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Published: August 8th 2012
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Pacaya Volcano in Action
This is the Pacaya Volcano on a good day. Pretty cool, huh? I´m here in Antigua finally a day late after the airline saw fit to send me my luggage. I had to fuss a bit but I got it last night and hauled out this morning in a shuttle here.
OH, MY GOD! THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL! Antigua is a colonial town in the central highlands of Guatemala. There are cobblestone streets, colonial style churches some of wich were destroyed by earthquakes a couple of hundred years ago. There is a strong presence of tradionally dressed Mayan women selling things... and for good reason, is crawling with the backpacking tourists. Still, the tourists surprisingly don´t ruin things here. I saw Guatemalan tourists as well. The climate is almost perfect with a little sunshine and warmth in the morning, and when that gets almost uncomfortable things cool off with a light rain or two in the afternoon.
Antigua is surrounded by four volcanos within view. Two are active and I climbed one today. (see pictures) I managed to get here in time to find a cute hotel (with free internet), shower, change clothes, eat a good meal and and sign up for a trip to the volcano. For $9.00 we were
The streets of Antigua
Notice the cobble stone streets, the colonial arch, and the volcano in the background.
[The Streets of Antigua] taken on a wonderful seven hour trip, with a great guide. The rodes there were paved and in good condition all the way to the volcano where it started to become a little like I remember being on safari in Africa... a little scarey and VERY bumpy. Forutanely Guatemalans don´t generally drive like Mexicans or Africans which means that I can ride with my eyes open! ... and what pretty scenery I saw! It´s so lush and tropical. When we got to the volcano a guide came to take us 5 kilometers mostly straight up the mountain. For those of you who are wondering, my knees held up great, but I am officially out of shape. Most of the group was much was much younger than me and so I huffed and puffed right behind them and had a good laugh when I told them that I´m a P.E. teacher. Every now and then we stopped and took a look at some amazing vista or at least wait hopefully for the clouds to pass and uncover the view like unwrapping a present. Our guide kept telling us that if we wished, we could go down short of our goal, but
we pushed ahead and we were so pleased. We could see red hot lava bubling out of the crater of the volcano! There was a constant stream of smoke coming from the top and I could have sat there all day. As we got to as closer as we could go we could see lava flows and hear the volcano bubbling.
The way down took about half the time as going up, and then we were on the way home. I felt a personal victory for having been able to make it up the mountain at all with my knees and because the exercise felt so good.
On a small change of subject, one of the best things about being here is that I´ve learn that when forced, I can speak a fair amount of Spanish. I think that many Guatemalans speak at least a little bit of English, but they show absolutely no interest in using that knowledge. They speak very clearly here which helps a lot, but I´m amazed at the things I can understand and even more amazed at how much I can spit out. I guess that living in Texas has allowed me to absorb
El Volcán Pacaya
Smoking Volcano with amazing views that don´t translate on my little camera. Spanish without even knowing it. It´s funny because this also shows me how much I´ve gotten away with English in other countries. We Americans are totally spoiled when it comes to language learning because, in general we aren't forced to learn anything else. Once I figure out wat all the computer commands are in Spanish, I´ll be doing great!
Tomorrow I´m hoping to see a macadamia plantation and get a facial there once I figure out how to ride the chicken bus that will take me there. I´ll let you know how it goes.
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