pacaya volcano

i climbed a volcano over 8000 ft high. well it wasn't that much of a hike because we drove up a long ways to the trail. still yet we were hiking pretty fast for a big group and it was pretty rocky just to get to the lava fields. we were following a horse as well so we had to avoid lots of poops. it was hard to pay attention to the beautiful scenery because you had to watch your step, and it was raining. it stopped enough to get a few pictures on the way up and when we got to the lava fields it stopped altogether.

i was surprised at the speed with which we walked on the lava fields, especially since we were a varied group with assorted footwear. when you are going on a "hike" to a volcano you would think that wearing actual shoes would be smart, eh? some people wore sandals, i could see their toes. other people wore converse and i couldn't even imagine wearing those to hike. there were sharp lava rocks and you had to climb up, down and over big rocks so i'm glad i brought good shoes.

at the top of the hike we were in the middle of a large lava field. it was pretty gross feeling because the warm volcanic air would blow from below and it felt like a sauna or stepping into a bathroom after someone took a hot shower (something we don't experience much here cause a HOT shower is rare). between blasts of hot, humid air we would get a cool breeze but mostly it felt like an oven. luckily we got to see red hot lava and the guides brought marshmallows and sticks to roast them on! i didn't partake in the volcanic marshmallow fest because she basically caught each one on fire and gave it out blackened, no thanks!

the views from the volcano were pretty awesome when the clouds/fog/vog cleared up enough. there was a pretty tall volcano next to pacaya that i'm glad we didn't climb because i think it was over 11,000 ft and looked like a cone, would've been a 45 degree angle climb! we went on an afternoon/sunset tour but by the time the sun was setting it was all clouded in so no sunset. it was also raining towards the end so it was a bummer but we never let a little rain bring the party down.

going down the volcano was pretty hard, with the sun going down and my knees wanting to give out. it was a long day and by the time we got back to antigua we popped into the first restaurant we passed and sat down. we were both tired and hungry and it didn't matter what was put in front of us, we would've ate it all. i had un-exciting (but nice and warm) spaghetti and arna had minestrone and garlic bread.