Vulcan Pacaya - Guatemala

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From the centre of Antigua you can see several volcanos. The largest Agua is extinct with another which is dormant and Fuego which is still live. It´s been amazing to stand in the square and watch it shoot smoke into the air but the main one that everyone wants to visit is Pacaya, active and about an hour from the town. Booking the trip was easy and for once they seemed to want to ensure we really did turn up with the right equipment, health and safety really does not exist in this part of the world and we were impressed they seemed to be keen to make sure we were prepared to the point of telling us to have sunscreen with us to protect us from lava burns - nice!

Base level is 1500m, we were driven to 1800 then just needed to hike the remaining 450m to the summit where we would hopefully be able to view lava. At the base we were met by our local guide, all tourist trips must take a local with them and this helps give something back to the people of the country and give the locals a key role in what is the main income of the area. The company we used worked a lot with the locals at Pacaya and in particular one young lad whose parents could not afford to pay for his education (free until 12yrs, after that you have to pay), his father was football mad and the lad was called Jurgen Klinsman - really!

Now we are lucky to have been to several volcanos before and thought we had seen it all in Hawaii but this gave the opportunity to get up close and personal. What we were not prepared for was just how hard the hike was, the guide said the first 5 mins would be the worst but he was lying, it was the hardest thing either of us have done and pretty much broke us! The way up was 2 hours and I can safely say that about 1.5hrs in I was secretly cursing the mountain and thinking that there better be some lava to make up for the pain! The lava flow of course moves every day so we had to climb just a bit higher than the people the day before but suddenly the heat increased around us and it was like entering a too hot sauna, the heat was literally rising from the cracks in the hardened lava we were walking across.

For us we were lucky, the wind was blowing in the right direction so as we turned the final corner we were met with the lava flow, I will never see anything like it again in my life for sure. It was like something out of a movie, a flowing river of orange with heat that burned your skin if you got too close. We could get within a metre and as we spent the next 45 minutes watching around us new lava was breaking through the rocks drawn to the main flow. Attached are some pics and a 15 second video to give you an idea of just how amazing it was. Another traveller said to me this is what the word awesome was created to describe and it was certainly an experience of massive proportions to be able to see nature like this.

Anyway we staggered back down and the only injuries were when a peace of rock hit my leg, to be honest I think we got off pretty lightly!

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Photos

Vulcan Pacaya
At the summit - the lava flow just behind us

Vulcan Pacaya
Half way up and the stunning views of the volcanos in the distance

Up close and personal
One of our many lava shots

Lava river
This was just constantly moving

Neil making the climb
Even in great pain I could still take pictures!

Vulcan Fuego
Fuego treats us to one of it's explosions

More lava
Just incredible to get this close

Warning sign!
On the start of the climb the warning reads Activity - Explosions Normal ...

Viewing the lava
Soaking up the experience