Cerro Negro

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Wow, geez, what a difference a day makes. On Wednesday I talked to the 2 organizations that I was thinking of volunteering for and worked out an arrangement to be at both. I will volunteer at a school for street kids called Las Tias 3 mornings a week and be a trekking guide the rest of the time. The school is still on break so I won´t start there for a couple weeks, but I have already gone on my first hike to Cerro Negro and it was amazing! After an evening of preparing food, we met at 4am to have breakfast and catch the bus to the nearby town of the volcano. 150 years ago this place was a field and then the earth birthed Cerro Negro, a small volcano and is a challenging to climb because it is mostly volcanic sand and rock. Two steps up, one step down. The eruption cycle is every 7 years and the last explosion was 1999. It was expected to erupt in November or December, so any day now.... Underneath Cerro Negro is an underground body of water where Leon gets some of its water (and just like Xela, Guatemala has regular water shortages), but because the water is naturally filtered through the volcanic rocks and pushed up by heat, the water is supposedly safe to drink from the tap. The steam from the top is water vapor and yellow from sulfur. The best part of this climb is jumping down- a steep slope of volcanic sand that feels like moon jumping, or bring a board and surf down.

I found a home stay- my own room and bathroom for $75 a month, breakfast included.

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