A Climb up Volcan Pacaya

"Buy a stick, wear shoes that fit, and bring money for a horse"....this was the very good advice I got from a fellow student before heading up Pacaya, an active volcano near Antigua and overlooking Guatemala City. It is an often climbed Volcano in recent years after robberies and thefts plummeted in 2006 as a result of armed patrols.

When we arrived we were swarmed by little boys selling walking sticks made of thick, stripped branches. We all bought one for Q5...less than a $1. I indeed broke down and hired a horse after slugging half way up the steep, rock and root strewn trail. Sweet Juan walked behind me with his horse, smiling and saying "taxi, taxi." My group consisted of mostly folks in their early 20s who scampered ahead, not seemingly affected by the thin air thousands of feet up.

After a couple of hours we reached a plateau above the lava field and the view was spectacular. After soaking that in, taking pics, we all carefully picked our way across the brutal other-worldly surface. The black, igneous rocks were sharp as razors and only about a year and half old as this volcano continuously erupts, sometimes dramatically spewing ash over Guatemala City. The last big eruption was in 1965.

We walked precariously across the lava field and got right next to the oozing fire rock. I got about 3-4 feet from the lava and the heat was incredibly intense....a classmate said that her eyelashes singed a bit (Cindy, from Portland in pic). After a stunning sunset we quickly and carefully picked our way back across the lava field and back up to the plateau where we stayed until it was dark, waiting to see the amazing contrast of the lava against a moonless night. Stunning.

All of a sudden our guide, said we needed to go rapido rapido! He got serious and said we must stay together and go immediately...we all practically ran down the steep trail, headlamps and flashlights lighting the way through the highland forest. We at the end of the group (me second from the last..last hilrious guy from Vancouver) all got a little concerned as our guide seemed a bit frenetic, and save for one couple behind us, we were the last group off the mountain. At one point, lookiong back to make a comment to my fellow traveler, I ate shit on the trail, twisting my already sore ankle...but it is not serious and the men were all so concerned and attentive...the upside of this patriarchal culture. I am one of the oldest students and am treated with deference, especially by the young Guatemalan men/boys.

In recent years many people have been robbed and cars broken into in this area. Our guide, an activities director from our school, is kinda fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants and seeing him so serious about our rapid decent was a bit disconcerting. A few gringos noted that to take this trail and walk on the lava field and run down in the dark in the states would require a serious liability waiver. Not in Guatemala! Many have noted the assessment of risk is on a whole different scale given the reality of life in Guatemala.

Back at the trail head and park entrance, we were again besieged by little dirty boys, asking for our sticks back, and begging for money and food. I returned my stick to a small boy who labored under the weight of an armful of already returned sticks.....and I gave away a bag of chips. We were hungry, we stunk, we were very dirty, I had dirt in my underwear from my fall....but everyone was happy having seen an amazing expression of the power of mother nature.