As Julia had foretold, we did indeed take a free salsa dancing lesson on Tuesday night. It was a fun hour being surrounded by 6 women and counting to 7 in Spanish a bunch of times. We learned a few steps that we may be able to recreate on a dance floor someday. During the class, there was a group of young Guate males watching from outside whom we assumed were just creepers wanting to watch Gringas dance. We found out that they actually had a purpose, when it came time to try dancing with partners, they jumped in to even out the numbers. This made me the worst partner in the room and I mostly just tried not to injure anyone.
Wednesday (my birthday): Being done with school, we slept in and did laundry on the rooftop terrace of our homestay. It was a fairly clear day which allowed us to watch Volcán Fuego erupt all morning. It seemed to be especially active and was great entertainment.
The rising ash somehow formed an "S"
That night, we ate dinner for the last time at our homestay and the lady that owns the place kindly gave us a bottle of wine to help celebrate. We shared it with our housemates before going up to the terrace to do an official birthday party. Julia sneakily bought a box of wine, 2 delicious small cakes (from McDonalds), and some easily packable gifts. We drank as much as we could but had to be up and active the next day to hike a volcano. I don't remember that many of my birthdays but this one will not be forgotten.
Thursday: Up at 7 to eat and get packed for the 2-day volcano trek we had booked, I felt my age and then some. Luckily I was good enough to go after some food but still worried about the upcoming strenuous hike. Volcán Acatenango (13,044 ft) is the highest peak in the area and happens to be right next to the active Fuego. We had heard this hike was amazing and put it on our must do list. We had also heard that you could get it cheaper if you brought your own food, so we got it for 350Q per person ($46) and spent around $13 at the supermarket on sandwich ingredients and snacks (I need to note that they sell small baggies of mustard and mayonnaise mixed together call "mustannaise", very handy). This saved us about $39 in the long run and we were the only ones in the group of 9 to know about this deal. That made us feel pretty good. It is not often that you can be in a group of 9 backpackers and be the cheapest ones.
After about an hour drive up into the hills, they dropped us off on the side of the road with 2 guides and we began to hike up a very soft trail between farms. We started at about 7,100 ft and could feel the altitude immediately. It was tough. We don't quite have our travel legs yet. Others in the group who have been on the road longer made it seem fairly easy. Our heads hurt and numerous breaks were taken so people could catch their breath.
The trail continued up through ever changing scenery; farmland, to rainforests, through high mountain forests, then another type of ecosystem that I don't know the name of, and finally up the tree and scrub grass filled volcanic ash slope to the camp site (at 10,800 ft). It was a welcome site as the elevation made our heads light and our hearts pound. With low clouds most of the day, the temperature was perfect for hiking but the views were lacking. That is until we got to the camp and Vulcán Fuego stared us right in the face. As promised, we were immediately greeted with eruptions of ash and forgot all about the physical pain it took to get there.
Our attempt at being cool. Julia almost fell backwards a few seconds later
Big eruption
We sat around, ate food, and watched the vulcán continue to entertain. The guide informed us that it could be possible to see lava at night if it is clear. We waited anxiously but the clouds rolled in and visibility went down to about 10ft. The group gathered around the fire to stay warm, finally giving up on the lava around 9 PM with a 4 AM wake up call the next day. Sleep was not to be had for a few of us as the pads were firm, the tents were cramped, and my body is old. That was all forgotten though as the highlight of the trip so far would come around 1:30 AM. I was staring at the tent ceiling when a loud rumble could be heard followed by the tumbling of rock. I waited a few seconds before deciding to throw my shoes on and peak outside the tent. As soon as I stuck my head out, I said a loud "Wow!", ran over to the edge of the site for a better look, and informed everyone "I see lava". It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. The sky was completely clear. We could see the lights of Antigua just below us, Vulcán Agua, and the lights of Guatemala City not far off. Then the perfect cone shape of Vulcán Fuego was silhouetted against the night sky. A dark plume of smoke and ash rose thick into the air for what seemed to be 4,000 more feet. On the right side of the peak we could see the red lava flowing down. After a few minutes, another rumble was followed by lava spraying out like a fountain. All of this in the quiet stillness of a clear night sky and the full array of stars above us. Julia and I stood there for about 10 minutes after everyone else had climbed back into the tents. I briefly thought about grabbing my camera but knew that this probably couldn't be captured in a picture.
Friday: We rose early to trudge the last 90 minutes up to the summit. Still freezing cold, the ground was mostly loose ash and we slid back a foot with each step. It was straight up from the start and we were tired. Two Danish girls turned back at the halfway point. The trail leveled out a bit as we traversed the side and saw the sun come up.
Sunrise and view of Vulcán Agua
This gave us the energy to reach the summit. The wide rolling area around a small crater had some great views despite the low surrounding clouds. I always love the sense of accomplishment and the knowledge that it is all downhill the rest of the way.
View of Fuego from the top
On the way back down, we could basically run and slide down the slope which was good fun. We were back at camp in about 30 minutes and enjoyed our mango breakfast with granola bars dipped in peanut butter. The stretch back to civilization took a little longer but was a fun route through a thick rainforest that was almost straight downhill. The soft ground had us counting the # of times people slipped. Julia was in the early lead until a Danish girl ended up on her butt 3 times in about 15 seconds.
We were dirty and exhausted and glad we reserved a private room with a TV to watch college basketball the rest of the afternoon (or at least I was). Overall it was an amazing experience that we probably could have been in better shape for. We later treated ourselves to a Wendy's frosty which was vanilla with Oreo pieces and stopped by the super market to buy the fixins for tostadas.
Guacamole, refried beans, tostadas, and leftover birthday box wine
Saturday: After a 7 AM bus from Antigua to Panajachel, a local man gathered a few of us tourists saying he was the captain of the boat that takes us across Lago de Atitlán. He showed us a picture of a boat he had in his wallet to try and convince us he was the El Capitan. He led the group of 6 of us down toward the dock and then oddly made a turn into a dirt parking lot. Another man yelled at him that the public boats were over there, where we could clearly see them, and he changed direction. He ushered us onto the boats, helped us with our bags, then asked us for money. The price was the same as in our guide book so it seemed legit, but he kept saying he was "the captain" when clearly this wasn't his boat. Never the less, the public boat took us to where we are now, the cheap hippie touristy town of San Pedro La Laguna. I don't really know what was going on but figure he then went and paid the boat people and got a little something in return. Either way we are now relaxing in a clean hostal ($13/night) with lake views and plan to rest up our sore legs for a little while.
View from our lakeside hostal
I don't know if we can top the past few days, but you can be sure that we will try our darndest and that it will be documented on this site.
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