Loving Antigua

---

Soooo... this is Megan, my turn to write the blog. We have been in Antigua for 3 days now and are loving it! well, at least I am, and I think Alex is too. It's a clean and pretty city, and the locals are super nice. there are a lot of us 'gringos' white-n. american-english-speaking-travellers. Yesterday I put on a dress (yes, a dress!) and we went walking around the city checking out the architecture. there are some cool churches, some that are still used, and some that have been busted up by the 1772 earthquake. We chilled for a while in the central park. I actually thought i could read alone on a bench for a few minutes, but some scongy guy came and started hassling me as soon as Alex left, so I politely told him my 'novio' was over there and went and set next to the first white guy i saw. For the most part, the people here are super nice and friendly. I can get by with my rudimentary Spanish and Alex is picking it up quite quickly. it's so much easier here than Spain! We also checked out the shops, scoped out the best Panateria (bakery) and the best place for helados (ice cream), which we will hopefully hit up today. After walking around yesterday we left for our volcano hike in the afternoon. We drove for about 2 hours in the shuttle to the entrance of the park. we thought we paid less for a "bus grande", but ended up in a "bus pequeno" (small shuttle bus) which apparently was supposed to cost more (?), no idea what happened there. So the hike up the trail was about 45 minutes. it was about the effort of going up Mt. Finlayson. Our guide was a young man who I think lived in the nearby village. he was good about making stops so the Europeans taking their time drinking their coffee could catch up. after the trail ended the 'lava muerta' started, which is black dead lava rock that is sharp and sort of like walking on barnacles. it took us another 45 minutes to reach the crater. Pacaya is an active volcano so we got to see the lava flowing. Our guide had no reserves about taking us right in there! Alex and i decided we were close enough and didn't feel like dying, so we didn't go as close as some people. there was no closed off area, no waver, not much of any kind of warnings. the only thing that i saw was a sign saying "the volcano gives off emissions that harm your health" -and that was at the bottom of the crater! another group came up after us, i think it was the "bus grande". they had several guides who carried ropes and backpacks and had radios. Our guide had a stick. Getting down the lava muerta was the most difficult part-- very steep and not too secure. by the time we went down the trail it was dark. we were exhausted and slept the hour and a half ride the way home. Today were are spending in Antigua walking around and going back to the market. Tonight we are going to get some food and drink and be merry.

---

Photos

La Merced
a church in Antigua

Hiking Pacaya
The landscape reminded me of something out of The Land Before Time or Jurassic Park. I was waiting for Raptors to come bounding over the horizon.