With a month of travel under our belt, we are feeling pretty confident about this whole travelling thing. We have learned 4 or 5 useful Spanish phrases and are pretty sure we are ready to move onwards from Antigua to Copan, which is in Honduras. There is just one thing we keep on talking about but have yet to do... climb a volcano in Guatemala. One of the most popular volcano climbs has to be Pacaya. It is close to Antigua and for $5 each, we really wanted to do it.
I have asked a lot of people here if they think it is a good idea to climb Pacaya with kids. Most people have said “No way” but a few have said “Go for it!” ... so off we went.
Jason and Lena were going to go first and then Jade and I the next day. I like to send Jason out first to feel things out (not to mention that the shuttle left at 6am and I wanted to sleep in). So Jade and I hung out in the market and just wondered around while Lena and Jason climbed Pacaya. On our way back to the hotel Lena came running down the street jumping up and down she was so excited about the volcano climb. She and I ran back to the hotel so that she could show us the pictures and the video of the lava flowing!!
Very cool (or hot, I guess) and Jade and I couldn’t wait to go ourselves. So, the next morning at 6am we stepped outside our hotel and click, the door locked behind us. So, we were now stuck outside our hotel in the dark on the street in Antigua. No big deal ... for the first 20 minutes! Eventually someone started calling my name and said something in Spanish that I assumed was get in the car. So, Jade and I hop in the strangers car in the quiet morning of Antigua. I was completely freaking out thinking that this guy was going to kidnap us or something, when a few minutes later he stopped in front of another hotel and picked up another tourist on his way to Pacaya. Apparently this was the car that rounded everyone up and took them to the main shuttle bus. I won’t even get into how many people were crammed into the shuttle or where my 7 year old daughter sat for 1 ½ hours up a crazy mountain road.
Well, we made it safe and sound to the bottom of Pacaya where we were met by a bunch of kids wanting to rent us walking sticks. For .50 we got a couple but kindly refused the others that were offering a taxi (a horse) up the volcano. The hike to the lava was a bit challenging, but nothing crazy. Walking on the lava fields was another story. It was very sharp and quite brittle. We were happy to have those walking sticks because you had to kind of poke around at the lava to make sure it was stable. There were spots where you could feel the lava under your feet, but couldn’t see it. We got so close to the flowing lava that the guide stuck Jade’s stick into it (because she wanted to do it and I was a little nervous about the whole molten rock sucking my baby down). Anyhoo, as soon as he stuck the stick in it caught on fire. It was so hot standing near the lava it was like sticking your head right next to a campfire.
A very cool day and one that none of us will ever forget. The views were amazing, too because you could see 3 other volcanoes from the one we were standing on and one of them kept on spewing ash into the air. Unbelievable!!
