El Volcan De Pacaya!

We had such an awesome day yesterday! We went with a group from our school to El Volcan De Pacaya - one of the three active volcanoes in Guatemala. After a 2 hour drive up windy roads in a crowded van, we finally got there. We were mobbed by little kids wanting to sell us sticks to use to climb the mountain - we eventually gave in and bought one (about 5Q=60 cents). Seriously...it was so worth it! That stick saved my life climbing those steep hills! We hiked about 3 miles through lots of brush to get to the top - it was SO HOT and humid and there was lots of bugs! Thank goodness for deet and that stick! We finally made it to the volcano where we saw the most amazing view of Guatemala! Some of the prettiest sights I have ever seen! Then we hiked down ON the volcano about anther mile. Let me tell you US State parks would NEVER let tourists get THAT close to lava. We started hiking back down the mountain when it was very dark. I saw real fireflies! We were so filthy from the whole day of hiking. We ended up getting back to our casa about at 10 pm. Our water was turned on (it was off for about a day - no bathroom & no showers :( So we were pretty excited to take a shower finally after two days!
It was seriously an adventure I will never forget! Below are some pictures! And yes I did stand that close to lava and touch it with a stick - the ground was SO HOT!


PS. Dad I wish I would have brought hiking boots - those lame tennis shoes I brought are NOT good for climbing mountains or volcanos!


I love and miss you all! I hope to write soon!