Antigua y Volcan de Pacaya

On Monday, September 7th, we flew from Miami to Guatemala City. Juan from Casa Bellona was there to pick us up and drive us to the guesthouse in Antigua. Antigua is an old town in the central highlands of Guatemala. It was the original capital of the country until a series of earthquakes in the early 1700's convinced authorities to move the capital to its current location, Guatemala City. Many of the churches and other buildings damaged by these earthquakes remain. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a popular destination, with good tourist infrastructure, and some English speaking folk about. We thought it would make for a gentle introduction to Latin America.

On Tuesday, we wondered the quaint cobblestone streets, trying to get our bearings. Its a beautiful city, and seemingly peaceful, yet every bank and large store has well armed guards. We spent a large portion of the morning just trying to get the local money, quetzales. Then we went to the markets where we tried to escape without buying souveniers we could not carry, and visited an art gallery for a local artist we had never heard of before. Later that evening we wondered into the local grocery store and bought some snacks before going out to celebrate Eva's birthday at a fairly good and surprisingly expensive (by local standards) restuarant. The restaurant had live entertainment with a guitar player who later sang ¨Happy Birthday¨ in English to Eva as they brought out our dessert: a triple-chocolate brownie with ice cream! It was delicious!

The next day we rose early for a trip to Volcano Pacaya, one of Guatemala's only active volcanoes. We took a bus part-way up to the volcano. As we disembarked, a man tried to sell us marshmallows. We were a bit confused, but soon found out what the marshmallows were for. Although our tour up the volcano was well organized, with an expert (though Spanish-speaking) guide, the tour actually takes you close enough to lava to roast a marshmallow, or roast yourself if so inclined! We did not partake in any of the marshmallows, although we were close enough to feel uncomfortably hot, and several others did in fact toast some up. It only took 5 seconds to brown a marshmallow! The lava was still flowing and steam or smoke can be seen coming from the top of the cone. The view from the volcano was beautiful. The clouds had cleared up during the time we were on the volcano, so we had a gorgeous view of the other volcanos including Volcan de Agua, the cone-shaped one visible south of Antigua. The hike up the volcano was about 1.5-2 hours up some fairly steep terrain. There were ¨mountain taxis¨(i.e. horses) which people could take (and did) when they couldn´t handle the hike anymore. But we both made it up and down the volcano without the need for a taxi, but we were completely wiped out by the time we got back. How people are able to go out at night clubbing, as suggested by Lonely Planet, is beyond me.

We arose early on Thursday, September 10 to wander some of the ruined churches before catching a an afternoon bus to Panachajel on Lago de Atitlan.

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