Volcan Pacaya - another look

---

This is my next entry on my list of "Top Things to Do in Guatemala if You're Visiting for a Short Time." (See Dec 24 entry for my list). We had already visited Pacaya once before, during the rainy season (see my Sept. 1 entry "Feels just like I"m walking on broken glass") and the really amazing thing about this place is how it changes so much! I mean, it's as if molten lava would actually alter the landscape...hey wait...

We wanted to take the Gellerts and Carlos to see Pacaya because it's such a great day trip from Antigua. Our ExpeditionsGuatemala.com guide this time was a great guy named Orlando, with calves like Lance Armstrong, and he skipped up the trail like he was a goat or something. (I try not to hate such people as I huff it up). It was a lovely sunny day and lots of people on the trail. I read in our guidebook that this is a dangerous trail, robbery-wise, but perhaps because of all the people we didn't have even the hint of trouble. (I think it also helps that OrlandoLance knew every single guide going up and down the trail, so was greeting people right and left like family).

After about a 90-minute walk, we reached an excellent vista and then over and up the lava beds into the heart of action - rivers of molten rock literally 10-15 feet away from us! This time OrlandoLance had come equipped with walking sticks which made walking across the lava rock a whole lot easier, because you really don't want to fall on this stuff. Not only will it burn your sorry self, it will scape away your skin as well.

There was a lot more action to the lava; you could see literal rivers of the hot stuff moving down just a few feet away. Ironically, the sun was somewhat a hindrance to a good view, because it created such a glare. It was very noticable when a cloud would come across and shade the landscape, making the lava really glow and stand out. Once again I LOVED looking at the lava, and many of our little troupe mentioned that they could just sit and look at it for hours.

The heat was intense, so we took a few quick shots and then moved back a bit where we proceeded to cook marshmallows right in the rock beds. Nothing like a lava-cooked marshmallow!

Morgan Gellert made our day when he declared that Pacaya should be named one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

---

Photos

Along the trail to Pacaya
a little lake, and Guatemala City way in the background

Great balls of fire!
At Pacaya

Lava cutting a river down the mountain
The sunshine hides the actual red glow of the lava here. (The evening we went to the opera - see Falstaff entry - we were able to look over from Guatemala City and see the BRIGHT rivers of lava glowing red in the night)

Um, better move along, ma'am...
That smile on my face is saying "heh heh, I'll try not to notice that there is a whole bunch of lava behind me heading my direction, heh heh."