climbing a volcano = life's newest adventure.

Today I did something that most people probably can't say they have done: I climbed a volcano. In fact, this is the volcano that erupted a year and a half ago, leaving most of Guatemala City covered in ash and many people in surrounding towns without homes. A handful of people died last year on this volcano, so naturally, I had my reservations. But, a girl from our group got in touch with a popular travel agency here and set it up and 16 of us headed out this morning at 6am to climb el vólcan Pacaya.

We finally arrived at the starting point and paid to rent walking sticks for Q5 (about 70 cents). We were also offered bags of marshmallows to roast at the top, so one of the guys purchased a bag for us to share. We started hiking up the mountain/volcano just after 8am and it was harder than I expected. You have to remember that we are at over 5,000 feet in altitude and while I am in decent shape, I still struggled with the thin air and continuous volcanic ash/sand. Needless to say, I got my workout in today! It was a great hike and the guides were really helpful and considerate about stopping to give us breaks.

It probably took us about an hour and a half to reach the big crater that Pacaya erupted from last year. The main crater, at the very top, we were unable to get to, but we wondered around at the top for about an hour...playing in warm volcanic rock/sand/ash and attempting to roast marshmallows (which didn't work that well, but it was fun to try). There were several steam holes where we could feel the heat coming out and some of our group attempted to climb up a bit higher, but didn't really get much of a different view. It was really neat to see the different rock formations that the lava had produced last year...but kind of scary to think that I was walking where it erupted just a year and a half ago! It was definitely the most adventurous thing I have done in my life!

Everyone in our group was safe; however, there was an injury in the other group that came with us. One of the girls from the other group was running down a little hill and slipped in the volcanic ash (which is REALLY easy to do) and ended up cutting her leg and head pretty badly. They had to make a makeshift stretcher and as we left the top of the volcano, they had to carry her down through LOTS of volcanic sand and rock, down a VERY steep hill. As we followed (with my slight fear of heights), we came to the realization that we would be going down the side of the volcano on a different path that went down the very steep side of the mountain and through, no joke, a foot of volcanic rock and sand. Yes, we were lava-rock surfing, as I called it. Trust me, I didn't stop praying the entire way down!

Once at the bottom, my shoes and pants were absolutely covered in volcanic sand and when I took my shoes and socks off, my feet were completely black...but it was SO worth it! I can say that my body is sore and I am tired, but I am really thankful for the really cool opportunity to get a beautiful view of God's creation and do something that I probably will never do again. If you ever have the chance to climb Pacaya, do it...no matter how nervous or scared you are, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

That's all for now. Keep it real, folks!

Love as always,

-J