Day 2 began at 5am with a Guatemalan wake up call courtesy of Tim "Wake up you lazy Canadians!" as be banged on pots and pans. Breakfast at 5.30 and then off to hike a volcano. The journey was a little longer than we anticipated, one of the two vans broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. Once we arrived, we were each given a bag lunch and a hiking stick to begin our trek. We all protected Caitin from the horses that followed us up the mountain as she has a severe allergy. The climb was 2300 meters and it wasn't a winding path. Straight up. No kidding, it just about killed us! We had multiple people so short on breath we thought we were going to lose someone. As the air got thinner, the lack of oxygen was replaced with volcanic gases. After climing to the base of the lava rock, we had lunch and then continued up another hour hiking on the rock to the lava itself. This volcano has been active for the last 2 months, and as we got higher, spots of heat and gases rose from the rock beneath our feet, and we had to keep moving so that our shoes didn't melt. Good thing our guides brought marshmellows, we all got to roast some at the top over the red hot lava! Pretty incredible experience!
We hiked through several climate changes. It started off hot and humid, then we got into fog and a mist of rain. Then we hiked through cool, wind and rain, then it cleared for an incredible view, then as we got to the top of the volcano we experienced torrential downpours, high winds and extreme heat rising from the earth. As we climbed back down, we climbed out of the rain and wind and fog, and the sun was shining for our trek down the mountain. This was an experience that none will soon forget.
Exhausted, we all headed back to our hostel, where some drifted to explore Antigua, some went to experience a Mayan Massage at a local spa, and some napped!
We finished the evening with a team dinner prepared by Edgar, and turned in early for the night. A great end to our "free day"!
Today we venture off to Parramous and Parraxaj where we will be participating in a community bbq and leading the church service. We will definately be updating our experiences with the locals so stay tuned!
What an adventure! You're brave for sure - making that trek up the volcano...looks steep. We'll look forward to hearing about the church service. You're doing a great job posting pictures etc. as I'm sure you're "tierd" at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteGlad hearing that you arrived safely, and great to be able to read the updates. Just curious, Lisa, as to how the trek to the volcano compared to climbing Mount Fuji?
ReplyDeleteAll the best to all from Uxbridge Cottage.