Volcan de Pacaya

Yesterday we had our first adventure day of our stay in Guatemala, and we climbed Volcan de Pacaya (Pacaya Volcano). The hike was about 2-3 hours to where we stopped. The hike itself was fairly difficult at times, as the trails were covered in deep volcanic sand and rocks that made walking difficult for most. For me, it was my first day off crutches in a week, so it was even harder for me. I hadn't used my left leg in a week due to a small fracture in my foot, so suddenly doing something so strenuous was quite hard on my leg. But although it hurt, I kept going, knowing that I would hate myself if I missed out on climbing a volcano because of a little pain.

The original plan was to go all the way to the top, which would have been intense, as Volcan de Pacaya is an active volcano, but the wind, weather conditions and more frequent earthquakes lately made it dangerous, so we didn't reach the top. On the way up, the views were amazing. You could see the other neighboring volcanoes, the rolling hills, Guatemala City off in the distance, and the hardened lava from the last big eruption that occurred in 2010. When we were about three quarters of the way up, we came across a small shop called "The Lava Store". It is the only store I know of that is set up on the edge of an active volcano. It sells handmade jewelry made with volcanic rocks. All the proceeds go toward community support in the areas around the volcano, as the local communities have suffered much loss and property damage due to the eruptions. The pieces they sell are unique and quite beautiful. If you would like to learn more about them, you can visit their website: www.pacayadesigns. com.

A short ways past the Lava Store, I got the bright idea to climb up on a giant volcanic rock for a photo opportunity. The rock I was climbing on to get on to the bigger one decided to give out, and I found myself caught between two large lava rocks, my left hand slightly mangled in the process of my fall. Climbing back to the group, I had to be especially careful as to not get any more rocks in the gash, so it could be easier to clean out. Just after we got my hand bandaged up well enough to keep my from bleeding everywhere, we stopped to roast marshmallows and toast our sandwiches over a vent. Then we explored some of the caves. We spent a lot of time goofing off, taking crazy pictures and examining the varying colours in the rocks. When we had had our fun, asked our questions about the volcano and nearly had our fill of being goofs, we began our descent back down the volcano, piled onto the bus and headed back to GBS.

It was a crazy fun experience, though I would have loved it if we could have gone all the way to the top and seen the lava pools. Maybe next year!