Volcano Trekking

Trip Start May 12, 2007
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Trip End Jul 14, 2007


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Saturday, June 9, 2007

Antigua is a nice little colonial town high up in the mountains near Guatemala City. We arrived in Antigua early on Thursday morning so we had to whole day to walk around and explore. We went into a few Churches and church ruins (many churches over the past centuries have been destroyed by earthquakes). In the evening we met up with Alan and Lauren, a couple of Americans who we met in Flores. We had a nice evening chatting and even experiencing a little Salsa dancing.
 
Around Antigua there are three volcanoes so the next day we booked on a trek to climb up one of them, Volcano Pacaya. There were three of us; James, Alan and I (Lauren wasn't feeling well so she stayed in bed). We started the in the afternoon and walked for about 1 hour uphill to reach the base of the crater peak. Pacaya is still active so we got to see lava first hand. It was amazing! We got really close to the point that people's shoes were starting to melt A view up the Volcano
A view up the Volcano
 ! No one is allowed to the very top of the crater though as around 7 years ago hikers were killed when they were at the mouth of the crater from an unexpected eruption. Instead we spent about 30 mins taking photos and exploring the lava trails coming down from the top. It was such an amazing experience to climb a volcano! It reminded me a lot of how the glacier looked like that we climbed in New Zealand, especially the patterns of the cooled molten rocks pouring down from the top. My shoes managed to survive the lava so James and I are considering climbing Volcano Tajumulco, the highest point in Central America, on a two day trek. We'll have to see whether it fits in on our timetable though!
 
Next we head to Lago de Atitlan, a huge lake Northwest of here, where we are planning to relax for a few days xxxx
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Comments

brysona
brysona on Jun 10, 2007 at 05:04PM

Lava minute
Ha ha....must be great getting near a volcano I think I would have been worried that it might erupt but I guess they know the warning signs. Glad you are still enjoying the novalty of these countries but also sounds like you were leading poor Lauren astray at the SALSA party. Looking forward to hearing your next adventure. love mum xxx

brysona
brysona on Jun 12, 2007 at 01:30PM

Hot Stuff
Great pictures. Thought you looked really happy enjoying your adventure. You could almost feel the heat and must have been a fantastic experience being so close to the crater. Good advert for the shoes although if they survive the whole trip it'll be a miracle. love dad xxxx

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