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Published: January 7th 2008
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After the full day-trip to Tikal, Luke and I weren't sure that we would be up for hiking up Pacaya to see the volcano and its lava flows. So, for much of the morning on Sunday we kind of loafed around the hotel... we also walked to nearby mall also stopped by a Pizza Hut for an early lunch.
Sometime in the early afternoon we began to reconsider the trip up to Pacaya... why not? We were feeling well and rested. So we headed to the lobby to talk to the concierge and/or hotel staff about catching a cab to Pacaya and back. Thankfully, we ran into one of my Spanish speaking co-workers who also happens to enjoy negotiating. 😊 He talked to a cab driver and went back and forth for a bit and was able to get us a decent round trip cab fare.
Off we went. During the cab ride it started raining a bit, but as we drove up the mountain it cleared up.
I am usually suspicious of cab drivers, and this was no different. We diverted off of the "signed" road onto dirt roads of all sorts and driving through a number
Duckie, Paddington, and Avis
The rock was so hot, I was a little concerned it might melt the bottoms of Duckie and Avis... however, they made it through unscathed. of small villages. I was preparing in my mind what to do if we came to a stop and strangers rushed us (my plan mainly included just giving them everything we have and hoping they would leave use alone). At any rate, the cab driver was just going a different route probably more well known to the locals.
Of course, the roads don't go to the top... and we ended up stopping in a village that also serves as the park entrance. After paying a small entrance fee we hired a guide for, I think, 12 USD... quite cheap, I thought... I think this was the guide's full-time, all-day job... up the mountain, down the mountain, and again and again.
He did not speak English, however, between what Luke and I knew in Spanish we got by fairly well. He told us a lot about various plants and other things along the way. For instance, Pacaya is named after a plant that grows in the area. He also showed us the power plant nearby and how they pipe water into the volcano for energy from the steam -- seems like a great source of non-pollutive energy. And volcanoes
aren't stable terrain anyway, so why not install massive pipes in it to benefit from the extreme heat?
The path we hiked on also served the horse-back riding tours to the top... so lots of manure and dirty watering holes. The total hike to the top was maybe 45 minutes. I can't say the view was stunning, but it was beautiful to walk up over the edge and look down at the huge field of lava rock and various lava flows... and towering up over it the peak of the Pacaya volcano complex.
The guide took us around the rim to see more of the surrounding countryside -- "great, beautiful, yeah, uh huh". But then he pointed at and started walking down toward the lava. 😊 My pulse quickened. As we headed down he more-or-less started running and Luke and I had to pick up the pace to keep up.
There is a line between the regular plants & dirt terrain and the lava rock. The lava rock we first stepped on was somewhat aged... plants growing here and there, brownish, and worn down from trekkers and weather. As we walked in deeper the rock became very
shiny and black -- glass-like -- and on close inspection it had a very rough and sharp surface -- picking up a rock I could see numerous tiny sharp points coming off of it and that it was also fragile.
Another thing I noticed was the heat. Not only could I feel it getting hotter the more we moved in toward one of the lava flows, but I could also see the heat waves while looking across the lava rock field.
The lave itself was slowly pushing up out of the ground here and there -- it was bright and as it slowly pushed up out of the ground I could see it cooling and turning into solid rock at its edges. We could also see bright lava in cracks and crevices all around us. The rocks we stood on were supported by the lave itself. We could hear the lava and heat... it sounded like the burning red coals that are left after a bonfire dies down... except louder and we were in the middle of it.
At some points I was a bit scared. It got very hot at some points and the rocks sometimes
felt like eggshells that could break inwards if they were too small and right on top of the lava. And I did break the edge off of one rock while jumping around. However, I carefully watched the guide... not only where he jumped but also his expressions... it looked like that man had done this hundreds of times. But he was certainly not without a sense of seriousness... we were getting within feet of the lave at some points.
From there we looped around back to the dirt trail and headed to the top of the rim. However, instead of going back the way we came, we went down the other side... the much steeper side. While walking up the hill, he had been trying to explain something like skiing... and I didn't know what he was talking about. Apparently, I understood correctly and it just didn't make sense at the time.
The back side had a steep volcanic sand trail going for probably 200 meters, 100 of which was pretty steep. Our guide went bounding down the thing... jumping and taking huge strides... each foot would dig into the sand and slide for a bit. Luke and
I took off after him and soon got the hang of it... we were quickly running/foot-sledding down the slope. It was awesome. We were laughing and yelling. Sand was getting in our shoes. It was a such a new experience. If only we would have had a lift to bring us to the top so we could do it all over again.
Once the first descent was over, the rest of the trail wound around the side of the mountain back to where we started. We got some Gatorades at a little shop, paid the guide, and took the cab back to hotel.
The next week was work, work, and more work. While I was at work, Luke went to help out at an orphanage he had visited a few years earlier on a mission trip... after this latest visit the orphanage offered him a job and now he will be going back and forth between there and the States during the next year (and maybe more).
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