan, as well! As the weeks go on, it seems like a clock started ticking my time here away. I feel quite anxious when I think about leaving Guatemala. I'm not looking forward to it. There are, however, many reasons I will love to get back home. It is a weird feeling, in general. That's all for now! Stay tuned for the next post. It will, most likely, be a little more informative...

By the way! Disclaimer: The trip to Volcano Pacaya was in no way sponsored or encouraged by Spring Arbor University or the Gilman Scholarship Program.